In the era of digital transformation, the customer experience continues to be a top priority for banks and credit unions. A combination of legacy technologies and limited digital support and account opening capabilities has led many financial services marketers to launch brand new websites in 2020 – this should come as no surprise.
What is surprising is just how far many of the leading banks still need to go, “In an era of digital self-service, 50 percent of the top 20 banks don’t offer an option to open an account online, and several lack a mobile-optimized site.”
EXTRACTABLE
The good news is that if you’re a digital marketer in financial services, there is still plenty of opportunity to stand out from the crown with a new site. If your company truly wants to offer a “digital customer experience”, it’s imperative to get these things right and capitalize on long-term digital growth.
The focus for new website launches should be value over volume.There are two key questions to ask:
We have found that there are three critical pieces that should be a focal point of your bank’s new website.
1. The Technologies Matter – Focus on a delightful experience.
You are no longer competing with the other banks for people’s attention online – you are now competing with tech startups born in the digital era. This requires an entirely different set of requirements and it means that people’s expectations have changed. The visitors coming to your site may have just been browsing on Amazon or watching Netflix and they expect a fast, well designed experience. Below are some key areas that most banks overlook:
2. Don’t Sell Yourself Short – Digitize the entire customer journey
The marketing funnel is not dead – it’s just more complicated. There are simply many more channels and tactics involved. The funnel was originally built around the stages of the buyer journey and those stages still exist today however most bank websites are not designed to offer full funnel support.
Most bank and credit union websites are built to provide information at the middle of the funnel – these websites do a good job of answering questions like: what products and services are offered? What are your rates? Where can I get information on your Mortgage products?
What is missing from most bank and credit union websites are the bookends: The top of the funnel financial education tools, and bottom of the funnel digital application and account opening capabilities.
3. Consistency is Key – Ensure a reliable, branded experience
Since banks first started launching websites, the focus has been on one thing: the banks. These websites were designed as another way for banks to talk about the many benefits of all the products and services offered. However this meant that these websites were built for the banks, not for the customers.
This legacy approach to the customer experience has left many financial services marketers hamstrung by antiquated technologies. Many websites today are a quilt of different technologies layered on top of each other to provide the most capabilities. Here are three key items most site launches overlook:
In summary, there is a big opportunity to stand out and capitalize on the digital transformation wave with a new website. The keys are to focus on how people are going to use the site and then how the underlying technologies are going to work together.
At Chimney, we offer premier top of the funnel calculators that fit seamlessly into the branded design and the customer journey. Our tools are easy to use, beautifully designed, and drive real business results.
Get in touch today and we’ll show you customized calculators in one call.