Thanks to all who joined our Service in Action call last Friday that detailed our Annual Panel of Peers; I wanted to highlight some of the points discussed and general conclusions on our industry.
Overall, the sales or market penetration is down for many businesses yet the web continues to shine. On the selling-side the web accounts for 10-17 % of traditional cross-channel merchants, yet Q1 shows a growth rate of 47-83 % for these companies. On the banking side the number of deposits has increased dramatically because people are disinvesting/ diverting from the stock market. Branch visits and ATM transactions are down – but online transactions have more than doubled since December 2008 mainly because people are paying more attention to their accounts and offers. Consumers are seeking the best offer and most valuable information online so it is up us to present more relevance, better targeted offers and insure that these offers can be easily realized.
To accomplish, all you have to do is invest in your online marketing program – email has to be a driving force towards engagement. Applying precise targeting, effective segmentation, personalization and relevant content are the next levels to gain the necessary interaction… this won’t be accomplished without investing in your people, as attention continues to shift to online, marketers must sustain growth and apply to other channels. This requires added focus and possibly doubling (tripling) your resources on the online channel.
If you would like to receive a copy of the summary presentation detailing our Annual Conference and some of the best practices learned simply email us and make plans to attend upcoming calls and events.
