Survey: How bank marketers are using data analytics

By Ally Akins

Banks are inundated with data, having access to more information about their customers, accounts and businesses than was once imaginable. But being able to capitalize on accurate, dependable, consistent and actionable data around customers, prospects and behavior trends is not easy and can be something that sets your bank’s marketing apart from its competitors.

For decades, the largest banks have dominated technological innovation in the banking industry, building their own data warehouses and core systems to house customer data, and therefore utilize it. However, banks of all sizes are realizing they already have access to a wealth of data within their systems and cost-effective tools to leverage it. While there is no shortage of valuable use cases, the keys are having the right analytics resources, ready access to accurate data, and alignment between analytical insights and the organization’s business priorities

Data analytics, when utilized effectively, can answer key strategic questions such as:

• What do your customers look like?
• What products are your customers likely to have with other banks and institutions?
• What is your bank’s penetration of specific consumer and business segments?

State of bank data analytics and marketing

In July of 2024, the American Bankers Association surveyed bank marketers to understand how banks are currently using data analytics, specifically for marketing purposes. The survey collected responses from 109 bank marketers at banks ranging from $100 million in total assets to $10 billion plus.

The majority of bank marketers (71 percent) reported that their banks do not have a written or documented customer data strategy and objectives or that if one existed, they did not know of one. Additionally, only 36 percent of marketers surveyed oversaw their banks’ data analytics function. This is a change from recent years, where close to 50 percent of bank marketers oversaw data analytics at their banks. However, more respondents indicated that marketing oversaw data analytics than any other function, followed by IT and other functions.

A promising finding from the survey is that 41 percent of bank marketers categorized their bank’s implementation of data analytics as “already using to make decisions and achieve our goals.”

An additional 37 percent felt that they were on their way to being able to use data and analytics to support their strategic goals. Only 22 percent felt that they were in the early stages of this process, “just beginning to formulate strategic goals.”

Bank marketers are utilizing data to inform marketing decisions regularly, but the range of frequency is evenly split. Fifteen percent of bank marketers are using data daily while another 15 percent are using it only yearly. The most frequent response, with almost 30 percent of respondents, indicated they were using data monthly.

Challenges utilizing data

While most bank marketers are starting down the path and feel the need to utilize data analytics to support their strategic objectives, there are still challenges and obstacles to getting this done. Of the marketers overseeing data analytics, only 35 percent felt they had all the necessary resources to lead data analytics at their bank. This could speak to the fact that respondents only, on average, have 0.97 FTE dedicated to data from their marketing team. Twenty-six percent of respondents definitively reported plans to grow the number of FTEs working in a data analytics function over the next three years.

Respondents were also asked to rate the accuracy of the data they use regularly on a scale of 1-5.

The mean response was 3.3. Only 11 percent of respondents indicated they were “very confident” in the accuracy of the data they regularly use. This is slightly improved results from the 2022 survey, where only 8 percent of respondents were “very confident” and the mean response was 3.17.

When ranking the biggest challenges in utilizing data for sales and marketing, the highest-rated obstacle is a lack of data analytics resources, followed by inconsistent and inaccurate data.

How data can fuel strategic growth

Despite its challenges, it is clear bank marketers find value in utilizing data for decision-making. When asked to select use cases for data analytics that their bank planned to/was considering using data for, ranking highest are digital engagement, personalized marketing, consumer demographic data.

Toward the bottom of use cases, investment and wealth management and business firmographic data were cited, suggesting that marketers still view data-driven marketing campaigns as a primarily consumer-oriented strategy.

For those who indicated their banks are already using data analytics to achieve strategic objectives, the most frequently cited use cases are product development, digital engagement, and industry benchmarks and reports.

Wrap up

Bank marketers clearly understand that data analytics is an essential tool to better understand and communicate with target audiences, improve marketing efforts and optimize sales results. Banks have made significant progress in their utilization of data analytics to inform marketing decisions and support strategic objectives. But the survey highlights that there is still a long way to go. Bank marketers are excited about the ability to use data to transform and improve marketing effectiveness, but indicate that improved accuracy of data and additional analytical resources are essential for data-driven marketing to reach its full potential.

Ally Akins is a consultant at Capital Performance Group, a strategic consulting firm that assists banks in making the most of their customer data. She can also be reached on LinkedIn.