Your Silent Competition Is Winning: Are You Even in the Game?
The bad news: Financial institutions that have not embraced an intentional, multichannel strategy for customer retention are already losing. The good news? You don't need huge budgets to compete. You just need to be committed, consistent, and relevant.
By Ben Udell, SVP Product Marketing at Marquis
Every day, your customers are being marketed to — by big banks, credit card giants, fintech disruptors, and digital-first financial platforms. These institutions don’t wait for customers to walk into a branch or log in to online banking: They proactively engage, cross-sell, and create seamless, convenient experiences that deepen relationships. They’re doing it constantly — and you never even know it’s happening.
Here’s the reality: Your customer loyalty is not as strong as you think. Consumers hold multiple accounts, use various financial products from different institutions, and are constantly exposed to offers that promise a better deal or more convenience and have incentives to make the change. If you aren’t staying in front of your customers, you’re losing ground.
Sue Schabert, VP of Strategy, Reporting & Analytics at Marquis, says, "When we design marketing campaigns for clients, we need to remind them their most aggressive competitors are not the branch down the street. It’s the giant credit card company cross-selling a savings or checking account with a great rate. Or peer-to-peer providers trying to keep low-cost deposits while selling a credit card."
These competitors aren’t just selling products. They’re embedding themselves into your customers’ daily financial habits. Once momentum shifts away from your institution, it’s nearly impossible to regain. The moment your customer begins to disengage — using your debit card less, logging in less frequently, keeping deposits elsewhere, eyeing introductory loan rates — you’re on borrowed time.
That’s why engagement isn’t just a marketing tactic, it’s a survival strategy. If you’re not actively and consistently engaging your customers, someone else is. And if they win the battle for visibility and relevance, you may never get them back.
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Community Financial Institutions Are Playing Too Passively
Community banks and credit unions are often hesitant to market aggressively, fearing they will overwhelm or annoy their customers. But their definition of "aggressive" is still too passive. As a result, many take an inconsistent approach — sporadic communication, uncoordinated outreach, and little emphasis on engagement outside of direct product sales. The problem isn’t just a lack of marketing, it’s a lack of a structured game plan. Without a coordinated strategy, community financial institutions are essentially invisible in a marketplace where larger players are always present.
Sue Schabert reinforces this point. "When we work with new clients, they’re surprised, but relieved, when we create a game plan for them that touches customers or members across many different channels, with many different targeted messages. Simply creating a game plan can be overwhelming for bank and credit union marketers, and then the hard work starts with implementing."
Meanwhile, big banks and fintechs have mastered the art of omnipresence. They don’t just sell products; they sell their brand, their expertise, and their ability to make customers’ financial lives easier. Their messaging is relentless — providing financial literacy resources, fraud prevention tips, and tailored product recommendations that don’t feel like sales pitches. These efforts build loyalty, trust, and brand familiarity. When customers need a new financial product, they naturally turn to the bank or credit union that has been consistently educating and engaging them.
Community financial institutions don’t have the same multi-million-dollar marketing budgets as large banks, but they can compete. A well-coordinated, thoughtful engagement strategy can make a significant impact without requiring overwhelming resources. The key is being intentional — leveraging financial literacy, service tips, and security education as natural touchpoints that reinforce your value. Customers don’t just want to be sold products, they also want to feel supported and guided. Providing value in other areas opens the door to selling products when customers are ready to buy.
If your financial institution isn’t actively engaged in this game, it’s already losing. Momentum is everything. Once customers begin shifting their financial behaviors elsewhere, it becomes exponentially harder to win them back. To stay relevant, community banks and credit unions must be present, persistent, and strategic in their engagement — before it’s too late.
Winning with Visibility
The largest banks and credit unions have mastered the omnichannel experience, ensuring that customers see their brand and messaging at every turn. Many banks and credit unions, on the other hand, often struggle with visibility because they don’t have the same marketing firepower. But that doesn’t mean they can’t compete. The advantage of a smaller financial institution is the ability to be nimble and strategic, coordinating efforts that are relevant in their marketplace. The key is to be intentional with your omnichannel efforts — not just being present but also ensuring that every interaction adds value to the customer experience and reinforces your unique value proposition.
Being visible is about providing meaningful engagement. When a customer receives valuable content — such as budgeting tips, mortgage readiness checklists, or security alerts — they see your institution as a trusted resource, not just another financial institution trying to sell them something. This approach strengthens loyalty without being overly aggressive or alienating customers.
