Elements of a Bank Marketing

Plan
by Lori Philo-Cook on April 27, 2013

Okay,IwilladmitthatIcangoalittleoverboardonmymarketingplans.Iamthekindofpersonwholikestomake
listsandorganizejustabouteverything.So,Ibelieveindevelopingacomprehensivemarketingplanthatisareal
blueprintforthecomingyear.And,Iusuallyaddtoitaswego.

Forpeoplewholikeshortandsweet,itmaybeabitmuch.But,itsworkedgreatformeandthebankswhereIve
managedmarketing.So,withthatbitofinsightoutoftheway,letstalkabouttheelementsofacomprehensive
marketingplanandyoucandecideforyourselfwhichelementsmakesenseforyourbanksplan.

ElementsIRecommendBeaPartofYourBankMarketingPlan:

MarketPositionStatement

TheRoleofMarketing

MarketingFunctions

MarketingFunctionsbyPosition

OverallMarketingPlan

DetailedProjectPlans

MajorMarketingProjectsCalendar

MarketingBudget

OtherItemsthatYouMayIncludeinYourPlan:

Thebanksstatementofvaluesandmissionstatement

Amarketanalysisforeachofyourmarkets(ifthisisnotapartofbanksbusinessplan)

Analysisofyourproducts,services,deliverychannels

Currentmarketresearch,customerservicesurveysandotherbankresearchyouhaveavailable.

Overall,ongoingmarketinggoals,reviewedandupdatedannually

Eventcalendars(employee,customer,communityandshareholder)

Logo/brandguidelines

Brandpositioning,brandpromiseandbrandpersonality(usuallyincorporatedintotheMarketPosition
Statement)

1.MarketPositionStatement
Thisisabasicdescriptionofwhatyourbankstandsforandhowyouaredifferentfromyourcompetitors.This
statementisdevelopedinconjunctionwithyourbanksseniormanagementandservesasabasisforallthatyoudo.
HerearesomekeyquestionstoaskwhendevelopingyourMarketPositionStatement:

Characteristicsofyourbank/approachtodoingbusiness?

Whatisyourbank/brandpersonality?

Whatdifferentiatesyoufromyourcompetitors?

Whichcommunities?Geographicareas?

Whodoyouserve?Keymarketsegments?

Yourprimaryproductsandservices?

Useoftechnology/levelofinnovation?

Pricingstrategy?

Bankmanagementstyle?

Specialexpertiseofemployees?

Focusofyourtraining/focusofyouremployeerecognition?

2.TheRoleofMarketingatXBank
Thisisanoverviewofhowmarketingworksatyourbankandwhatfallsundermarketing.Asyouknow,
marketingsrolevarieswidelyfrombanktobank.Iftheroleatyourbankisnotclearlydefined,yourmanagers
perceptionswilldefaulttowhateverwaspracticedattheirlastemployer.Onceyouhaveafinalstatementapproved
byyourPresident,askhim/hertoendorseitpublicly.Provideacopytoallbankofficersandhaveitincludedin
HRsnewofficerpacket.Thisdocumentwillchangeovertimeasmarketingchangesandyourmanagementsvision
forMarketingevolves.

WhatfunctionsfallunderMarketing?

WhatauthoritydoesMarketinghave?

WhathastobereviewedbyMarketing?

WhathastobeapprovedbyMarketing?

Basically,howdoesmarketingworkatyourbank?

3.MarketingFunctionsatXBank
Thisisasimplevisualdiagramoftheprimaryfunctionsthatfallundermarketingatyourbank.Seemyseparatepost
onmarketingfunctionsformoreinfo.

4.MarketingFunctionsbyPosition
Ifyouhaveothermarketingstaff,itishelpfultocreateavisualdiagramofwhateachpersoninyourdepartment
does.

Clarifiesroles.

Preventsthingsfromdroppingthruthecracks.

Helpsbankstaffknowwhotogotowhenmanagerisnotavailable.

Savestimeformarketingstaffandbankmanagers.

5.OverallMarketingPlan
Thisplanoutlinesyourdepartmentsmajorfocusfortheyear.Seniormanagementwillrarelytakethetimetoread
anepistle(Iknowthisfromexperience)solimitthisoneto35pages,ifpossible.Itisreallyabigpictureviewyour

primarygoalsandprojectsfortheyear.Savethedetailsforyourspecificimplementationplansthatyoudevelop
later.

Listtheprimarygoalsyourbankhasforthecomingyearthatapplytomarketing.

Brieflyaddresshowmarketingwillsupporteachofthesegoals.

Listothermajormarketinggoalsforyear.

Brieflydescribemarketingsmajorprojectsandkeyinitiativesthatsupportthesegoals.

Listanymajorchangesyouplantomakewithinmarketing.

6.MajorMarketingProjectsCalendar
Ihighlyrecommendthatyoucreateaquarterlycalendarlistingallmajorprojectsforyourdepartment.Eachmonth,
itprovidesaquickoverviewofallprojectsbycategory.Thistypeofcalendariscentraltoeverythingyoudoin
marketing.Italsoservesasaguideasyoudevelopyourbudgetandprepareyourwrittenplans.

