By Tim Keith
Change the game by going digital with your bank’s new mover marketing strategy.
What is a “new mover” exactly? Simply put, new movers can be defined as someone currently in the moving, home-buying, or selling process. New movers are often divided into subgroups and categorized as one of the following:
- Pre-mover: defined as someone who recently listed their home on the market.
- Escrow: defined as someone who has sold their house but has not moved yet, or is under contract.
- Post-mover: defined as someone who just moved into or purchased a new home, or sold a residence.
New mover data has always provided a “sizzle factor” to bank marketers, but is often viewed as too good to be true. New mover programs provide bank marketers with the opportunity to identify consumers during a physical move—a major life event that often prompts consumers to select a new financial provider—and methodically target relevant financial messages to them.
Unfortunately, the concept of a new mover marketing program has not lived up to the hype.
The biggest issues with traditional new mover marketing programs have been practical considerations. By the time a new mover is identified, a data file is created and prepped, marketing is produced, and mail is delivered, it is often too late—the consumer has already chosen a financial provider. Additionally, the data itself can be expensive to collect, and the week-to-week quantities are relatively low in most markets. These pain points associated with traditional new mover programs are why many bank marketers have abandoned efforts to make new mover marketing programs work.
But digital marketing is changing how new mover programs are implemented by removing the logistical and financial barriers of a traditional, direct mail program.
By shifting new mover programs to a digital channel, bank marketers can now make the identification of new movers and the deployment of targeted online messages part of one automated, continuous process.
What’s the biggest draw to a digital new mover program?
Potential targets are identified throughout the day, while targeted digital ads are automatically and immediately deployed on the websites that the target audience is browsing.
Since the tactics are carried out and streamlined to online channels, costs for a digital new mover program are lower due to the absence of postage and physical material expenses. Bank marketers must invest time on the front end of the program to develop the messaging strategy and associated creative treatments. But then, once the program is launched, the only ongoing time commitment is evaluating results.
Another benefit of the digital approach: the ability to view real data on how consumers are interacting with the marketing.
In a traditional new mover campaign, a physical piece of marketing collateral is sent in the mail. But bank marketers have no way of knowing how many consumers read it right away, how many set it aside for later, and how many throw it away.
Now, by utilizing digital channels for ads, bank marketers have the ability to continuously measure the number of ad impressions and resulting ad clicks.
However, while this level of tracking can provide exciting and validating insights, it is not sufficient to determine a program’s true return on investment. Best-in-class programs will integrate impression and click tracking with actual accounts and balances opened by the program’s target audience. Fully closing this loop allows the marketer to home in on the messages about their bank that resonate most with consumers who are new to their markets. This allows the marketing to become more relevant over time and turn the “sizzle factor” into real results.
As banks move further into omni-channel marketing programs, digital new mover programs are an obvious category that should grow in both popularity and relevance to the growth strategies of individual institutions. Banks have made efforts to effectively market to new movers in the past, and now with digital channels, they have a cost-effective, timely alternative for reaching this niche market.
Tim Keith is a former banker who in 2007 co-founded Infusion, a provider of data-driven direct marketing campaigns that generate strategic growth for community and regional financial institutions. He works directly with financial institutions to implement data analysis services, support marketing efforts, write and present comprehensive customer analysis, evaluate campaign results, and design strategic growth programs. Tim can be reached by email at [email protected]
