ABA Banking Journal
No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
SUBSCRIBE
ABA Banking Journal
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Retail and Marketing

Marketing Success After an M&A

March 3, 2016
Reading Time: 4 mins read

Although student loan delinquency rates remain elevated, mortgage delinquencies fell to 2007 levels and led an overall decline.

By Paul Schaus

Bank mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are rebounding across both small and large regional banks, according to Deloitte. A 2016 Bank Director survey found that more than half (51%) of banks intend to purchase a healthy bank within the next 12 months.

Clearly banks are in the market for M&A, especially to counteract increasing regulatory costs. In compliance, economies of scale matter. A $200 million bank likely spends as much on compliance as a $1 billion.

Other banks are finding it difficult to fund capital improvements or have decided that it’s too difficult to ‘go it alone.’ The sweet spot for smaller banks to become more efficient and increase revenues seems to $1 billion.

From a marketing perspective, however, an M&A can be tricky. If your bank merges or acquires another bank—particularly if that bank is located within your geographic footprint—you face many challenges. These challenges are not insurmountable but they do require more innovative solutions than may have worked in the past.

Keep the following five points in mind as you navigate a slew of marketing decisions.

  1. Customers may be mad.

If your bank merges with a bank similar to your own in terms of geography, customer base, and products, your job as a marketer just got more difficult. It’s possible that customers specifically chose one bank because they had at one time been a customer of the other bank and left, perhaps due to a bad experience or high fees.

They are not going to very happy to now be back at the bank they left.

As a marketer, use extra caution if the banks are in the same market. It’s not all that uncommon for a bank that crossed over the $1 billion threshold due to a merger finding itself down to $800 million in less than one year.

Some customer runoff is expected—and some is even encouraged. But losing too many customers negates the benefits of the transaction.

  1. Focus on the customer experience.

As you design your pre and post marketing plan, always keep your focus on the customer experience. What is it about the merger that will positively impact customers?

Hopefully the banks complement each other. Perhaps you can now offer expanded or new services such as wealth management, small business lending, or credit cards. Will an expanded branch network give customers more choices? Stress how the size of the bank improves bank stability and why that’s important to customers.

  1. Don’t be bigger. Be different.

In today’s market, you can’t be everything to every customer. Differentiation and having a niche is a much more successful strategy.

After a merger or acquisition, hone in on how the transaction makes your bank special. Don’t try to market your bank as just a smaller version of Bank of America or Wells Fargo.

Define your market and focus on it.

  1. Look for the cultural fit.

During a merger or acquisition, culture is critical. But I’m not talking about the bank or employee culture: I’m referring to customer culture. If the culture of the combined customer bases don’t fit, marketing will have a very difficult time.

If bank management and the board hasn’t considered the culture of its customers before the transaction, your bank may discover that what they thought was a smart strategy turns out to be less than positive due to high customer attrition.

  1. Treat each M&A as unique.

Perhaps you’ve already been through a merger or acquisition and you’ve got a template to follow. Unfortunately, each transaction is different, and what worked in the past may not work today.

Create a marketing strategy based on the unique aspects of this deal. What culture differences do you need to address? What products and services will you offer? How does this M&A impact your brand? Will your quality of service change?

What is the overall impact on the customer experience?

ADVERTISEMENT

Keep Your Cool

During an M&A, marketing is often in the hot seat. Even if marketing had very little input into the deal, they are held responsible for making sure that customers don’t leave and that the bank brand remains strong.

It may be small solace to know that if the marketing fails, it’s likely because the bank’s growth strategy was flawed and this particular merger or acquisition never should have occurred.

In marketing, bigger isn’t always better.

Paul Schaus is the President, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of CCG Catalyst. Contact him at [email protected] or (800) 439-8710 ext 201. Follow CCG Catalyst on LinkedIn and Twitter.

 

Tags: Customer communicationsMergers and acquisitions
ShareTweetPin

Related Posts

Sanctions Compliance Pitfalls for Banks

How one bank’s ‘stop and think’ message slashed customer fraud losses

Compliance and Risk
May 20, 2025

What constitutes effective fraud prevention strategy? One path to success is a larger, strategic program.

FDIC: Number of unbanked households drops to new low

Kansas City Fed economist: Bank On may have reduced unbanked rates

Community Banking
May 19, 2025

An increase in the number of financial institutions offering Bank On-certified accounts may have contributed to the decline in unbanked households by lowering barriers to account ownership, according to new research.

Bank marketers double down on AI

Bank marketers double down on AI

Retail and Marketing
May 19, 2025

Bank marketers will continue to test the AI waters and find efficiencies and scale.

CFPB proposes to regulate large nonbanks in personal loan market

Survey: Customer satisfaction with personal loans holds steady

Mortgage
May 16, 2025

Overall customer satisfaction with personal loans has remained largely flat, according to J.D. Power’s 2025 U.S. Consumer Lending Satisfaction Study.

Directors Briefing: Millbury National Bank marks 200 years  of independence with CEO transition

Directors Briefing: Millbury National Bank marks 200 years of independence with CEO transition

Directors Briefing
May 14, 2025

“Millbury National has always been about serving our community, and that will never change.”

Future risk and compliance professionals may be just down the hall

Marketing mutuality

Mutual Banks
May 12, 2025

Mutuals Matter campaign seeks to educate the public about what separates mutual banks from other financial institutions.

NEWSBYTES

Proposed amendment would add Credit Card Competition Act to Senate stablecoin bill

May 20, 2025

FDIC rescinds 2024 bank merger policy

May 20, 2025

FDIC provides update on Deposit Insurance Fund restoration

May 20, 2025

SPONSORED CONTENT

Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

Choosing the Right Account Opening Platform: 10 Key Considerations for Long-Term Success

April 25, 2025
Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

Outsourcing: Getting to Go/No-Go

April 5, 2025
Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

Six Payments Trends Driving the Future of Transactions

March 15, 2025
AI for Banks: A Starter Guide for Community and Regional Institutions

AI for Banks: A Starter Guide for Community and Regional Institutions

March 1, 2025

PODCASTS

Podcast: Accelerating banking for quick-service restaurants

May 8, 2025

How a Georgia community bank supports government-guaranteed lending nationwide

May 1, 2025

Podcast: Quantum computing’s shakeup in payments, cybersecurity

April 24, 2025
ADVERTISEMENT

American Bankers Association
1333 New Hampshire Ave NW
Washington, DC 20036
1-800-BANKERS (800-226-5377)
www.aba.com
About ABA
Privacy Policy
Contact ABA

ABA Banking Journal
About ABA Banking Journal
Media Kit
Advertising
Subscribe

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Topics
    • Ag Banking
    • Commercial Lending
    • Community Banking
    • Compliance and Risk
    • Cybersecurity
    • Economy
    • Human Resources
    • Insurance
    • Legal
    • Mortgage
    • Mutual Funds
    • Payments
    • Policy
    • Retail and Marketing
    • Tax and Accounting
    • Technology
    • Wealth Management
  • Newsbytes
  • Podcasts
  • Magazine
    • Subscribe
    • Advertise
    • Magazine Archive
    • Newsletter Archive
    • Podcast Archive
    • Sponsored Content Archive

© 2025 American Bankers Association. All rights reserved.