BetterMarketingManagement

Ensuresyouhaveapromotionplanforeverymonthandallofyourcommunicationvehiclesarecovered

Reducesschedulingconflicts

Helpsmarketingplanaheadandschedulework

Youcaneasilymoveprojectstoothermonths

Greatbudgetingtool

BetterInbankCommunications

Departmentheadsknowwhattoexpecteachmonth

Clearlydemonstratesthebreadthofmarketingresponsibilities.

7.ProjectImplementationPlans
Thesearebasicallydetailedplansforallofyourmajorprojects,andtheyserveasimplementationguides.Complex
plansoftenincludetasklistsoutliningkeytasks,responsibilitiesanddeadlines.Withintheseplansyoushould
answerallthebasicquestions:Why?Whatarethegoals?Whatareyougoingtodotomeetthosegoals?How?
When?Whatresourceswillbeneeded?Howwillyoumarket/communicatetoemployees,customers,etc.?Howwill
youmeasuresuccess?Thereareseveralapproachesyoucantakeindevelopingtheseplans.

Plansbasedonthemarketingfunction
(PublicRelationsPlan,AdvertisingPlan,SalesSupportPlan,ResearchPlan,etc.)

Plansbasedonproducts/productgroups/deliverychannels
(PersonalDepositAccountsPromotionPlan,PersonalLoansPromotionPlan,BusinessServicesPlan,
Online/MobileServicesPlan,etc.)

Plansbasesonkeymarketsegments
(Seniorcitizens,homebuyers,ethnicgroups,smallbusiness,agricultural,retailmerchants,etc.)

Plansformajorprojectsandinitiatives
(CustomerAppreciationBBQPlan,ImplementinganOnboardingProgram,IntroducingaNewWebsite,
OpeningaNewBranch,etc.)

Itslikelyyouwillusemorethanoneoftheseapproaches,dependingonyourprioritiesfortheyear.Forexample,
youmaycreateanoverallpublicrelationsplanaswellasindividualmajoreventplans.Whilethiswilltakealotof
effortthefirstyear.But,forannualprojects,eachyearyouwillsimplyreviewandupdatetheplan,whichsimplifies
theprocess.
8.MarketingBudget
Developingadetailedmarketingbudgetisanimportantwaytoplanforallofyourexpenses.Somebanksjustgive
marketinganoveralldollaramountandotherswantyoutodocumenteveryplannedexpense.Regardlessofhow
yourbankdoesit,youarestillresponsibleformanagingtothebottomline.Ipreferdevelopingadetailedbudgetfor
eachmarketingaccountandthenmonitoringactualexpensescomparedtobudget.Onceyouputthissystemin
place,itiseasytotrackvariancesandplanforeachnewbudgetyear.

ItemsthatWillHelpYouPrepareaDetailed,RealisticMarketingBudget

YourMajorMarketingProjectsCalendar

Notesfromyoumeetingswiththekeyusersofyourmarketingservices

Marketingplanningsessionnotes

Lastyearsprojectfilesandnotesonwaystoimprove

YourFutureIdeasFilefullofideasyouvegatheredoverthepast12months

Lastyearsbudgetandactualexpenses(alsohelpfultokeepcopiesofactualinvoicesfortwoyearsfor
reference)

Estimatesandbidsforanynewproposals

Inventoryreportsandusagepatternssoyouknowwhatyouneedtoreorderaswellasupdatedbidsonany
ongoinginventoryitems

BenefitsofaComprehensiveBudget

Withrealnumbers,seniormanagementcanmakebudgetdecisionsbasedonthevalueversusactualcost.Is
thisprojectworthittothebank?

Asyoubuildaccuratebudgets(nopadding),managementwilldevelopconfidenceinthenumbersyou
provideinthefuture.

Whenyourmanagementaddsanewprogramorcampaign,youllbeabletoquicklygaugetheimpacton
thebudgetandhowmuchyouwillneedtocutinotherareas.

CommonMarketingBudgetApproaches
Thereareseveralwaysthatbanksdeterminehowmuchmoneytheywillallocateformarketing.

Common Methods Used to Create Bank Marketing Budgets

ObjectiveandTaskMethod:Thebudgetisdevelopedbasedonthebanksbusinessgoalsastheyrelated
tomarketing,majorprojectsfortheyearandwhatmarketingneedstoaccomplish.Thisisthemethodmost
marketersprefer.Theamountsvaryfromyeartoyear,dependingonwhatisinthedepartmentstodolist.

PercentageMethod:Thisisanarbitrarynumberusuallybasedonapercentageofassets(1/10thof1%)or
apercentageofrevenue(1012%ofannualrevenue)ifthebankisnotplanninganymajorgrowthinitiatives.

CompetitiveParityMethod:Budgetisroughlybasedonwhatkeycompetitorsarespending,asestimated
byyourbank.Thisdoesnottakeintoaccountdifferencesinmarkets,bankstrategies,goals,etc.

IncrementalMethod:Budgetissetusingabaseamountplusanincrementalincreaseeachyear,
dependingoninflation,currentgrowthrate,orsomeotherfactor.

SomeCombination:Commonly,banksusethepercentagemethodtoestablishatargetamountandthen
usetheobjective/tasktodeterminehowfundswillbeallocatedwithinthatamount.