A structured omnichannel strategy for community financial institutions should include:
- Cross-selling within relationships: A mortgage holder receives targeted credit card offers with personalized benefits. Use an existing product as a jumping-off point to sell complementary products.
- Behavior-driven marketing: Auto loan holders nearing payoff receive an offer for refinancing or a new vehicle loan. Be proactive ahead of the potential buying opportunity so you’re first in line when it’s time to make a buying decision.
- Financial literacy as a value touchpoint: First-time homebuyers receive personalized budgeting resources to navigate the homebuying process. Become a bigger part of your customers’ financial lives by educating.
With a coordinated, value-driven engagement strategy, banks and credit unions can stay top of mind, deepen relationships, and retain their customers against the ever-present competition.
Data-Driven Engagement: The Advantage You’re Overlooking
Larger financial institutions are taking your clients not just because they have more resources, but also because they use their data to anticipate customer needs and act before disengagement occurs. They analyze spending patterns, identify early signs of account dormancy, and deploy targeted messaging to keep customers engaged. Community banks and credit unions have access to similar data, but they often hesitate to use it due to cost concerns or lack of expertise.
The real cost isn’t in investing in engagement — it’s in doing nothing. Every disengaged customer is an opportunity lost. Data-driven engagement isn’t a luxury; it’s a necessity.
Our clients see the biggest ROI when they reduce churn, extend customer relationships, and drive higher product usage. Your competition, especially the large financial institutions and well-funded players, do this every day. The good news is every bank or credit union of every size has the ability to automate marketing with an intentional plan. Staying in front of your customers or members protects and grows your institution.
Sue Schabert adds, "When we automate marketing and integrate email, digital, and direct mail, our clients see a 2x lift in results. Just being consistent and focused on customer needs can significantly boost engagement — something any bank or credit union can achieve with the right strategy and tools."
To effectively compete, community banks and credit unions must adopt a structured, data-driven engagement strategy:
- Consistent, targeted outreach: Don’t wait for customers to come to you — predict their needs and meet them proactively. And if using data is a struggle, focus on financial literacy to stay relevant.
- Omnichannel presence: Ensure that customers encounter your brand through multiple touchpoints — email, mobile apps, direct mail, web, social, and personal outreach.
- Personalization through data insights: Use transactional and behavioral data to craft messages that are highly relevant and timely. Starting with the basics, simple deposit changes or account activities can make a meaningful difference.
- Financial literacy as a relationship-building tool: Offer value beyond products — education on budgeting, fraud prevention, and financial planning can keep customers engaged without feeling like they are being sold to.
Community banks and credit unions have a powerful advantage over larger institutions: the ability to be personal, nimble, and hyper-relevant to their customers. But without data-driven decision-making, that advantage is lost. If you aren’t analyzing your data and using it to inform customer engagement, you are already behind. If you aren’t actively marketing to your customers, your competitors are — and they will reach them first.
Five Key Action Steps to Get Started Today
- Audit your customer engagement strategy: Review your current marketing efforts, frequency of communication, and engagement channels. Identify gaps where customers may be missing touchpoints and adjust to ensure consistent outreach.
- Implement financial education campaigns: Start delivering financial literacy content via email, social media, and webinars. Topics like fraud prevention, budgeting, and homebuying tips build trust and keep your institution relevant without feeling like a sales pitch.
- Enhance personalization through data: Leverage existing transaction and behavioral data to send personalized recommendations and product offers. Customers expect tailored experiences, and by proactively offering relevant solutions, you reinforce the value of your relationship with them.
- Optimize your omnichannel presence: Ensure your messaging is visible across multiple platforms. Most customers rarely interact with your bank or credit union, which makes being visible through different channels even more important.
- Schedule regular proactive outreach: Develop a structured process for reaching out to customers who show signs of disengagement. Whether their disengagement is a drop in transactions, reduced logins, or decreased branch visits, sending a timely message or making a personal call can rekindle the relationship before customers drift to a competitor.
It’s Time to Get in the Game
The financial services landscape is evolving rapidly, and your competition is already making strategic moves to capture and retain your customers. Sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option — engagement is the key to survival.
Customers are constantly being marketed to, and if your institution isn’t actively building relationships, delivering value, and reinforcing trust, you risk fading into the background. By implementing a structured engagement strategy, leveraging omnichannel marketing, and utilizing data-driven insights, community banks and credit unions can reclaim their position as trusted financial partners. The competition isn’t waiting, and neither should you.
