Page 22 - Spring 2025

The next leap forward is hyper-personaliza�on. “Hyper-personaliza�on is marke�ng, says D’Ambrosio. “Even though it [may seem] like a retro
using data to speak to you about only the things that ma�er to you,” says channel, direct mail has high engagement rates,” she says. “When people
Steinbach. “With hyper-personaliza�on, we send far fewer emails, but get an offer in the mail, they’ll hold onto it longer, and they’ll recall and
instead of a 20% open rate, we see 40%, 50%, 60% open rates. We see remember it in more detail. They’re also more likely to engage and act.”
higher engagement, more clicks and be�er closing rates.”
Mills’ Steinbach contends that direct mail, which is more expensive than
When Steinbach designs a hyper-personalized marke�ng campaign for a email, “never really died.” Some banks, she notes, are surprised to learn
community bank, she starts with a wish list of more than 100 data fields to that a message printed on paper and delivered by postal carrier makes an
be populated with informa�on residing within a bank’s core. Relevant data impression on even younger people.
ranges from whether a customer has set up online banking to whether In fact, a recent survey from Hydrate Marke�ng found that 90% of
that customer receives e-statements. Other crucial informa�on includes millennials—those 28 to 43 years of age—prefer direct mail over email
when that customer’s last account was opened and whether they have when receiving promo�onal items.
used Venmo in the past 90 days.
Thanks to the granularity of the informa�on being gathered, the goal is 2. Email. The Bank of Glen Burnie recently began using email marke�ng as
that no customer will be sent an off-the-mark email introducing, for an addi�onal marke�ng tac�c, a strategy that Janet Kim, director of
example, online banking if that customer is already a user. marke�ng and public rela�ons, describes as “risky” given the mul�tudes of
people frustrated by their clogged inboxes.

Kim believes the key to customers’ recep�veness—her bank’s open rate for
email is above 50%—lies in the content of marke�ng messages. “We don’t
want our customers to feel spammed,” she says. “We try to make sure
there’s value in the messages we send.”
3. Websites. Community banks have recently begun ge�ng into the act by
hyper-personalizing their websites, says Mills’ Steinbach. For example,
banks can alter their marke�ng presence by choosing one of five or 10
different home pages and online banking experiences, depending on who
visits or signs in. Pos�ng an ad or banner with the most a�rac�ve savings-
account rates for customers most likely to engage in those products or
who are lacking such accounts is also website hyper-personaliza�on in
ac�on.

Beyond displaying custom offers, savvy community banks are making sure
that the website images selected resonate with the audience they’re
targe�ng. Paul Tonelli, VP and crea�ve director at Manchester, N.H.-based
firm Pannos Marke�ng, points out that for one Midwestern community
banking client with branches primarily in agricultural communi�es,
“presen�ng the right style and imagery” is key to being relevant and
building las�ng rela�onships.

What’s more, for some banks, a kind of DIY personaliza�on can boost a
website’s appeal. Take The Bank of Glen Burnie, which has 50 financial
calculators in its Online Educa�on Center, ranging from mortgage payoff
tools to a “cool million” calculator designed to show when your current
savings plan will make you a millionaire. “Our goal is to make sure we’re
an�cipa�ng our customers’ [financial] needs,” says Kim.
4. Branches and call centers. Personalized marke�ng campaigns need not
be executed solely via remote channels. Highly targeted marke�ng
intelligence can be furnished to bank employees, who then directly
Richmann reiterates that what ma�ers most is offering the right product at present customers with only those product sugges�ons that are a strong fit
the right �me. “We live in a fast-paced world,” she says. “The whole key to for their unique needs.
hyper-personaliza�on is that whatever’s put in front of a customer needs
to hit home, then and there.” Richmann of 360 View notes that it’s par�cularly powerful when a banker
sends a customer a handwri�en thank-you note or reaches out on an
Avenues for personaliza�on anniversary of doing business together. “Showing you care about a
Community banks market through mul�ple rela�onship and the accounts a customer is in is what separates
channels, but here are four in which community banks from larger banks,” she says.
personaliza�on is proving a game-changer:
Kim agrees. “To us, personaliza�on is primarily people,” she says. “Our
1. Direct mail. Among Adrenaline’s staff, we’re building up our digital technologies and pu�ng all that
community banking clients, direct mail is informa�on in tutorials and calculators [for customers to use], but Mark
the channel of choice for personalized

Arkansas Community Banker | 22 | Spring 2025