Langdon Andrews, Vice President, Financial Institutions Marketing

Remember the year 2012. It will likely be the year that Interactive Marketing becomes a part of your media plan. In fact for many financial institutions that have already made the leap it will become an important part of their media plans. Print will (and should) still be present, however, in a reduced role.

According to the Pew Research Center in 2010 online advertising spending surpassed spending on newspapers by 2 billion dollars. Ad dollars are simply following our eyeballs as everyday more of us get our news online and spend hours visiting Social Media sites at the expense of traditional channels like newspapers and television.

In addition to entertainment online we are increasingly shopping online. The Pew Internet and American Life Center found with all age groups combined an overall 71% of all U.S. adults shop online. With younger consumers Internet shopping is even more predominant as 80% of individuals aged 32-44 buy products on the Internet. This is also translating into a greater willingness to shop for a credit union or bank online as illustrated by projections for online opening of deposit accounts that predict 65 million consumers will open deposit accounts online in 2012.

We have found that an integrated approach of Social, Interactive and print builds visibility and helps maximize the performance of our clients’ promotions. But reaching those customers who are increasingly shopping for their financial relationships online, as well as spending their leisure time online, is rapidly becoming a necessity for continued growth. That is why financial institutions should work toward making social and interactive marketing part of their media plan for 2012 …. and beyond.