Marketing expenditures grew an average of 2.6 percent in banks with $20 billion or less, ABA survey says.

• Position: MARKETING NEWS

THE AVERAGE BANK MARKETING BUDGET (non-salary expenditures) increased by 2.6 percent from 2013-2014 at banks with assets of $20 billion or less, according to ABA's recently released 2014 Bank Marketing Survey Report.

Most banks with $20 billion or less in assets reported growth in marketing expenditures. The exception was banks with assets of $100 million to $249 million, which reported a budget decline since the last survey was published in 2012.

The survey is conducted every two years. It documents the allocation of marketing expenditures to advertising, public relations, sales promotions and market research. The 2014 survey includes results from 265 banks nationwide with assets ranging from $100 million to $20 billion.

When asked in 2014 to anticipate budget expenditures for the next 12 months, more than 55 percent of surveyed banks said they would spend more money, up from 41 percent in the last survey.

The overall average in 2013 for non-salary expenses was $971,000.

The most widely used promotional tool was advertising, including direct marketing, which accounted for more than 53 percent of non-salary expenditures. The most common advertising medium is newspapers, which accounts for more than 18 percent. This is a decline from the last survey, when 22 percent of advertising dollars were spent on...