The Benefits of Digital Media for Retail Banking

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By Tim Stone, European Collaboration Marketing Director, Cisco
 
Financial services organisations are operating in an increasingly competitive environment and customer satisfaction remains critical to their success. As a result, organisations are continually under pressure to offer new services and improve the relationship they have with customers to ensure they continue to increase their share of customer spend.

 
Thanks to a vast array of information online, the prevalence of banking in the news and the economic environment, consumers are more informed about financial products and services than ever before and it can be a challenge for banks to retain and expand their customer base. Consequently, banks must be more innovative and creative in finding gaps in the market with new products and services.
 
Their ability to tell their customers about the new products and services they offer is equally important. The success of new products and services can depend heavily on the associated marketing campaign. A failure to promote a new product or service effectively will have a direct impact on uptake from customers and it is important that banks consider how they  can improve the way they communicate and influence their customers.
 
Retail banking traditionally involved  a personal relationship between customers and their local branch. The  emergence of alternative banking channels which offer customers more flexibility has eroded these relationships. At the same time, mergers and acquisitions, increasing customer expectations, and the introduction of more bank products and services have accelerated employee turnover and reduced awareness of corporate values and goals at remote branches. Providing  a consistent customer experience and ensuring that all branch employees have timely product information and consistent sales skills has never been more challenging.
 
For financial organisations, particularly retail banks, the branch is a critical element in the customer management process. Despite the growth of online banking, customers still visit the branch to complete a number of transactions  which presents a great opportunity for banks  to deliver a personalised service that can help them develop the relationship with the customer.
 
Digital media solutions create an excellent opportunity for in-branch marketing. Digital signage transforms  internal and customer-facing communications, enabling financial organisations to use digital signs to deliver information in a compelling and  consistent fashion. Digital signage can also enhance the look and feel of the branch environment, while improving customer navigation by directing customers to specific service areas. Depending on location, it can also allow them to provision advertisements and information for customers who are waiting in a queue, which can change the conversation with the teller and create a new sales opportunity.
 
In some instances banks will continue to use printed collateral, mainly because such material will contain an application form for customers to fill out, sign and submit. However, printed product support materials are expensive and time-consuming to create and distribute. Too often employees and customers come away with a poor knowledge of the new product, creating an inconsistent customer experience and a missed opportunity to sell. Digital media enables you to deliver new product information over the network to all branches faster, at a lower cost, and in a better coordinated fashion. The system can also help you to train employees, through live product training broadcasts plus prerecorded videos that employees can access on demand.
 
The list of benefits of digital signage goes on, from targeted and specific advertising, to a more consistent look and feel across branches and a significant improvement in the quality of  communications to both employees and customers.
 
Digital media solutions allow financial organisations to manage audio, visual or graphical  content via a display screen installed in a dedicated location. The solution consists of four modules: media creation, media management, media access and media display. For ex  mple, Cisco’s system contains one interface to create, manage, deliver, display, and access digital content to digital signage, desktop video, or enterprise TV.  Digital Media Encoders convert audio and video sources to a digital format that can be transmitted over the bank’s network. Digital Media Players handle digital media content display and playback  across the high-definition displays used for digital signage and enterprise TV. Professional Series LCD displays provide a high-definition viewing experience and include built-in speakers. Finally, an online video portal is available for streaming videos on the web or over your internal branch network.
 
A number of financial organisations are already using digital media and signage and are reaping the benefits. The momentum looks set to continue and there is a possibility that  those who do not consider digital media for their branches will find it increasingly difficult to compete. Today’s financial environment and  economic climate demands innovative approaches to delivering a superior customer experience without increasing human resource costs. A single investment in digital media can help a financial organisation to thrive. Digital media and signage solutions should be considered as a core  technology in a modern banking environment, and the time to implement is now.