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Insights Unlocked
How FNBO is leverages its content marketing strategy to build trust and increase CSAT
00:34:37
How FNBO uses content marketing to boost customer engagement, build trust, and increase CSAT—insights from Regina DeMars on Insights Unlocked.
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- [00:02]
Nathan Isaacs
Welcome back to the Insights Unlocked podcast. In this episode, we're chatting with Regina DeMars, director of content marketing and Social Media strategy at First national bank of Omaha. Regina shares how a 167-year-old bank is embracing digital transformation from creating personalized educational content to connecting with younger audiences on TikTok. It's all about building trust, staying human, and showing up where your customers are. Enjoy the show.
- [00:32]
Cornelia Klimick
Welcome to Insights Unlocked, an original podcast from User Testing, where we bring you candid conversations and stories with the thinkers, viewers and builders behind some of the most successful digital products and experiences in the world, from concept to execution.
- [00:51]
Nathan Isaacs
Welcome to the Insights Unlocked podcast. Nathan Isaacs, senior manager for content production at User Testing and joining us today as host is Cornelia Klimick, Group Product Manager here at Usertesting. Welcome, Cornelia.
- [01:05]
Regina DeMars
Hi. How's it going everyone? So happy to be here today.
- [01:09]
Nathan Isaacs
And our guest Today is Regina DeMars. Regina is the director of content marketing and Social Media strategy at First national bank of Omaha. FNBO is one of the largest privately held banks in the US and has been in business for more than 165 years. Welcome to the show, Regina.
- [01:27]
Regina DeMars
Hi. Thanks for having me on the show.
- [01:30]
So, Regina, FNBO has a long standing reputation in the banking industry. I would love to know a little bit about its history and how your experience in content marketing and social strategy has evolved to meet these, like the changing experiences and expectations, I think, of today's banking customers.
- [01:52]
Sounds good. Yeah, FNBO has been around for a little while. We actually celebrated our 167th birthday this past December. And so we've really been, you know, deeply ingrained in our communities for a long time and things have evolved very quickly, especially over the last, you know, 10 years. We've really had to look at how we approach digital overall. Our content marketing and social media have become really essential tools to connect with our customers. We are always looking for ways to surround our customers, so online and offline. So, you know, offline more traditional methods like print, tv, billboards. But with the rise of digital, we've really adapted quickly to how we approach our content marketing and social media. We need to make sure that we're creating that content across all of our channels based on what our audiences want. So our content is more, you know, engaging, educational and more of that entertainment and edutainment perspective. Yeah. So we typically kind of take a topic that we know people are searching for, you know, using SEO, and then we build content around that in the formats that our audiences are seeking. Across all the different channels.
- [03:30]
That's incredibly fascinating and I love that you're kind of using this word of like community, right? Like that you are ingrained in these communities and that you're really trying to meet people where they're at. Which I think is just such an incredible kind of just general, the vantage point to just take when you're working, especially in something kind of maybe as traditional as banking, I think is the nice way of putting it. What we are seeing is like this shift towards kind of having a little bit more of that hospitality driven approach, like taking a little bit more of that attitude towards working with customers and making those relationships feel so much deeper when you're kind of having these advisory roles in these communities that you, that you serve and that you function in. So can you go a little bit deeper on how FNBO is kind of embracing or like leading the charge on this trend and how does content and social media kind of help bolster that local connection?
- [04:33]
Yeah, I mean banking has always been about, you know, building those meaningful long term relationships with your customers but traditionally it was more again that offline. And so we're looking at ways that we can continue to build those relationships online. And we really take pride in knowing our customers across all of our markets and being able to tailor our content based on their needs. And obviously content and social play a huge role in that. And we're not only educating and informing them, providing practical financial tips, but we make sure like with social it's a conversation and we're listening to our customers needs and really reinforcing our commitment to them and that we can be a trusted advisor and providing them with that added value content. So then when they are ready to, you know, start a relationship or expand a relationship, they choose FMBO because we've been there, you know, along their journey, no matter kind of where, where they're at. So like you said, we want to meet them where they're at, give them the information that we're, that they're seeking and that they need so then we can be, you know, considered a trusted partner for them.
