Banks in the Midwest deal with an interesting conundrum. The same conservative thinking that kept them out of hot water during the financial crisis that hit the United States a decade ago often causes them to play it safe in every other aspect of their business. The problem is that being safe in finances and… Read more »
Author: Greg "Hal" Halliday
Greg “Hal” Halliday is Anchor’s managing partner and also serves as an account manager, putting 25 years of sales and marketing experience to work for our clients. He joined the Anchor crew in 2010. Originally from a small town in southeast Minnesota, Hal is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Duluth with a degree in business and an emphasis in marketing. He also serves as the president of the Highway 2 West Manufacturer’s Association.
Social media adoption by banks has worked its way from the largest to the smallest. Now, after a decade, even modest rural banks are getting on board. As your institution evaluates the options, the question to ask isn’t “what are we going to put on social media?” but instead “why are we using social media?”… Read more »
Most bankers will tell you without hesitation that they understand their customers. After all, they talk to them every day, right? Unfortunately, that casual communication rarely leads to the kind of frank truthfulness that is critical to deep understanding. Nobody wants to tell their banker that they disagree with them, but without that candor, even… Read more »
In the Harry Potter books, the villain is often referred to as “he who must not be named,” because even identifying him invokes unspeakable evil with a capital E. Lord Voldemort (oops, so much for not naming him) is a malevolent, pervasive force who gets his pasty-white fingers and his weird nose into everybody’s business. The… Read more »
Recent statistics show that the practice of mobile banking has grown significantly in the last two years. I’m sure you see it with your own customers. If any of us thought that people would shy away from making financial transactions on their smartphone, those doubts should now be put to rest. The tide has turned,… Read more »
It takes a lot for a customer to change banks: a new job, a move to a new city, or a significant customer service meltdown. Instead of exhausting your marketing resources, work on achieving top of mind awareness with potential customers so when something does happen (perhaps their old bank is acquired, for example), you… Read more »
Does anybody under the age of forty read the newspaper anymore? There are exceptions, of course, but the truth is that Gen Xers, millennials and an increasing number of baby boomers have traded in their Sunday paper for a smartphone. Microblogging sites like Twitter are increasingly making the content in our local papers old news,… Read more »
