Pub. 2 2014 Issue 1

www.uba.org 24 MaximizeWhat You (Already) KnowAbout Your Account Holders BigData or Smart Data? MARKET ING B ig data is a big deal. It’s the topic of much debate at finan- cial institutions and the cause of a lot of marketing angst. The big issue about big data is this: What do you do with it? How do you leverage all of the internal and external data you have to positively impact your financial institution? How do you use it to make the most of your marketing budget? If you’re not sure how to answer these questions, you’re not alone. IBM’s survey of CMOs showed that 71 percent of marketers say they feel unprepared when it comes to dealing with “data explosion.” 1 A Gartner study projects that by 2017, CMOs will spend more money on IT than CIOs will spend. 2 And as a prescient Advertising Age article warns, “Thanks to an explosion of data from social media platforms, call centers, transactions, loyalty programs, registries and more, CMOs who want a seat at the table will have to harness customer data and leverage it — or risk being relegated to chief promotions officer.” 3 So it’s time to make friends with big data — to understand its power and figure out how to harness and leverage it for your insti- tution. The key, of course, is to make the data meaningful, extract precisely the information that’s relevant to the account holder interaction at hand, and present it in a way that’s actionable. Here are just a few examples of how big data can work for you: Fine-Tuning In-Branch Service Your account holders assume that your institution “knows” them. It’s a valid expectation. After all, thanks to loyalty programs, they are “known” by the grocery stores they shop in and receive targeted coupons for brands they typically buy there. Thanks to web-tracking cookies, your account holders are “known” by their online favorites, from news sites to shoe retailers, which suggest stories or sandals based on their browsing habits. Why isn’t your financial institution — which likely handles your account hold- ers’ most valuable assets — showing its knowledge of personal preferences and needs accordingly? Moreover, your institution likely touts its account holder service as a unique benefit. You may even promote your bank or credit union as one where account holders get friendly, personal atten- tion. But how do you show it? For example, your CRM systems should be fed by data to reflect what you know about your account holders. Can your CRM alert tellers to which account holders have recently received direct mailers so that they can follow up with these promotions at the teller window? Does a high account balance trigger a suggestion that the account holder meet with an investment advisor? Does an apartment address remind your customer service representa- tive that a home equity loan discussion would be moot? Your institution certainly “knows” this type of information, and your CRM should feed tellers and platform employees exactly what they need to know about each account holder on the first CRM screen they encounter. The same goes for call centers. Big Data or Smart Data? How to Maximize What You (Already) Know About Your Account Holders % of marketers say they feel unprepa ed when it comes to the dealing with “data explosion.” 1 71