The phrase “market research” may sound a bit intimidating, but it’s absolutely crucial to the banking industry. Not only is conducting market research beneficial for the bank but also for customers. You may be asking yourself, what does market research even mean? Well, in simple terms, market research provides you with information to make decisions. Makes more sense, right? To help you further understand market research, we’ll dive into different ways banks can use it to build and grow their brand.
Improve the Website’s User Experience
Banks can use market research to improve their website’s user experience. Through the use of website audits, you will be able to evaluate everything on the bank website, including design, flow and structure. Not only will this help you find in which areas you are failing on the website, but you will always be able to improve on all areas. As bank customers become more digitally savvy, bank websites need to follow digital practices to keep them engaged.
Get a One-Up on the Competition
By conducting image and awareness surveys, you will be able to explore and measure the perception of brands in your industry and learn why consumers make the decisions they do. Using this data source will help you understand the total awareness of your institution and of your competitors. The end result will allow you to gain insight on which advertising channels and messaging are most remembered by your target audience.
Improve Customer Service
Nothing gives a better customer perspective than living through the customer service experience. In comes Mystery Shopping. Mystery shopping allows for secret shoppers to come into the branch posing as customers to gain critical insight for the bank. By collecting this data, your bank will know where they can improve in their customer service.
Learn Why Customers are Leaving the Bank
When a customer decides to close their account and leave the bank, you can send a closed account survey. By learning what is explicitly causing customers to leave could allow you to form plans and policies to prevent it from happening. If you don’t know what types of questions you should ask, check out this excellent example of a closed account survey by Bank Orion by clicking here.
Regardless of what you need the market research for, it’s worth the time and effort. You will be able to gain valuable insight into your target audience and it will lead you to what you need to do next. What some marketers don’t realize is that data can lead you to the next step. It can help you determine what strategy to use or what campaign to start with. I encourage you to start thinking of different ways market research can help your bank’s marketing strategies. You won’t regret it!
Keep a look out for my next blog posts that’ll give you more tips on conducting market research for your bank!
