Tech, social and AI are table stakes for marketers

Editor’s Note: BankBeat reached out to 15 marketing professionals to ask how they manage today’s marketing challenges and learn how they make the most of today’s opportunities. This is the final in a three-part series capturing their responses. The first and second parts of the series were published online May 1 and May 8, respectively. Technology, including social media and AI promise to be an equalizer for marketers, allowing small banks to achieve big reach — if that’s their goal. Marketers are using AI cautiously, if at all..At Bravera Bank, “we’re utilizing generative AI to increase productivity for internal tasks such as analyzing data, summarizing meeting notes, and assisting with written communication,” said Chief Marketing Officer Kelsey Dahl. “We are not currently using AI to drive campaign and content creation.” .AI is “a marketer’s dream, within reason,” said Karen Ramola, vice president of retail banking at New Market Bank in Elko New Market, Minn. She said it’s a great “brainstorming tool” but will not use its content output without substantial editing. She also won’t use AI for image creation, preferring instead to incorporate photos of staff and their families, with permission.AI is a productivity boon, streamlining writing and proofing processes, said Amy Radcliffe, marketing manager and head of a three-person team at $1.37 billion Bank Midwest in Spirit Lake, Iowa. “Our current focus with AI is centered around integrating it with our data systems,” she said.By and large, marketers are turning to AI for writing help, feeding those hungry blogs, for instance. Yet they are careful to adapt the content to their institution. “If every bank is using the same AI tools to write a blog, we’re all going to sound alike,” said Jeff McCarthy, senior vice president and marketing director at Bank Five Nine in Oconomowoc, Wis.Beyond writing, AI is useful to generate headlines, meta descriptions, teasers and social media posts. North American Banking Co. Assistant Vice President Marketing Tim Martinson said this allows his lenders to come to him with “a shell of an idea,” and off he goes.Samantha Hvidsten, retail and marketing manager for First National Bank of Moose Lake, Minn., doesn’t use AI tools at all, considering them to be anathema to banking. While she uses it personally, “it can be very scary for those who don’t understand what it’s used for.” First National Bank of Moose Lake doesn’t allow AI tools on any computer that is connected to the bank’s server. As much as social media can be a time suck for the average user, imagine having to feed all those channels with content. With its omni-channel approach, Daniel Bateman Girondo, chief marketing officer, said Midwest BankCentre deploys AI to achieve consistency across platforms. “We’ve trained AI tools, including chatbots and content models, on our brand voice,” she said. “We use them to help iterate messaging across channels, adapting each for the nuances of the channel while maintaining coherence.” The bank also uses AI as “a thought partner” for research and brainstorming.At the much much smaller Key Community Bank, Vice President of Cash Management Holly Christenson is feeding nine social channels, up from two late last year. When she joined the bank two years ago, it only had a presence on Facebook and LinkedIn. “No one really had it as an assigned role,” Christenson said, and the content strategy had “no rhyme or reason to it.”This year, the bank is building up its presence in stages on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Threads, YouTube, Pinterest, Nextdoor, X and Google. “As an institution, we’ve decided to really invest in social media as our primary source of marketing,” Christenson said. It uses a third-party vendor to assist. She provides content and they pretty it up and post. “I don’t know of another institution our size that has gone all in on social media marketing like we have.”Results bring supportMany banking leaders understand and value marketing, said Karina Wiatros, VP, director of marketing and communications at BankIn Minnesota. But then “plenty don’t.” Getting management to understand that it takes time and resources to reach and convert an audience can be key. After all, marketing is necessary for continued growth. Of the bankers who shared insights with us, all said leadership had their backs.“I feel most supported when senior management brings us into the conversation,” Bruins said. There’s danger in being defined as “the swag” people, therefore “I want us to continually show up and be a strategic partner.”Katelyn Schwery, marketing leader at First Security Bank & Trust in Charles City, Iowa, reports to the bank’s chief administration officer, who is part of the senior management team. “We meet each week to discuss what’s coming up and how marketing can help,” she said. Senior management also invites Schwery to sit in on meetings that involve marketing strategy and communications.Support comes in varying forms, including financial. Management at Bridgewater supports its marketing team, said Senior Vice President of Marketing Jessica Stejskal, by “giving me the funding I need to do the work…allowing the headcount on the marketing team to grow … is an important piece, too.”Delivering ROI also cements support for outreach. After having spent money on postcards and a billboard, with nothing to show for it, Christenson embraced social media advertising. In February, the bank ran three ads on three different platforms, spending less than $500. “We had 158,590 impressions. 691 clicks. These were targeted at a checking account in particular,” she said. “You could barely mail out any postcards and certainly couldn’t have a billboard for that price, and it’s really the best way to spend your marketing dollars if you don’t have a whole lot to play with or you’re targeting younger generations in particular.”Generally, Dahl considers Bravera’s senior management as an extension of its marketing team. “The Bravera brand is not just a logo and it’s not just marketing — it’s our people,” important where marketing priorities reflect company strategic goals.Ultimately, support is easiest to garner when outcomes are delivered, said Bateman Girondo. “Our work is directly tied to top- and bottom-line growth, and tightly aligned to enterprise goals.” she said. “There’s a shared understanding that marketing is not a cost center.”