With in-app marketing, banks and credit unions can create personalized messages that focus on the needs of customers and members at the best time of contact.

In-app marketing delivers highly personalized product or service-related content and messaging directly to a consumer’s device within the mobile banking application. When using this model, financial marketers can leverage the vast amounts of insight already collected on the customer to deliver highly targeted offers and then closely monitor customer interactions to gain insights and feedback for future communication. The power of this form of marketing is the ability to offer the right product, at the best time, within a mobile banking application already heavily accessed.

Despite the potential power of this marketing strategy, many financial services organizations fall short – either by not using this channel at all, or by making in-app marketing an obtrusive selling tool that can limit the uptake of additional features and services, frustrate customers and lead to less than stellar product experiences. To be successful, in-app marketing must leverage customer insights to make any communication personalized, contextual and easy to consider and buy.

Existing mobile banking customers who are active users are open to well-timed, well-executed communications, and can help increase share-of-wallet and revenue when they purchase related offerings. According to research from Cognizant, organizations can effectively reach out to current customers via complementary products or services the following ways:

• Introducing a mobile-ready promotional video illustrating product benefits
• Including a special offer/free trial exclusively for existing mobile banking customers
• Launching an A/B test campaign to determine the effectiveness of messaging and conversions

The Power of Existing Mobile Banking Users

The value of current mobile banking customers is the foundation for the effectiveness of in-app marketing. Not only are mobile banking customers more engaged than the rest of a bank or credit union’s customers, they are also demographically stronger and heavier users of financial services. Mobile banking customers tend to be younger, more affluent and more likely to be influenced by effective targeting within their mobile banking application.

Additional benefits of using in-app mobile banking marketing include:

• Ease of sale: It is a well accepted belief among financial marketers that it is easier (and less costly) to up-sell and cross-sell current customers than to acquire a new customer. A current customer has the trust level and comfort with your organization that takes time to build with a completely new prospect. Moreover, well established marketing statistics tell us that the probability of selling a product to these customers is 70% – considerably higher than the 20% chance of selling to prospects.
• Undivided attention: Today’s digital consumer is a multi-tasker, with a relatively short attention span and a low tolerance for outbound sales messages. Demonstrating an ancillary product that has been specifically selected based on current insights while the customer is using the mobile banking application keeps them engaged and interested. Done well, the consumer can quickly see the benefits of the promoted product, can overcome misunderstandings about the product or can decide to engage at a later time.
• Instant gratification: A well designed sales messaging platform will allow the customer to open a new account or apply for a new service with a minimal number of steps. Since all of the details of the existing customer/member are known, there is no need to ask the same questions again. The best-in-class in-app selling process can allow for the expansion of a relationship with as few as 1-3 taps on the phone. Even more involved sales processes can be initiated with an instant live sales agent follow-up.
• WOMM potential: Within the in-app mobile banking buying process, an organization can encourage existing customers to make referrals from their mobile address book or via social media (Word of Mouth Marketing). The ability to ‘share’ positive experiences can bring added benefits and revenues.

All of the benefits mentioned above will only come to fruition if the in-app sales process is personalized, simple and seamless. Similar to ‘selling’ via an ATM, the power of in-app marketing is maximized if the message resonates with the user and mobile banking interruption is minimized.

The Framework for In-App Mobile Marketing

Using the Cognizant in-product marketing framework as a guide, an in-app mobile banking marketing framework can be built that communicates features, promotions and up-sell/cross-sell opportunities that are both personalized and contextual. The benefits of using this type of framework include ...