Why You Must Continue Marketing

No matter what business you’re in, it’s time to start thinking differently about your marketing. I’m not just talking about cutting costs. Sure, many of us will have to or have done that already. I’m talking about making a fundamental shift in how you think about marketing for the here and now. I’m talking about the messaging you are putting out now, and how important it is for that messaging to be a reflection of who you are as a brand. What you stand for. What you believe. What you want others to believe about your brand.

At Bank Iowa, we have taken the following approach: We have replaced all product- and service-related ads with our straight branding. The reason we did this was that people aren’t necessarily thinking about starting a new business today. They aren’t thinking about setting up a new business checking account. They are thinking about how to survive these times. This goes for both consumer and business audiences. Once we realized that this is our customers’ new reality, the type of messaging had to change.

So yes. We are still advertising. But, the branding is our choice of message. That’s because when the dust clears, and God willing it will, we want people to know that Bank Iowa is here to help, however help looks post dust.

We haven’t cut any paid media yet. But when we do, we will be incredibly tuned into the consequences of our choices. We will think long and hard about who it hurts vs. who it helps. What I mean by that is we have to stay true to our roots, who we are as a community bank. With that mindset, we will not be immediately cutting any local newspaper or local radio advertising. These types of companies are hurting right now, and they are in many ways the backbone of our communities. They create a place where people in Shenandoah, for example, get their local news on stations like KMA-Land, or, in Humboldt, where the Humboldt Independent newspaper delivers global news with a Humboldt slant.

We have changed our approach to social media, as well. We are pulling back product- and service-oriented content to be more thoughtful as to what our community members actually need right now.

This week we are promoting a digital Easter egg hunt on our website. The cancellation of Easter egg hunts everywhere was the inspiration, and for those stuck at home, why not let people have some fun hunting eggs - while also bringing traffic to our new website? We are posting clues on where to find the eggs on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

We will be posting coloring pages and activity sheets from a book we published last year, Eleanor Saves the Day. The book was part of a Young Savers Account promotion we ran, but none of the social content we are posting at this unique time in history suggests community members should sign up for an account. Instead, people stuck at home can have pages to color, and activities like math, crosswords and mazes to complete.

We are also creating an outreach program that offers a helping hand to community organizations in need. Recipients of these donations could take on a variety of forms, but the idea again holds true to who we are as a community bank, while also furthering our new “Let’s make it happen” messaging campaign.

We have created a support page to let our customers and those who want to bank with us know about our changes in hours of operation. With lobby closings and drive-thru services open, changes are happening rapidly. We talk about this on social and in the print advertising that remains.

We have created communications around the Cares Act and specifically how we can help our customers maximize their opportunity with the Paycheck Protection Program. Our job as marketers on this has been easy, as the lending team has literally been working 24/7 to get these applications processed through one of the biggest undertakings the federal government has ever taken on.

We are also considering things like webinars to help our agriculture customers navigate a cloudy future and looking for other ways we can simply help or add value to their worlds. Ag customers, if you have ideas, give me a shout!

Internal marketing should also not be forgotten. We are doing our best to keep our team members informed with almost daily updates. As an example, our HR department developed pandemic PTO and rotating schedules to minimize exposure to others. We have done internal videos to keep folks up to date and provided them with as many resources as we can. These include tools for working remotely, educational resources for families, access to free health care services and information on how to properly help a team member who has become ill.

We are in the enviable position of being able to keep our strategic marketing partners busy. Working remotely has its challenges, specifically collaborating as a marketing team. But in reality, we’ve been working with our marketing partners remotely anyway. Our conversations rarely occur in person; email, phone calls and video chat typically get the job done. These partners include our ad agency, our PR firm, a video content firm and our digital partner, all of whom are no doubt questioning the future and are most likely more grateful than ever for the business. These partners have supported us well over the years, and we’ve taken the approach to find ways to support them now. We send them the strategic ideas we have, and they have been encouraged, by us, to do the same. The results are almost magical in how they help bring our basic visions to great creative light.

To close, I implore you to continue marketing. Continue to support your partners if you can. While it’s certainly easier to pull back, pivoting in a way that reflects your brand’s best version of itself will undoubtedly help you win in the long run.

I wish you good health and safety as we navigate through these unprecedented times. 

Josh Fleming is the Vice President of Marketing for Bank Iowa, Iowa’s second largest family-owned financial institution.