- [06:05]
I'd love to drill in a little deeper on that. I think a huge challenge that every industry faces, but maybe particularly one that's leaned a little bit more heavily on that face to face and functional relationship with customers is how to best mimic or leverage that into something that feels a little bit less personal. Like a social media or kind of a broader marketing, like those broader marketing channels. How do you combat that? Or like what strategies do you Use to try to help foster that face to face real connection when you're doing things that are a little bit more at scale.
- [06:43]
Yeah, I think the one thing that we do from a content and social media perspective is we really feature our employees a lot. We know that people build relationships with people and so we love featuring our employees across FNBO no matter what their roles are. So if you're a branch manager or you're a teller or you're in marketing or hr, we really try to show our customers, you know, the breadth and depth of the expertise that we can provide. We cover a wide range of topics. So, you know, budgeting, saving, understanding, loans, investing, and really look at the type of content we're creating. So, you know, we have a blog, we also have a video series on YouTube, we do webinars, podcasts, and really try to think through what is that content that they're seeking in the format that they want it at, at the right time and what's the right message across all of those channels. Because everything that we're trying to do is, you know, build that relationship, build that trust, you know, increase customer engagement and really help them understand everything that we can provide. So again, they choose us when, when they're ready to. And we do a lot of personalization too, so we'll understand if our customer is searching on our website, what type of content are they interested in and how can we make sure to, you know, send them an email back or send them a message on social media with more of that content to help them along that journey. Because, you know, there's a, you're making a lot of decisions on any given day and we really want to make it easier for our customers or prospects to make those decisions.
- [09:00]
Yeah, and it also sounds like, make the decision to choose you guys to trust in you. Right. To, to help them be the, be that like, voice in their ear when they, they're having these difficult choices. I mean, finances are never easy. So that's, I think, just a really amazing approach that you're taking. And, and I love that you're, it's so multichannel, multifaceted so that you can kind of really make sure that you're getting to the right people at the right time. But you did kind of know a lot about like these different types of contents that you're, you're trying to like, build and like the topics and like these are really like problems that customers are having. And I would love to understand how are you using customer insights to help drive what those topics Are and like, how does that adjust and refine your social and content approach generally? Like, how are you like closing that loop, I guess, to kind of really generate these topics?
- [09:57]
Yeah, and like you said, it's, you know, your finances, it's emotional and you know, you have to take that into consideration. So customer feedback is definitely a critical component of our strategy. We are analyzing data constantly from our social media posts, interactions, surveys, customer behaviors to really understand kind of what those pain points are, what their preferences are, what are their needs, and how can we tailor our content to meet those needs more effectively. I mean, our team is creating on average 15 pieces of content any given day. So we need to make sure we understand what are people searching for. If we notice a trend in questions, say about retirement planning or you know, mortgage rates, like, we'll produce content around that topic. So we have our set kind of strategy in place, but then we're always pivoting and producing content based on, you know, what we're seeing in from a conversation on the social platform. So you know, that just shows our customers like we're listening to you, we care about your concerns and we're providing a need that you've said that you've, you've wanted based on a topic that's.
- [11:26]
I mean, to have like a data driven approach to kind of help focus in. Because I mean, again, as a team, you only have so many resources and you're trying to produce a ton of content around any given topic. I'm, I guess maybe more tactically, I wonder, like when you're approaching this trend analysis, are you casting a pretty wide net, are you looking kind of nationally, are you really hyper focused on kind of like in the regions that you're serving, are you producing different kinds of content based on kind of the market that you're working in? And how are you determining where to push all of your team to kind of create content?
- [12:03]
Yeah, that's a great question because we'll look at national trends, what are consumers behaviors and then we'll look at our different markets too and see if are, you know, is it a similar concern? Do we slightly need to tweak that information? Because ultimately, you know, we want to make sure our customers feel heard and valued and educated. And if they are and we make sure that we're listening to them, that satisfaction is going to increase. So again, personalizing information, it has to be timely. So we'll look at, you know, what's going on from a media perspective. What are things that we can address. We also look at you know, what do we think trends might be? And develop content based on that. And then, you know, once information comes out, we may, you know, need to update it based on new information. But we always have that pipeline of things that we know every year are going to be hot topics or trending topics at any given time. And then we'll, we'll adjust those as, as we need to.
