Past, Present, and Future State of Acquisition Marketing for Consumer Lending
By: Jeff White, Partner, The Wheelhouse Group
If you’re in marketing, you know that technology has changed EVERYTHING for us in the last 20 years. We’ve gone from a mass marketing model to a highly targeted approach, and I believe that marketing will only become even more hyper-targeted and hyper-personalized in the future. So, if you’re in the consumer lending space, what are you going to have to do to keep up over the next few years?
First, let’s assess where you are today, and then we’ll talk about where we’re headed. For now, we’ll focus primarily on new customer acquisition marketing.
No matter where you found yourself in the above, the fact remains that you’ll have to work hard to keep up with marketing efforts in the coming years. More companies than ever, inside and outside of the consumer lending space, find themselves relying on experts to execute their marketing efforts today because of the complexity that is inherent to ever-evolving technology.
Fortunately (and unfortunately), there is no shortage of people who claim to be experts. In the consumer lending space, I would recommend asking the following questions of any potential marketing partner you may engage with:
- Have you specifically worked in the consumer lending space?
- Can you show me the results of the last 3 campaigns you’ve run for a consumer lender? (note that they probably won’t [shouldn’t] reveal who the client was, but they can still show the results, while masking the identity of their client).
- What technology do you utilize to make sure I’m reaching my future customers (aka: prospects) through every channel possible?
- What new technology have you tested lately? If your marketer isn’t testing new stuff constantly, he’s going to be left behind in a hurry.
In short, new technology and opportunities for growth are vast, but if you aren’t at least quickly moving toward the current state of marketing outlined above, you should consider investing in that area. The evolution of marketing technology isn’t slowing anytime soon, and you’ll need to ensure you have good partners alongside you to keep up with the competition.
