There are many ways to bring in new accounts for your institution. The bigger question is, which strategies will give you the most bang for your buck?

Direct marketing is one approach that we have seen generate consistent results for community financial institutions. What makes direct marketing such an effective way to drive sign-ups? The ability to deliver a relevant message right to the electronic or physical inbox of the customer.

This method relies heavily on the relationship of trust you’ve built with your clients. The more they trust you, the more likely they are to read your message, and the more likely you are to get a response.

Direct marketing is a powerful tool for driving new account sign-ups and the execution matters a great deal. Although electronic mail seems technologically superior to physical mail, when it comes to marketing execution — they are different tools, each ideal for different jobs.

Direct Mail

First, let’s set the record straight regarding direct mail vs. email. Mailing promotions directly to consumers’ street addresses works and it works well. In a case study with a mid-size credit union offering Kasasa, the institution saw a per-account acquisition cost that was 40% lower than the industry average! Additionally they saw 340 new accounts opened, resulting in $3.2 million in new, non-Kasasa deposit balances with a $3.1 million increase in loan balances across 164 new loans.

Here’s what you need to know about direct mail: the upfront costs require careful planning, but the return on investment pays off in the metrics that really matter. Kasasa can help you by designing a direct mail campaign based off real-world experience. We can help you maximize your mailing list and bring your revenue targets within reach.

Direct Marketing With Email

Email is fast, email is efficient, and email seems easy. But the reality is nuanced. While the goal remains the same as direct mail — deliver a relevant message to the consumer and convert them with a compelling offer and call to action — the execution is very different.

The benefit of email is that it’s a low-cost way to test offers and see how your customers respond. The cost difference between sending an email to 10,000 people or 100,000 people is marginal, whereas direct mail is priced per piece. Consequently, the upfront costs of email are lower than direct mail, however, the conversion rates are also lower.

Translation? In order to see the same volume of new sign-ups as a direct mail campaign, you have to increase the scale of the email campaign, possibly many times over.

On the plus side, email is an agile way to deliver important messages to your customers. You also have more detailed tracking metrics for measuring customer engagement. Email allows for you to bring a fresh offer to market with comparatively little development time and to see the results almost immediately.

Which one should you pick?

Marketing reaches maximum effectiveness when delivered in a multipronged approach. We’ve helped many institutions increase sign-ups using both techniques. Ultimately it comes down to identifying which goals are most important to you and then assembling a precise blend of direct marketing that can help you accomplish those goals.

Here’s a possible scenario: you allocate for 3-4 direct mail campaigns in the coming year and then fill in the space between them with email campaigns. This will give you the flexibility of email with the robust response that comes from direct mail.

It’s easy to make direct marketing a part of your overall strategy. Simply contact your Marketing Project Manager and he or she would be happy to explore the possibilities with you.