- [13:19]
Yeah. Having a really solid calendar to work through sounds like an excellent starting point. You can kind of have some space to be reactionary as well as some space to be, you know, proactive, it sounds like. So that's a great balance, I think you mentioned this concept of customer satisfaction. Right. And it sounds like that's incredibly important to you. Often, like throughout our conversation you've said, you know, we want to make sure that customers feel heard. We want to make sure that they know that we're listening. We want to make sure that like they kind of know that we're out here and we're trying to kind of be a partner to them. How do you think that like the work that you do in social and content creation can actually help influence something as tangible as like an NPS score when, when you're kind of measuring that, that satisfaction in a realm like banking?
- [14:09]
Yeah. So I think when ideally we, our favorite things that we see on social media is when our customers say, wow, you really get me, or that's my bank, or I'm so proud to bank at fmbo, just again, showing that satisfaction that either we are creating content based on their needs or we're aligning with a, like a sponsorship or a community partner that they're interested in. So anytime that we can see that, you know, they're satisfied with our choices, they trust that we're aligning with initiatives that align with our brand values, that just really makes them become more loyal and advocates and we see a lot of recommendations from our customers in our social media feed. So I think all of that plays a huge role in kind of shaping our customers experiences with us and you know, plays into the net promoter scores and how satisfied our customers are.
- [15:27]
Yeah, I mean, it sounds like there's quite this like, thoughtful connection that you're trying to build along every part of that customer journey, which is, you know, regardless of where they're at, that you're really just trying to help influence that, that positive attitude toward, you know, fnbo. In the end, um, I'd like to dig into that a little bit deeper. Do you feel that, you know, this concept of more of like Proactive engagement. So a lot of like what you're doing in terms of responding with additional content when people are asking for it, how you are again like tuning into the communities and trying to generate that hyper specific, you know, trend related content. How do you feel that that actually begins to build that brand trust and then again really come out in something that stakeholders are looking at. Right. Which is like just that, that metric that moves that net promoter score at the end of the day.
- [16:23]
Yeah, I feel like, you know, the proactive engagement, especially around financial education really helps establish FMBO as a valuable resource. So I mentioned we offer budgeting tips, saving strategies, financial advice and guidance to really help our customers make smarter decisions. We're responding to reviews whether they're positive or negative. It just kind of shows that we care and we're committed to improving no matter what. And we have to have that feedback. And even if it's negative, we can show that we're addressing it or the changes that we've made or we know people like to review other people's comments and if we can turn any experience from negative to positive, that's helpful to show the wider Internet at the same time. And you know, when our customers feel that we are, you know, genuinely invested in their financial well being, they become more loyal and that can help overall with the, the NPS scores. And I think what we do a really good job of is also looking at, you know, one of those topics from a financial education and creating the content that the different audiences are seeking. So you know, we have long form blog content, we'll have white papers positioning our subject matter experts as thought leaders. But then with our YouTube short series, we'll take that topic and make it really fun and engaging and you know, more entertaining because everybody consumes media differently and they have their preferences. So we're constantly looking at, you know, how do we need to provide this information across all of our channels and what's really going to drive that engagement based on, you know, the, the audience demographics across those channels.
- [18:33]
Speaking of audience demographics, because I mean again like you're definitely going to be reaching different kinds of people with what you just even mentioned, right? Like the people depending also on their, you know, let's call them their buying journey or like their adoption journey for the bank versus like where they're even at in life really require I think different strategies and tactics to be able to reach them effectively. Younger generations are obviously a hot topic, right? Millennials, I mean millennials younger but Gen Z, they require a bit of a different approach. And it sounds like you're kind of trying to cover that holistic base. They have a huge preference for digital experiences. I mean, I don't know many millennials that love talking on the phone anymore. For instance, no one wants to pick it up and call into the bank. Avoid that at all costs. But you really did this, like, Be Kind campaign which demonstrated, like, that power of social media engagement. I would love to hear more about that. Maybe some lessons that you learned from that experience. And generally, how can banks use, again, social media to create cost effective and interactive experiences that really do enhance, you know, that CSAT and connect with these audiences in, again, a way that resonates with them.
