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Seven Steps for Identifying the Right Marketing Metrics

WHITE PAPER

FI Marketers Need Proven Metrics to Justify Budgets & Value

WHITE PAPER | Seven Steps for Identifying the Right Marketing Metrics

© Deluxe Enterprise Operations, LLC. All rights reserved. 2

Gone are the days when marketing gauged its worth by the volume of ads,

marketing materials and promotional content it pumped into the sales

stream. These days, if you want a reasonable marketing budget, you’ll have

to prove you deserve it.

CFOs and CEOs expect quantifiable evidence that your efforts support the

KPIs of the institution, and that they yield a respectable ROI. If marketers

cannot make this case, the marketing function will forever be considered an

overhead expense, rather than a powerful cylinder in the revenue engine.

The problem is, most marketers don’t believe they have the information

they need to build a business case that conveys their value and justifies

their budget.

In a 2013 study by The Financial Brand, only 15 percent of bank and credit

union marketers said they have a good idea how much value they get for

their marketing investment. A mere six percent considered themselves very

sophisticated with their marketing measurements. The bulk of marketers

struggled or relied on guesswork.

The Financial Brand Marketing Survey. 2013

FINANCIAL BRAND MARKETING SURVEY

15% WE HAVE A GOOD IDEA HOW MUCH WE GET FOR OUR MARKETING INVESTMENTS

10% WE HAVE EXHAUSTIVE MARKETING METRICS AND TRACK EVERYTHING WE CAN

© Deluxe Enterprise Operations, LLC. All rights reserved.


3

The Good NewsMarketing Measurement has come a long way… and is now easier

than ever.

Because of advances in technology, data-management, analytics, and

marketing providers who build measurement into every campaign, it is no

longer a burden to track marketing effectiveness against the institution’s

KPIs. Nor is it difficult to establish ROI.

Want to do a better job measuring metrics at your financial institution?

Here’s a best-practices approach to getting started.

“ I want to be able to make a business case for my budget so I am the one to set the number. Right now my marketing budget is dictated by the CEO and CFO.”

– Bank CMO

“ We have to show the CFO that there is scientific evidence and solid strategy behind our marketing decisions. That’s how we earn more C-suite credibility.”

– Deluxe MarketingServices Strategist

0.1%THE FINANCIAL BRAND RECOMMENDS A MARKETING INVESTMENT THAT IS APPROXIMATELY EQUIVALENT TO 0.1 PERCENT OF A RETAIL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION’S ASSETS.

5THE MOST MANAGEABLE NUMBER OF METRICS, ACCORDING TO BUSINESS EXPERTS.



Step One: Embrace AccountabilityJustifying marketing’s value and budget is, at its core, an exercise in

accepting personal accountability. For most marketers, accepting

accountability for their performance means that they will:

• Establish performance metrics that directly support business KPIs

• Measure marketing strategies and tactics quantitatively

• Use relevant performance data to strive for continuous improvement

• Ensure the company’s money is spent on the right strategies and tactics

The Definitive Guide to Marketing Metrics and Analytics by Marketo, a

strategic marketing firm, suggests that denial, fear, and confusion get in the

way of accepting accountability.

THE 5 STAGES OF MARKETING

ACCOUNTABILITY

1 DENIAL “MARKETING IS AN ART, NOT A SCIENCE. IT CAN’T BE MEASURED. THE RESULTS WILL COME; TRUST ME!”

2 FEAR “WHAT IF MY MARKETING ACTIVITIES DON’T IMPACT THE BOTTOM LINE? WILL I LOSE MY JOB?”

3 CONFUSION“I KNOW I SHOULD MEASURE MARKETING RESULTS, BUT I JUST DON’T KNOW HOW.”

4 SELF-PROMOTION“HEY, COME LOOK AT ALL THESE CHARTS AND GRAPHS!”

5 ACCOUNTABILITY “REVENUE STARTS WITH MARKETING.”



Step Two: Know What to MeasureThere are two categories of metrics that you will be expected to measure:

• Revenue metrics – These are measures that show how your marketing

efforts contribute to acquiring new accounts, selling more products and

services, and anchoring or retaining existing accounts.

• Marketing program metrics – These are measures that demonstrate the

effectiveness of your specific campaigns and tactics so you know what is

working, and what is not.

