How Banks Can Increase Customer Engagement in the New Normal
Before the lockdown, online and mobile banking was on the rise. But changes in the way we live and work hugely fast-tracked this shift to digital channels. As we move towards a post-pandemic world, here are some winning customer engagement strategies in banking and finance – for today and the years to come.
A customer engagement roadmap for the new normal
With the future still uncertain, banks must continue to iterate and redesign their customer engagement strategies to demonstrate that they understand and cater to their customers’ changing needs and financial situations.
Customer engagement strategies in banking and finance must start with personalization:
- Encourage adoption of digital services by customers who have never used online banking and engage them to build their confidence in transacting cashless or online
- Show you care, and use digital channels proactively to reach out to customers. For vulnerable customers and essential workers, go the extra mile and inform them about dedicated branch timings. For senior citizens, personalize your communications on WhatsApp, and use SMS as a failover to ensure they’re always in the loop
- Analyze customer insights, and create behavioral triggers such as financial goal setting, emergency funds for those who over withdraw or running short on account balance, and lookalike audiences to send relevant messages
- Proactively engage by giving customers insights into their spending patterns, and notify them of any upcoming payments
Use smart segmentation to build relationships
Here’s how to use segmentation for a customer engagement strategies that provide personalization, at scale:
- Re-evaluate your customer segmentation, and adopt a behavior-based approach to personalize customer engagement.
- Identify financially at-risk customers to engage them with benefits plans, or short-term loans. For example, employees who haven’t received their salary, self-employed individuals who have seen a dry spell, and businesses who are ineligible for Covid-19 relief funds.
- Create segments based on customer transaction activity to offer credit support and proactive credit reviews to help them take early action.
Value-driven customer engagement strategies in banking
Effective customer engagement strategies in banking depend on your organization’s ability to gather insights and recognize customers’ needs and sentiments, at every step in the customer journey.
Show support for customers’ current and future financial needs by educating them on how changes to financial products and services affect them, and how to manage money better in times of uncertainty.
The new normal for banking and financial services is digital first with a human touch. So invest in creating moments of engagement your customers value.
Banks and financial institutions must take advantage of marketing innovation, and customer engagement hubs such as our Moments, and be there for their customers.
