I get a lot of searches for different industries looking for useful marketing ideas. One of the terms I see show up now and again is Bank Marketing Ideas. I can’t help but wonder how fierce the competition in the banking industry is. The whole banking system is set up cleverly to make a lot of money. That is, if you have customers.

Every bank needs a sign

Whoever implemented the first digital time / temperature sign at a bank was a genius. That person deserves a medal. I mean really, they do. Every day on the way to and from work you look to see the time and outdoor temperature. It just so happens you also see the name of the bank displaying the sign, reinforcing its brand recognition.

Although, displaying the time in military time (where the day starts at 00:00 and ends at 23:59) and the temperature in Celsius (most Americans don’t know what that is) would be a more unconventional marketing idea. That would cause people to stop and think for a second. That would be reason enough for someone to talk about what they just saw. The effects might be minimal, but you never know. It would be fun to watch people drive by staring at the sign (with your brand on it).

To go even further, why not put up a daily trivia question? Or a random daily fact. People might even drive by your bank every day just to read the trivia question!

Free money

People love free money, almost as much as they love air. In Seth Godin’s book, Free Prizes, he told a bank advertising manager to slip a few $100s into the ATM. People would talk then. Mission accomplished.

Imagine someone pulls up to the ATM at midnight on a Saturday on his way to the next watering hole and he requests $40 and gets $120 instead. Would he go to the bar and promptly tell everyone? How much would you want to bet the bar clears out and a mass of people start withdrawing from that machine? I am willing to bet that each $50-100 you put in the pile to replace a $20 would be redeemed in the astronomical charges implemented at the only machine in town dispensing cash at 4 a.m. on a Saturday.

Stop with the fees already

Banks charge way too many fees, for everything. In a room with 100 people in it, not one would suggest otherwise. Set yourself apart from the crowd and stop charging fees. Maybe you opt out of fees and opt into advertising services like credit help, financial counseling or long-term planning and management of money. Perhaps you break all the rules and say no one will ever be charged a fee so long as they accept advertisements about these great services you can offer them.

What kind of marketing idea generator said its OK to add random fees to a bunch of different accounts and then promptly remove them with no questions asked when a customer asks what they are for? I mean, if the person whose job it is to dispense and receive monies can simply remove the fee on a whim, that fee should not be there. But I am willing to bet that people are happy when those fees are removed and do not report the devious nature of the fee to others. On the other hand, all of those people who don’t know how to check their accounts or balance checkbooks simply get feed to death.

Please upgrade your website

If Mint.com can offer a free budgeting service and attract thousands of people by crunching numbers and displaying them in charts, so can you. Mint.com makes money by referring people to credit card and mortgage companies. I would use a budgeting service if my bank offered it. A lot of the people who use my bank would too. Other people who don’t use my bank would consider switching or opt in to the free service because of the reputable brand. The problem with Mint.com is that it is not a Wells Fargo, US Bank or JP Morgan. Imagine how many people would be willing to give you a platform to help market other products and services to others. Remember it is always good to promote your competition as long at it is on your terms.

Invest in the community

If your bank supports a nonprofit or charity people can relate to, then you will have more customers just because people want to believe they are part of a good cause. People are emotional. Stories of helping others and photos of people in need play to our emotions and we want to help. Not only that, but once something has reached our emotions, we remember it. If your bank donates a percentage to schools, homeless shelters or dog rescue, potential customers will remember you and maybe even switch to your banking services. And I mean really donate, not just donate a lump sum and then spend twice as much telling everyone about it.

For example, how about using the save your change program to match donations to a school? Some banks have the save your change program where if you spend $2.12 on something they round up to $3 and put the .88 in a savings account for you. For every individual participant, save the change adds up to about $200-300 a year in savings. If my bank offered to match that savings from my save the change participation and donate it all to a local school, animal shelter or whatever, I would probably do it, gladly. I can just picture schools rallying all the parents to switch banks and sign up for your save the change and donate program.

Give out candy and dog treats

My girlfriend always talks about it whenever she goes through a drive-thru of any kind and the person at the window gives her dog a treat. Her cat was even offered a treat once. Kids love to go to the bank with Mom and Dad if they get a piece of candy from the teller. Use this idea and expand on it because adults like free treats too. Maybe on Fridays, everyone or selected people who use the drive-thru get a $5 gas card or a coupon for a free coffee. Or maybe they are offered a special such as a savings account with no minimum balance or the interest waved from their credit card for one month. Or maybe every single person who goes through the drive-thru gets a piece of Godiva chocolate no matter what day it is. People like to be surprised for the better, not that they just incurred $300 in overdraft fees. Use your imagination.

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