There has been so much buzz recently around the changes Financial Institutions are going to need to implement: mobile banking, online features, data integration, and social media insight just to name a few.  In particular I have tuned into the flurry of news and articles around FI marketing. Here are a few of the headlines I’ve been seeing: “Bridging the Gap Between Information and Knowledge in Banking,” “Bank Marketers Face Challenging Times With Great Opportunity,” “Ten Ways to Maximize Cross-Sell of Financial Products Online” (By Brad Strothkamp of Forrester), and “Start-Ups Bring Needed Disruption to Banking.” I believe these headlines reflect an impending shift in FI marketing towards data integration that adapts to their increasingly “plugged-in” audience.

Bringing marketing efforts online, integrating data, and optimizing every aspect of the digital channel is no small feat. Online marketing customers are aware that you have all of their data, and they expect targeted information. Commenting on the gap between information and knowledge, JJ Hornblass wrote, “No bank is offering me personal finance insights. It's all context-less information.” Customers want relevant interaction, and they aren't getting it. Yet marketers know something needs to be done. In Unica’s Annual Survey of Marketers, 62% of marketers said the most important issue that needed to be addressed was turning data into action.

In the emergence of a digital world FI marketers' ability to keep track of what accounts their customers have, their various assets, and banking activity has surpasses their ability to act on that knowledge. While some companies are seeking to add to the ever increasing data pile (As Banks Start Nosing Around Facebook and Twitter, the Wrong Friends Might Just Sink Your Credit). I would suggest an entirely different route. I say it’s time for FI marketers to take a step back, look at the numbers, decide on a plan of action, and follow through.