TOP FIVE MARKETING METRICS

COMMONLY USED BY FINANCIAL MARKETERS

Average balance per product

Average total margin% per

product.

Number of (active) products

per customer

Number of customers per front line FTE.

Cost per front line FTE.

$2,568 3.15% 3.6 1,578 $31,200

SourceAccounts Opened

Acquisition Cost

% of Acquisitions

Days to Close

SEM 26 $325 13.9% 7

Web Ad 9 $420 4.0% 12

Direct Mail 96 $126 51.6% 14

Radio 15 $350 8.0% 13

YouTube 7 $210 3.7% 21

Pandora 22 $98 11.8% 24

TV 11 $742 5.9% 16

1. Deposit/loan volume

2. Customer/member growth

3. Depth of relationship, share of wallet

4. Market share

5. Retention

The Financial Brand Marketing Survey. 2013



Step Three: Gain Leadership Agreement on Revenue MetricsIt’s crucial that the CFO and CEO see that marketing is strategically

focused on the revenue goals of the institution. Once you understand your

institution’s revenue priorities and targets, you should discuss and agree

upon metrics that will measure your contribution to these growth goals. For

financial institutions, these are the most tried-and-true revenue metrics.

Number of Leads

• Inquiries or new leads –

The start of the

qualification process.

Marketing reviews

consumer data to see

whether the consumer is a

legitimate prospect.

• Qualified leads – These are

consumers who already

fit with your targeting

strategy and possibly your

propensity-to-buy model.

Number of Conversions

• Conversions – This is when

consumers move to another

phase in the customer

lifecycle and thus fall into a

new campaign category.

Conversion Time

• Velocity – Here’s where

you measure the time it

takes for qualified leads to

become account holders, or

for account holders to move

to an onboarding, cross-sell,

or loyalty phase. Typically,

the higher the velocity,

the higher the ROI of your

campaign.

Nurturing

• Not ready to buy – These

are people who aren’t

ready to buy right now,

but who would be a good

prospect later.

• Re-engagement – People

who, for whatever reason,

fell out of your sales

pipeline and need to be

included as a prospect

again.



Step Four: Set Your NumbersWhen you know what metrics you will measure, the next step is to set goals

for each metric. This process typically involves benchmarking. To set the

right goals, it’s best to know how you are currently performing, as well as

how you have performed in the past. If you do not have access to this type

of history, your goals may have to be educated guesses based on best

practices the first time around.

— Marketing Metrics & Analytics, The Definitive GuideMarketo.com



Step Five: Map Your Revenue MetricsMany marketing plans are represented in a spreadsheet or pages of text.

An emerging best practice is to include a flow chart or diagram of how

the strategies and tactics in the marketing plan map their way back to the

institution’s revenue goals.

Your visual aid can also help manage expectations regarding timing and

expected results. In many ways, marketing is a long-term investment. Some

campaigns will not pay dividends right away. Explain how frequently you

will measure each metric, and how you will show ongoing progress toward

goals.

DELUXE BEST PRACTICEMARKETING IS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT, SO TRACK YOUR MARKETING REVENUE METRICS AS YOU WOULD

TRACK STOCK PERFORMANCE – AS A TREND LINE.

600

500

400

300

200

100

Q1

¢¢ 2013 ¢¢ 2014 • • • 2014 Projected

Q2

New Accounts

Q3 Q4

Step Six: Prepare the Marketing Organization to SucceedTo be able to achieve the revenue metrics established for your team, you

will need to tune up your marketing engine for optimal performance. For

example, Deluxe Marketing Services recommends that you review your

access to high quality:

• Customer demographic and behavioral data

• Analytics and predictive modeling

• Measurement and tracking technologies

• Performance reporting

• Campaign execution, including content, design and distribution

Most financial institutions outsource one or more of these capabilities. As a

best practice, outsource to a company that specialize in financial institution

marketing. These companies have a deep understanding of the relationships

consumers have with their banks and credit unions.



CUSTOMER DEMOGRAPHIC AND BEHAVIORAL DATA

ANALYTICS AND PREDICTIVE MODELING

MEASUREMENT AND TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES

PERFORMANCE REPORTING

CAMPAIGN EXECUTION, INCLUDING CONTENT, DESIGN AND DISTRIBUTION

DATA NEEDED TOSUCCEED

Step Seven: Establish Marketing Program MetricsYes, you need another set of metrics. However, these behind-the-scenes

measurements will help your marketing organization understand what is

working – and what is not. These metrics are tools to guide your decision-

making about future campaigns and approaches.

