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Let’s talk retail banking. (Alexa, play “Money, Money, Money” by ABBA.) Traditional banks and credit unions are under pressure—big time. With tech-savvy Millennials and Gen Z (142 million strong, according to Forbes) demanding better experiences and more innovation, sticking with the status quo isn’t an option. Add the rise of sleek FinTech disruptors (many of which are on Braze today) offering mobile-first convenience, and the challenge is clear: to stay competitive, retail banks need to modernize. Fast.
So, what does that look like? It means taking a customer-first approach to marketing. It means breaking down silos between teams and tools. And it means saying goodbye to outdated tech that can’t keep up with today’s pace of innovation. That’s where Braze comes in.
Our partners at Braze published their 2024 Global Customer Engagement Review, and the findings paint a clear picture of the challenges (and opportunities) facing financial services marketers today. Let’s break it down:
Financial services marketers have a lot of data, but many struggle to activate it. In fact, FINS marketers do the most data-driven segmentation out of surveyed marketers. However, these same marketers struggle with underdeveloped data skills, disconnected data & marketing teams, and outdated tech – making it incredibly hard to actually do something meaningful with their data. For example, many marketers in banking do not have visibility into customer/member and prospective customer/member data which in turn limits opportunities for personalization and broader audience messaging.
Too much in-product messaging, while well-intentioned, isn’t meeting customers where they are. Example - ever get an email from your bank, only to have to open the app to actually view the message? Frustrating, right? And while 82% of financial services marketers think their messaging hits the mark, only 41% of customers agree. That’s a problem. Using out-of-product channels (such as email, or push notifications) improves engagement and retention—and it’s time for financial services marketers to get on board with cross-channel journeys.
Almost half (45%) of surveyed financial marketers say their tools limit their ability to execute creative, innovative campaigns. For an industry focused on KPIs, proving the ROI of creativity is no small feat—but it’s essential.
For retail bank marketers looking to modernize, Braze delivers the tools you need to keep up with the speed of today’s market. Here’s why it stands out:
Let’s get the big one out of the way first—building and maintaining customer trust is paramount in the financial services industry. Marketers must prioritize data privacy and security in all of their efforts, and be compliant with all regulations. Braze’s CEO, Bill Magnuson, is quoted saying that Braze wants to be on the right side of history when it comes to compliance, privacy, and data security, and Braze walks the talk here. Braze has features that ensure marketers adhere to strict industry regulations, including the ability to mask personally identifiable information (PII), data security safeguards, and message archiving capabilities.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could easily get the data you need into your marketing platform and then use it? Financial services marketers struggle with siloed data due to their reliance on multiple point solutions and cumbersome legacy marketing clouds, which make it hard for marketers to get a holistic view of their customers and execute cohesive campaigns. It’s critical to understand how your customers are interacting with you across a wide range of touchpoints—from your website, to your mobile app, to in-person interactions at a branch, to customer service inquiries—in order to create a unified experience that builds trust and a greater connection to your brand.
Braze consumes data from across your organization and technologies, powering better segmentation and enabling the orchestration of personalized journeys across channels. In addition, Braze plays well with other marketing technologies, data warehouses (like Snowflake), and customer data platforms (like Segment). This composability allows retail banks and credit unions to activate data across different business units, leading to more targeted personalization and cross-selling opportunities.
In-product messages and traditional channels are great, but they’re not enough. With Braze, you can connect with customers across email, push notifications, in-app messaging, and more. Braze’s ability to deliver messaging across such a wide range of channels ensures a consistent brand experience and provides marketers with more opportunities to connect with and retain customers.
Braze combines sophisticated functionality with an intuitive interface, empowering marketers to execute big ideas without getting bogged down in technical complexity. Braze pulls everything together in one platform to help brands move from channel-first campaign thinking to broader, journey-first campaign thinking—bringing the right data together to execute lifecycle marketing campaigns.
However, unlike some legacy marketing clouds, Braze’s powerful capabilities don’t mean it’s difficult to use. It has a user-friendly interface that empowers marketers to bring their campaigns to life with customer segmentation tools, cross-channel capabilities, and a sophisticated journey orchestration builder. Easy-to-use functionality for marketers on the backend translates to easy-to-use experiences for your customers, demonstrating that you’re easy to do business with.
Lastly, Braze’s intuitive platform streamlines campaign processes, allowing marketers to be more agile, making it easier for them to keep pace with evolving customer expectations and respond to market dynamics more effectively. And for an industry that often lags behind, this is a solid investment (see what we did there?).
Making the move to Braze? Good idea. Now let’s make sure you get the most out of it. At Stitch, we specialize in helping brands of all sizes migrate to and thrive with Braze. Here’s how we make it happen:
Whether you’re leaving a legacy system behind or starting fresh, we’ll set you up for success from day one.
We work alongside your team to build Braze expertise. From day-to-day campaigns to complex strategies, we’ll make sure you’re comfortable and confident using the platform, regardless of your team’s size or skillset. We recently helped a major food delivery brand enable over 1,500 field employees on Braze so that they could deliver hyper-local personalized campaigns.
We don’t just help you with your day-to-day campaign operations, we seek to improve them—keeping an eye out for ways to streamline processes and free up time for marketers to focus on more strategic initiatives. For example, we helped the B2B division of a major beverage company implement a fully automated messaging program that produces personalized performance reports and emails to several hundred stakeholders—saving their internal team more than 60 hours per month.
We’re in the business of helping brands bring their big ideas to life with Braze. Some areas of cross-industry expertise that might be of interest to retail bank marketers include:
Braze is more than a marketing platform—it's a way to modernize, innovate, and connect with customers in meaningful ways. No matter what major changes are happening with your core banking solutions, CRM initiatives, online banking platforms, mobile apps, etc., Braze is a composable, connected platform that can flex to ensure the right message is delivered to the right customer at the right time.
At Stitch, we’ve seen firsthand how the right technology paired with the right strategy can transform a business. Ready to take your retail bank marketing to the next level? Let’s get started.
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