E-mail marketing: click here to start: the Middlesex Savings Bank, Natick, Mass., discovered that permission, personalization and preparation are the keys to success when initiating e-mail marketing.

• Author: Parenteau, Ray

WHEN MARKETERS AT MIDDLESEX SAVINGS BANK (assets: $4 billion), Natick, Mass., embarked on its e-mail marketing program in the spring of 2009, the plan was to start small and focused, and build on success. However, before they could begin, they had a laundry list of questions and concerns.

This article is an account of how Middlesex Savings developed and rolled out its e-mail marketing program--and how marketers ultimately addressed their initial questions and concerns.

The 175-year-old mutual bank, which has 31 branches, already had an in-house "rate alert" e-mail program, but was looking to expand it to include regular customer communications. A major challenge--and an unknown quantity at the time--was how to extract and consolidate the bank's "inventory" of e-mail addresses from its various systems. The goal was to create a centralized e-mail database that would contain information aggregated from multiple sources.

To assemble a unified e-mail database, the bank worked with its data consultant and e-mail provider. The database was segmented into three basic groups: small business, consumer and commercial accounts. This segmentation approach supported the marketing team's goal to roll out its e-mail program in phases.

Another goal for the marketing team was to deliver communications to the customer that were personalized--that is, they were sent by an individual at the bank who had some kind of relationship with the customer. The database came into play here since customers were assigned a branch manager or a business banker as part of their profile. The customer's "contact" at the bank was then prominently featured in messages and newsletters.

"We wanted to have a program of consistent, professional marketing touches of our consumer and business customer base," says Alan Schachter, vice president of marketing, "We know our customers are highly satisfied, and wanted to reinforce their decision to bank with us."

Initial program efforts focused on the small-business and commercial segments, since the bank wanted to promote its numerous business events more effectively. These include sponsored Creating Connections networking events, quarterly business success seminars and an annual Economic Breakfast. Having all these planned events provided the e-mail program with high-value content as well as an opportunity to promote the events themselves.

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"The newsletters have served to maintain our brand presence, but the biggest win is with making our seminars, events promotion and registration more effective and professional looking. Plus our tracking/reporting on the process is vastly improved," notes Schachter.

Getting permission

Since the...