While there are dozens of possible metrics from which to choose, the

following categories tend to surface to the top, primarily because they are

helpful in calculating campaign ROI.

Leads – Technology and automation can help you track metrics such as the

number of prospects a campaign has generated, which campaign channels

are most effective, and whether a lead was recruited or came in on its own.

Benchmarks – Comparing your work to industry averages provides insight

into how well your programs and campaigns are performing. In general, you

are trying to achieve “lift over last,” which means that your campaigns are

showing continuous improvement.

In tracking lift, most institutions try to track response rates in terms of:

• Offers accepted/coupons redeemed

• Calls to designated phone number

• Email opens & click-throughs

• Visits to web pages (URLs, PURLs, campaign landing pages)

• Time spent on web pages



• Content downloads

• Form completions (and abandonment)

• Outbound “more information” requests from website

Social Media – Many financial institutions track social media activity

because it is easy. However, the jury is out on how the number of “Likes” on

Facebook or followers on Twitter directly supports the quest for revenue.

When it comes to social media, it may be wise to consult a specialized

marketing provider about ways to integrate trackable social media elements

into your lead-generation and product-marketing campaigns. If you go this

route, you may be able to establish truly meaningful metrics.

Data Integrity – To achieve continuous improvement in your marketing

campaigns, your data has to be fresh and accurate. Metrics that relate to

the performance of your lists can illuminate serious issues.

According to Deluxe Marketing Services, many banks choose to outsource

the data and database-management capability because of economies

of scale. Rather than purchase and maintain these immense systems on

their own, it is more cost effective to use a specialized provider who can

integrate the institution’s CRM data with their own massive data warehouse.

Specialized providers also tend to have the industry’s top experts on

analytics and modeling. They can sort through all the data elements, giving

them the proper context, and then weighting them for segmentation and

targeting. After all, if you have accurate lists, but your targeting is off, you

won’t achieve expected response rates.



“LIKE” TO IMPRESS?STAY AWAY FROM METRICS SUCH AS NUMBER OF

LIKES, CLICKS AND DOWNLOADS. THEY MAY BE EASY TO MEASURE, BUT THEY DON’T SHOW THE CEO AND CFO

HOW YOU ARE SUPPORTING REVENUE GROWTH.



How You Can Make the Seven Steps Even EasierEach marketing department has its own unique set of resources and

resource gaps. You may have a powerful database, but lack talented

statisticians. You may have a brilliant in-house design department, but lack

campaign management technology.

To achieve your established metrics, you will need to begin filling your gaps

right away – whether it means hiring, buying, or outsourcing.

If you would like to talk about what is right for your financial institution,

please feel free to call Deluxe Marketing Services. As full-service marketing

experts, they can help you come up with the best way to justify your value

and budget through proven metrics.

WANT MORE INFORMATION ABOUT DELUXE MARKETING SERVICES?

Contact us today.

[email protected]

SEARCH fi.deluxe.com/acquire/acquisition-programs/

CALL877.214.2513

Listen. Solve. Deliver.

mailto:DeluxeFinancialServices%40deluxe.com?subject=More%20info%20about%20Banker%27s%20Dashboard

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About DeluxeSince 1915, Deluxe has been working hard as a partner for financial institutions to

drive deeper customer engagement and more profitable revenue. As the financial

services industry has evolved, Deluxe has been an active participant in shaping it—

with the calm assurance of a company that has done it before.

Today, thanks to collaboration, innovation, and acquisition, Deluxe has an ever-

growing portfolio of retail and commercial banking FinTech solutions focused on

helping our clients manage the customer lifecycle—acquire, onboard, engage, and

operate. Our growing array of inventive, client-inspired solutions are designed to

help our clients grow in a changing, competitive landscape:

• Data and Analytics

• Digital Channels

• Marketing Services

• Performance Management

• Rewards and Loyalty

• Fraud and Risk Solutions

• Check Programs

Learn more at fi.deluxe.com Follow us on our Forward Banker blog

http://fi.deluxe.com/

fi.deluxe.com/community-blog/

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