EMI Strategic Marketing performed a detailed analysis of advertising and marketing expenditures for c. 30 leading U.S. banks and found an 8% rise in spend in 2024, reaching more than $22.5 billion. Bank marketing spend was initially negatively impacted by COVID – falling 18% in 2020 – then it rebounded strongly by 26% in 2021 and 22% in 2022. The rate of growth has averaged 8% over the past two years, in line with a 9% CAGR since 2017.| EMI Strategic Marketing
Financial services B2B marketers have a measurement problem. It seems like every few weeks a new article appears that focuses on a deteriorating relationship between CEOs and CMOs, often driven by concerns from the former about the latter’s ability to drive growth. Giving marketers the benefit of the doubt, I’d argue this is less a case of ability than demonstration.| EMI Strategic Marketing
There is a continued (but slowing) decline in the number of bank branches. Over the past 10 years, the total number of domestic branches for FDIC-insured institutions declined by almost 24% to fewer than 78,000 branches. This equates to an annual average decline of 2.1%. In 2Q21 and 2Q22, the y/y rate of decline exceeded 3%, but this slowed to 1.7% y/y to the end of June 2023.| EMI Strategic Marketing
Recent data shows that while banks continue to cut overall branch numbers, they are also deploying their network across a broader geographic base. These trends are in large part due to digital channels now dominating for everyday banking transactions. As a result, banks are maintaining a less dense network of branches in existing markets; and they are opening de novo branches in expansion markets. | EMI Strategic Marketing
How often| EMI Strategic Marketing
When marketers consider how customers make buying decisions, their focus is usually on purchases, subscriptions or signed contracts. This makes perfect sense inasmuch as those are the decisions that generate revenue. But think for a minute about all the decisions that leads customers to their final decision, e.g., conducting a web search, visiting a web site, downloading – and reading – a case study, clicking a button to subscribe to emails. Without all of those the decisions, the custome...| EMI Strategic Marketing
In its Quarterly Banking Profile, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) reported that commercial & industrial (C&I) loans fell 2.5% y/y to $2,395 billion at the end of 1Q22. However, further analysis provides a more nuanced perspective:| EMI Strategic Marketing
With the ending of SBA Payment Protection Program (PPP) loans, banks’ small business loan portfolios declined significantly in the second half of 2021. However, in line with the economic recovery, the outlook for small businesses appears positive entering 2022 (pandemic permitting). With this in mind, we observed the following trends in small business marketing, thought leadership and product development during 4Q21 as both traditional and challenger banks jockeyed for position in the sma...| EMI Strategic Marketing
As the banking ecosystem moves to a digital-first profile, we have identified the following five trends that shaped digital banking during the most recent quarter. Furthermore, we expect that these trends will persist into 2022.| EMI Strategic Marketing
An EMI Strategic Marketing analysis of 30 leading U.S. banks found strong overall growth in marketing budgets for the second consecutive year. Following an 18% decline in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, these leading banks have grown their marketing budgets by 53% over the past two years.| EMI Strategic Marketing
