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Inbound Marketing for Bank CMOs: 3 Steps to Better Lending Leads

It's tough being the CMO at a bank or credit union.

Being a bank CMO is tough

No one would argue that point with you. But instead of dwelling on the reasons why it’s true, let’s look instead at why bank CMOs and business lending leaders should pay close attention to inbound marketing programs built for your lending business. Fact is, they can significantly increase your business loan portfolio profitability over time. Inbound marketing programs definitely do not suck.

Inbound marketing – the short description

At its most simple, inbound marketing consists of attracting prospects and nurturing the relationship along until, ideally, they become new customers - in three basic steps.

  1. Attract Visitors/Prospects

  • Draft targeted content to reach specific prospect personas (mid-tier accounting firms, for example), and publish on blogs and social media
  • Focus on information, education, and tools to address common business problems and resolve pain points for this business sector
  1. Convert Prospects to Leads

  • Include an offer or call to action to attract interested new visitors to a dedicated landing page on your website
  • Once on the landing page, provide a way to receive the offerered item, capture the visitor’s business and contact information to enter into your CRM system, and send them to a dedicated thank-you page
  1. Follow up with Leads and Close the Sales

  • Follow up with sequenced communication to the new leads
  • Provide fresh information about loan availability or additional tips and ideas to help the business run more smoothly and successfully
  • Track contacts and responses on your CRM system until the loan sale is made, and beyond

The best part is of all this is the ROI can be measured and tracked!

That’s what sets an inbound program apart from traditional types of outbound bank marketing activity. Since we know where the leads are coming from, we can track their behavior and our success with them

Of course, the best and most effective way to appreciate this is to see it firsthand using numbers of your choosing. You'll see exactly how a consistent inbound marketing program could measurably improve your business banking marketing ROI.

 

Topics: Inbound for Financial Institutions