Three ways to cut through the clutter with your brand story.

• Author: Kastner, Nick
• Position: STRENGTHENING YOUR CORE

MARKETING FOR ALL ORGANIZATIONS HAS SIGNIFICANTLY CHANGED OVER THE YEARS. Wireless technologies, big data, the shift from push to pull marketing strategies and the idea of the customer evangelist have all had a huge impact on how we promote products and services.

And, now, we have come to a point in the history of marketing where consumers have stopped listening. It's estimated that consumers see between 250 and 20,000 marketing messages per day. Consumers hear and see so many different "brand voices" screaming at them on daily that their/our brains are not capable of completely processing all that is seen.

Advertising must be compelling and, even when it is, it sometimes is drowned out by the other noise around our target consumers. That's a big problem for financial marketers in particular as financial services can easily be seen as a commodity. So, how can we cut through the noise in the financial industry without being seen as a commodity?

* Through Usability: Every marketer has heard the expression that "every impression counts." With mass adoption of smartphones and social media, we're reaching our customers and prospects more frequently than ever before. But in saying that, what do those impressions look like?

It's sometimes hard to financial marketers to envision something that's outside of their existing tool set. A good example is the mobile app. Many banks simply choose an app vendor because it's the path to least resistance and sometimes the most efficient way to go. But, is it the best for the customer? Consider this: you review the mobile app that a given vendor can provide and realize there are major usability flaws in the app for your customer base. But, they work well with your core provider (or are your core provider) and you can get the app at a decent price. You are being pushed heavily by other staff members to get an app. What should you do?

Simple. Figure out the path to create the best impressions. The majority of consumers state that a bad experience in a mobile app creates a bad impression...