Change Your Mindset # 13: Marketing requires involvement at every level in your institution

Who is involved in your institution’s marketing initiatives?

If marketing at your institution has been designated the sole territory of your marketing director and/or marketing department, it’s time for you to change your mindset - as today’s most successful marketing initiatives are those that are supported by aware, informed and involved personnel at all levels within an organization, regardless of job title. The concept is simple; however, it’s one that is often times overlooked and/or ignored by many financial institutions.

First, and at the very least, your staff should be aware of the marketing initiatives and campaigns that are happening at your institution. Awareness includes knowing what messages are being delivered to the customer, the media through which those messages are being delivered, and the timing of the various initiatives. This level of awareness is important as it allows your staff to support, rather than hinder, the efforts of the marketing department. While awareness of certain marketing initiatives is pretty basic, it can allow employees at various levels in your institution to identify potential conflicting messages in the details that may be overlooked should the responsibility of marketing be placed on one person or group of people.

To further support your marketing efforts, your employees – especially your frontline employees need to be informed. This goes beyond simply being aware of your current marketing initiatives; it means that your staff is trained to anticipate customer questions and inquiries they have in response to your initiatives, to engage your customers in dialogue around to support your efforts, and to fully understand the goals of any initiative. While there are obvious training implications, ensuring that your staff is informed is critical in bringing your marketing efforts full-circle. Where many institutions’ marketing initiatives don’t go much further than delivering the message to the customer, informed employees can support the message/campaign and drive the marketing to sales connection.

Furthermore, institutions can benefit greatly from encouraging individuals throughout the organization to be involved in the marketing process. Ideas about how to market a specific product, reach a certain audience or communicate the right message shouldn’t be limited to the people in the marketing department or to those on the management team. In many cases, the frontline staff has the most meaningful dialogue with your customers, so listen to them. These employees hear customer feedback first-hand, can engage customers to determine if and how messages are being received, and can provide more qualitative feedback to the marketing team about customer responses. In addition, staff involvement in marketing ideas and decisions can encourage employee buy-in to your initiatives which, in turn, should help drive the success of the initiatives.

Can you think of a situation where an employee killed a potential sale simply because he/she wasn’t aware of, informed about, or involved in a certain marketing initiative?

Effective marketing requires that your initiatives extend beyond your marketing department. And while this level of involvement will, in most cases, require additional training – it’s a step that can not be overlooked. Change your mindset about marketing – take the time to make your staff aware of your marketing initiatives; keep them informed and educated about their role in supporting the initiatives; and encourage a heightened level of involvement from all members of your staff as means to stay relevant, be innovative and integrate your efforts throughout your institution.