- [19:52]
Yeah, well, and I think with millennials and Gen Z, it's really key to also understand, like, they are more likely to, you know, interact with you digitally, but their expectations are higher too, and expect to hear from you. If they comment on a post, like, they expect a reaction quickly. And if they have a question, the Internet doesn't sleep. And we need make sure that we're engaging with them. And we have, you know, people dedicated to answering any questions nights, weekends, during the day. And we try to get back to our customers, you know, ideally within an hour. Even if it's, hey, we need to look into this a little more. We're researching it, but just letting them know, like, hey, we saw your message and being able to do that that quickly. Um, but that said, the Be Kind campaign was one of my favorite and it was such a great way to kind of build relationships with that younger audience. We really use this campaign to spread positivity, share stories of kindness, kindness, and engage with the community in a really lighthearted way. It was really authentic and loved that. As part of this, we created a offline, branded experience with the mural in a really popular area within Omaha in our Blackstone neighborhood. And we constantly see people posting pictures of themselves with the mural on a daily basis. Photographers often will say, hey, this is a great spot for family photos or for graduation. So it's just become something ingrained in the community that, you know, I love just seeing. I'm like, oh, somebody's profile picture changed and our murals in the back of this. So again, it's taking that offline experience and bringing it online because people are sharing a lot of photos with it. And it really resonated with that younger demographic.
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I love that so much. Like what? Like an incredible way to, I think, be really authentic to your values as well as, like, what, what the bank is trying to really do. In the community, like, you have this really tangible spot that you can leverage to say, like, you know, hey, like, this is, this is what we're kind of giving back. And like a real, in a real, real way, which is also really difficult but like, so mindful from like a, like a marketing perspective and just like again, a brand building perspective to say now it's become a staple in that community and also a staple in Facebook profile photos and family pictures and maybe is hanging up in someone's living room right now. And I just think that that is such an incredible way to bring that all together and really a testament, I think, to how, how mindful it is, like how you guys are approaching the concept of marketing and building those relationships.
- [23:10]
Just one thing on that too, that was super fun that, you know, again, it was looking at what an overall consumer behavior was happening at the time and something that was trending. And I actually was in Nashville and saw the pictures, the mural with the wings that Kelsey Montague did. And her message was really around lifting people up. And I was like, oh, this seems like it would be, you know, something that we could leverage. I mean, the line was out the door. I'm like, wait, I, I feel like we could do something like this. So that's kind of what started the whole conversation. And thankfully she was willing to come to Omaha and work together with her on the design. And it's just been an, an awesome experience that now I want to say, has been around for four years.
- [24:06]
I just like, it's so colorful. And again, if listeners don't have a chance, I would definitely give it a Google an image search, if you will, because it is a beautiful, very Rainbow mural. My 4 year old is super into rainbows. I know that we would have a million, a million photos in front of this thing. So I would love to, but I just, I really do love that connection. And just even being inspired by other work and just seeing how that's being leveraged in other communities and bringing that back home is just fantastic as well. I think kind of on that note, there is, you noted previously when we were chatting about like Millennials and Gen Z, that they're kind of harder to reach but have these like, higher expectations of their interactions with businesses, I think in general. But, you know, I think in your vein, how do you think the trends in customer expectations are actually shaping the future of like, the customer experience in banking overall?
- [25:13]
Yeah, I think customers are definitely expecting more personalized, seamless and digital first experiences. They want, you know, easy access to their Information, quick solutions to any issues they may have, and seeking more of that consistent experience across all channels. So we really try to, you know, have that unified brand experience and identity, whether it's in person or on the phone or online. Because there's that expectation that no matter where they're engaging with your brand, they want it to be a similar experience. And you know, the more you can do that and enhance the digital and both, you know, on and offline, I think that helps maintain a better relationship overall.
- [26:20]
So I mean, that sounds great in theory, right? Like having this like amazing cohesive experience that like my touch point as a customer is always like very, you know, again, that, that consistency, I know what to expect. But I mean we both work in, in the real world and that can be really challenging to execute sometimes. Is there any strategies or tips that you and your team follow or that you at FNBO do to kind of help drive a lot of that consistency that maybe our listeners can learn from?
- [26:50]
Yeah, so as brand marketer, we definitely, you know, follow our brand guidelines and make sure that we, you know, are consistent as possible across all of our channels from just a tone, voice, personality, branding, all of the, the color elements, like all of those play into those experiences. Experiences. So we follow those closely. And then obviously with social, we, we need to, you know, push the boundaries a little more with the messaging that we're putting out because again, it goes back to that audience first approach and looking at insights for what they want. So if we're going to put, you know, the same thing on our website as we do on TikTok or Instagram, like we're not going to have any followers and we're not going to be able to drive any engage. So we look at how can we stay true to our brand values. But on social media, you know, we're able to push the envelope a little more. If you look at our channels, we leverage a lot of trending topics and the key there is, you know, being timely and make it make sense for your brand. I've seen some examples, quite a few that kind of fall flat. Cause they either aren't timely or they don't make sense for that brain to be pushing out. So we're constantly looking at like what is something that they're going to find value in and engage with. And that's, let's not just create content to create content for the sake of it. Let's make sure that we're thinking through the overall strategy so it makes sense and it aligns to our overall branded experience that we want to provide to our customers.
