Question

Financial services certainly have their hands full in the light of the novel coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19). Banks must also manage direct impact of COVID-19, put plans in place to protect its employees and customers from its spread. As the two months old newly appointed head of marketing for KANS Ghana Bank ( a local bank) critically discuss Five (5) out of the seven extended marketing mix strategies the bank can undertake in order to achieve medium to long term positioning and gain competitive advantage amidst COVID-19 pandemic. .

Answer 1

A fundamental shift in customer behavior is expected in the banking sector- a decrease in the physical branch visits is certain with an immediate increase in online transactions, peer to peer payments, wallet usages, etc. The countries with the earliest impact of the virus⁠—China and Italy⁠— have already seen a 20% increase in online transactions. It’s up to the banks now to step up their game to convert more of these experiences into positive stories for long-term digital adoption.

The crisis has also led to an increase in demand for certain banking products. For example, McKinsey has already projected an increase in demand for mortgage refinancing in the US.

Keep Your Digital Channels Open

The last thing your customer wants to face is not being able to reach your bank. Banks need to keep all their digital channels open and proactively update their customers much before they feel the need to reach out for help, especially in times of crisis.

Build a Safety-First Omni-Channel Reachout Plan

It is important that banks inform their customers about the safety-related precautions such as:

• Hygiene steps taken to sanitize the branches, ATMs, currency notes, special trainings to banking correspondents, etc
• Employee-hygiene measures like daily temperature check, usage of sanitizers and protective equipment
• Steps that need to be taken for customers who have no other option than visiting the branch—appointments, maintaining distances in queues, etc
• Special provisions for the old and vulnerable sections
• Possibilities of COVID-related phishing emails, unauthorized KYC requests, etc.

Design Relevant and Helpful Customer Journeys

Banks need to be prepared to meet these potential customers wherever they are—yes, even on messaging apps. According to PwC’s report, the “new normal” for financial services institutions is to meet the demand for being customer-centered, and that means offering seamless omnichannel experiences. Especially at these times when users are bombarded with multiple brands, banks should use customer journey mapping tools to engage with customers beyond the traditional financial channels

Adopt New Technologies

Not every new technology will benefit your bank but staying on top of technology trends and curves will help you to stay competitive and keep your bank’s marketing plans fresh. For example, big banks are integrating automation and AI to create 24/7 customer service, automated approval for loans and mortgages, and even custom and personalized services. You should, at the least, offer strong digital banking and an app to cater to millennial and Generation Z audiences. However, if you do choose to adopt the technology, you should ensure that what you are offering is high quality.

Can chatbots and similar technologies actually help? If you look at your chatbot as something of an interactive FAQ, they’re often much more helpful than an exhaustive FAQ, simply because customers can find answers more quickly and can ask questions in more intuitive wa

Push Digital Apps and Services

Today, an estimated 77% of the U.S. population has an active social media account. The same percentage of Americans also own smartphones. Many individuals are moving away from in-person banking and towards digital banking, which is convenient, easy to use, and often significantly faster. If you have a quality digital app or web portal and ideally both, you should make them part of your marketing strategies for banking products and share them with your entire audience. You can do so by creating marketing campaigns and social media campaigns, but also by offering training, safety information, and tutorials geared towards older users who might not be as tech-savvy as younger generations.

Focus on Customer Outreach

Customer outreach is increasingly important as a marketing strategy for banks, simply because many banks are focusing on digital and social media marketing. Connecting with consumers on a one-to-one basis and actually making human connections can do significantly more for customer relationships than any amount of online marketing for banks. However, you will have to add real value to customer outreach. For example, you can choose to offer courses and workshops on financial literacy, online security, or even mobile banking. You can also choose to give quick one-on-one consultations, offer insight into investment portfolios, or whatever else suits your bank’s brand and customer demographic.

Create COVID-Sensitive Products & Services

Unlike in the past, banks are diversified to address different needs of the customer. In the times of crisis these are some of the immediate steps you can consider:

• Increase the limits for online transactions
• Offer payment holidays, moratorium for loans, relaxation in EMIs, less stringent KYC norms, waiving minimum balance charges, relaxing additional authentication for family members, easier password reset steps and more
• Also offer emergency credit facilities, access to fixed savings accounts, and products like loans & insurance at discounted rates

While these initiatives can be of real help to the customers, banks need to make sure it reaches to the right beneficiaries. Utilizing interest clusters and predictive audiences based on AI are some of the proven ways banks can explore.