Email Marketing for Banks and Credit Unions: Mastering the 5Ws

As a bank or credit union marketer, do you struggle to reach customers/members where they spend a lot of time: their email inbox? 

This is difficult for many marketers, and those working at a financial institution may face some unique challenges along the way. The first step in turning this process around is rediscovering your email marketing strategy and building a plan to reach your target audience. 

The keys to a good email marketing strategy are personalization and connection. Nobody wants to build a relationship with a cold, heartless bank or credit union interested solely in growing its business. Nope, your customers and members want to build relationships with people who care about them. 

And a great way to show that you care about them is through email marketing done right. Specifically, through email newsletters that land in your audience’s inbox at just the right time with just the right content. 

Let’s take a trip back to elementary school for a few minutes and discuss the 5W’s (who, what, when, where, and why) of email marketing for banks and credit unions. 

(For more tips on how to spice up your institution’s email newsletters, check out this article.) 

Who: Identifying Your Audience

Your email list isn't just a bunch of addresses; it's a community of individuals interested in what you have to say. One reason you may not reach your customers/members is that you’re sending the wrong emails to the wrong audience. A 19-year-old college student doesn’t care about home mortgage loans or retirement funds. If they receive emails promoting these services, they’ll at best ignore them and, at worst, lose faith in your institution’s ability to cater to their financial needs. 

Instead of sending every email to everyone on your list, play around with segmentation. Filter by age, known interests, current financial products, lifestyle, and future potential interests. It’s okay to send a one-off email to college students promoting a future home mortgage loan. But state that the information is for their future and you don’t expect them to need these loans right now. This will help them keep the info in their back pocket for when they do need that loan. But for heaven’s sake, don’t regularly email them about products they aren’t currently interested in. That’s a sure way to lose subscribers. Instead, regularly email college students about student loan programs, scholarships, credit cards built just for them, and other topics they’ll find helpful.

By tailoring your message to the correct audience, you can land in the inbox of someone who actually cares. Unsubscribe rates will go down, and interest in your products will go up. Plus, your emails will feel more personal, and you can begin building a connection with your customers/members that may last a lifetime. 

What: Crafting Compelling Content

Knowing your audience guides your content, tone, and style, which leads us to the next W on our list.

Content is the backbone of any email marketing campaign or newsletter. For banks and credit unions, you need to strike a balance between promotional material and informative content. Nobody wants to receive email after email asking them to spend more money or add a product. They want tips, tricks, stories, and maybe an occasional promotion. 

Here are some content ideas (remember to tailor them to your specific audience):

• Financial advice

• Updates on banking products

• Stories showcasing your community involvement

• Industry insights

• Banking trends

• Personalized financial tips 

The goal is to provide value, not just sell a product or service. This will keep customers/members coming back and will help them see your institution as an expert in all things finance. 

And remember, just because you work at a bank or credit union doesn’t mean your content has to be dry. Add some zest with infographics, compelling images, and engaging stories that resonate with your readers. These visual elements and clear calls-to-action can significantly boost engagement and response rates. And don’t be afraid to do some A/B testing to see what works best for your specific audience. Maybe longer emails perform better than short ones, but you won’t know unless you test it out.

Don’t forget about mobile optimization, either. A significant chunk of your audience will read your emails on their phones, so make sure they look just as good on a small screen as they do on a desktop.

➤➤➤ Does your team work with other departments to curate email content and get ideas for marketing materials? If you’re like most financial institutions, you have an outdated, inefficient method of managing marketing requests and compliance approvals. This often results in a messy system, wasted time, and friction between departments.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can streamline your marketing request and compliance approval process, save time, and get more done with Kadince, a marketing request and compliance approval management software. Learn more here.

When: Timing Your Communications

The next piece of the puzzle is determining when you should send your emails. 

Finding the best time to send emails should start with analyzing your audience’s preferences. Each audience may be more likely to open emails at different times of the day. It depends on their schedule, lifestyle, and overall attitude towards your brand. Your audience of retirees may prefer to open emails in the early hours of the morning, while those young college students might check email in the afternoon. And, of course, not everyone in any audience will have the same preferences. 

Test different days and times to see what works best for each audience. Keep a close eye on your analytics to understand when that audience is most receptive. Maybe your customers/members love reading over their Tuesday morning coffee, or perhaps Sunday afternoons are when they catch up on emails. Monitor, analyze, and adjust.

For more, this article is a good compilation of various studies on email timing and effectiveness.

Where: Ensuring Deliverability

You could send the best email ever written, to the perfect audience, at the best time of the day…but if it goes to the spam or junk folder, nobody will see it. Because, really, who looks at their spam folder or trusts what’s inside it? Not your customers/members.

To boost your chances of email deliverability, follow all regulations and email rules, including the CAN-SPAM Act. While following these rules doesn’t guarantee that your emails will land in the inbox, it will help and will keep your email reputation clean. 

➤➤➤To learn more, download this free guide to CAN-SPAM compliance. Plus, get a handy-dandy checklist to make it even easier to ensure compliance.

Download the guide

Another way to boost your chances is by sending emails to the right audience (again). Sending emails to an audience that doesn’t care results in higher unopen rates and unsubscribes. College students consistently receiving those retirement emails are going to hit the unsubscribe button pretty fast. The higher your open rate and the lower your unsubscribe rate, the better your chances of landing in the right inbox. 

Regularly updating your database and removing inactive subscribers can significantly improve your email campaign's effectiveness. If someone hasn’t opened a single email since joining your list, it’s in your best interest to remove them. This will help maintain high open rates (assuming your content is compelling) and help with your deliverability. 

Where your emails end up isn’t entirely in your control, but do your best to avoid the dreaded spam folder! 

Why: The Power of Email Marketing

Finally, why is email marketing such a great tool to have in your toolbelt? There are a lot of marketing channels to spend your time on, so why is email consistently one of the most successful? 

Well, unlike social media, TV marketing, or physical mailers, email marketing ensures that you reach your target audience when you want and with the exact content you want. You are in control of what is sent and when it’s sent, and while you can’t control whether the recipient opens the email or even whether it lands in their inbox, the rest is what makes email marketing such an amazing tool. It definitely beats posting on social media and hoping the algorithm decides to show your content.

Email marketing helps you build relationships with your customers/members by keeping them informed, offering personal financial advice, and showcasing your commitment to the community. This regular, direct communication will keep your brand top-of-mind and establish your institution as the go-to financial leader in your community. That’s what keeps customers/members and helps your bank or credit union grow. 

And the cherry on top? Your email marketing is extremely measurable. Thanks to various analytics software, you can track opens, clicks, and conversions. This gives valuable insights into what content works and how you might switch it up for better results. This data is gold, and you should always keep past data in mind when planning your next email marketing campaign. 

(Need more ideas on how to grow your email newsletter? Check out this article.)

Bringing It All Together

So there you have it – the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of email newsletters. 

Email marketing isn’t something you can learn in one day and successfully practice for the rest of your life. Becoming an expert email marketer will take time and practice. You should continually seek articles and training as best practices change and as you learn what works best for your specific audience. 

By keeping these 5Ws in mind, you’ll have a great head start and can begin figuring out what works for your institution. Good luck!

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None of Kadince, Inc., its affiliates, or its respective employees, directors, officers, and agents (collectively, “Kadince”) are responsible or liable for any content or information incorporated herein. Read full disclosure.