- [28:45]
I think that that's an excellent piece of advice to just have out regardless. I mean, what I'm hearing is that if you're going to engage in these channels, have a level of what authentic means. Right. If you're going to continue to be authentic. You know, I think we can all think of some examples of when some brands were a little tone deaf. Maybe when they push out content where you're just like, that just doesn't what are you doing? But it sounds like they've lost that level of authenticity. So, I mean, I feel like the real challenge there still becomes how far can you push it and how far can it make sense to do so how do you. I guess maybe again, what strategies do you use to just be like, this is right, like apart from, you know, it's meeting all of our checkboxes. But you know, TikTok, even between Instagram and Facebook and all of our different social channels, like that content audience is also very different. So, like, how do you leverage knowing what's okay, I guess, on like one platform versus what might be kind of weird on another one, for instance.
- [29:54]
Exactly. So, I mean, going back to like, okay, we are creating, you know, on average 15 pieces a day. You're like, wow, it'd be really great if we could create one and push it out across all the channels. But we know we can't do that. So we do look at, you know, what is a topic people are interested in and really think through, you know, what is trending on each of those channels, what is looking at, going back to the data, what have our followers been most engaged with on Facebook or Instagram or TikTok and creating more of that content. And then sometimes it's just, you know, we are always amazed that one piece of content that we create that may take us, you know, three hours to put together, may not get as much engagement versus one we do. That took us a minute and one take. And that, you know, was the most engaging post for the month. So we're just constantly looking at and evaluating what's right for each of the channels. What's worth the time and the effort to put together? What do we think the reactions are going to be? And kind of going back to like pros and cons for each of those because, I mean, some trending. I have two, two boys, 17 and 13, and they are constantly giving me content ideas and I'm like, oh, yeah, no, we're not going to be able to leverage that because you know, you have to again, stick to your brand and your values. And we want our customers to be like, okay, that was funny, that was engaging or educational. And not just, we don't want them to say, wait, what are they doing? Have they kind of lost their mind? And they're just, you know, creating a content that's a, that's trending and it doesn't make any sense. So we try to tie it back to finance as much as possible and, you know, make sure it's going to make sense for our brand.
- [31:59]
I love it. I love it. So, like, I mean, what I've learned, I think from our conversation today, one, your job is mad hard. There's a lot going on all the time and it sounds like there's a lot of like weighing of different inputs in order to kind of create the right output for the right people. What I've also learned from our conversation is maintain that level of authenticity and have a really clear sense of what your goals are as a brand and what you're trying to do for your customer. And three, is like that having that consistent approach and having an in a high level of it, I feel throughout all those different touch points is incredibly important in order to kind of get maybe that like overall customer satisfaction up a lot higher. And you shouldn't be shying away from the difference between an in person interaction versus something that you're going to have online. That should all be aligned. Anything I missed?
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No, I think that that covers it.
- [33:02]
Well, Regina, it was so great to have you on the show today. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed our conversation. How would someone learn more about you and fnbo?
- [33:14]
Yeah, first, thank you so much for having me. It's fun conversation to talk about what I love doing and to learn more about fnbo. I mean you can follow any of our social channels, have to give that plug. We're active on, you know, all the platforms. So Facebook, Instagram, X TikTok and you know, we share some fun videos but by financial tips as well. And you can also connect with me directly on LinkedIn. I share a lot of what we're doing overall from fmbo and you know, we're always happy to engage with customers and partners and share the story of what we're doing from a brand perspective.
- [34:00]
Amazing. Thank you so much, Regina.
- [34:03]
Thank you.
- [34:05]
Cornelia Klimick
Want to keep the conversation going, you can find the show notes@usertesting.com podcast if you haven't already, don't forget to follow us on Apple Podcast, Spotify Overcast or Google Play, so you never miss an episode. And if you enjoyed today's show, please share it with a friend or leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And until next time, this is Insights Unlocked, an original podcast from User Testing.