Strategy and Organizational Development

Trends 

 

Marketing Trends

 Social Media

Facebook

Facebook offers the ability for "Brand Discovery," branding, and targeted advertising and offers. By allowing people to "like" a product or service, users can receive updates for a particular brand, as well as the ability to  "share" the information or offer provided by the Company to their friends. Marketing experts utilize this service to promote and display new features as well as encourage "word of mouth" referrals to friends and family. Social media advisors tell us that our best use of social media for the  financial services industry in the markets we serve is promoting our relationships with our communities. This would include our youth sponsorships , community service, chartiable donations of time, talent, and financial support.

Twitter

How do Marketers promote products using Twitter?

The basic principle of Twitter is to get a 140 character message to "followers." The impact of the message can be directly targeted to these followers by getting customers interested in signing up as followers of the Brand. Tweets can contain highly customizable messages or discounted offers that can be sent frequently to advertise new products or services that are more likely to be of interest of those particular persons. This creates a targeted population rather than wasting valuable time, resources, and advertising dollars on mass media.

It is important that we stay abreast of the rules and regulations regarding social media. Read the recent blog from the Direct Marketing Association regarding compliance.

http://blog.thedma.org/2013/11/03/got-social-watch-the-compliance-rules

 

Marketing Study Tools Link

 This year we have added some training modules to the Learn Center for Marketing Essentials . The on-line study tools for The Marketing  Essentials Textbook can be found at : 

http://www.glencoe.com/sites/georgia/student/marketingeduca/index.html

 

 QR Codes

The ladies in the Marketing department laughed at me when I brought in my Chiquita banana with a QR code sticker attached and announced we needed to try using QR codes. “What can we do with that?” they insisted. Of course by now, you have probably seen a QR code in your favorite magazine advertisement. QR codes, short for Quick response codes are, or at least were all the rage. “Trendy” to say the least, QR codes can be read using a Reader App on a Smart Phone.

QR codes were not always used for marketing purposes, however. They originated in 1994 in Japan, by a subsidiary of Toyota. The barcode was used to track automobiles during the manufacturing process and a special scanner was designed to allow high speed components scanning.

The QR codes at 1st Franklin have been used to direct our Live Check potential customers to a  "Landing page*” that describes the 1st Franklin Financial Culture and outstanding customer service of the “Friendly Franklin Folks.” The opening rates of QR codes have been disappointing, mainly because of the number of potential customers that may not have Smart phones, or visit the site due to other reasons. QR codes have also been used in other programs such as Customer Appreciation drawings and receipt programs.

The trend in the Marketing industry with QR codes also seems to be waining. Many other companies are opting for newer trends with color codes and 3 D experiences. What is next? Stay tuned.

*- http://www.1ffc.com/special-offer/

Education Trends 

1st Franklin Financial is a proud member of AFSA and supports the efforts of educating the country's youth and consumers in FInancial Literacy. Explore these efforts: 

American Financial Services Association Education Foundation

http://www.afsaef.org/ 

Financial Literacy Outreach

An array of financial literacy materials covering vehicle financing, mortgage loans, personal loans, credit, and personal financial management are available in print or online. The foundation launched Personal Loans 101 with the goal of helping consumers understand traditional installment loans and be able to differentiate them from other forms of credit. Brochures in the series address: Understanding Personal Loans, Understanding Your Credit Risk, Understanding APR, Understanding Payment Protection Plans, and Understanding Small Dollar Loans. The materials are available online and in print at www.afsaef.org. 

MoneySkill®

 The free Internet-based curriculum teaches students money management fundamentals in the content areas of income, expenses, saving and investing, credit and insurance

MoneySKILL® continues to increase its reach each year, with teachers from all 50 states and several foreign countries enrolling more than 463,000 students in the high school, college and junior high courses. Teacher training workshops reach more than 2,500 teachers annually nationwide. The training offers an overview of the course, Internet demonstration, and features requested by teachers. Information on AWARE’s Auto Financing 101 is also distributed. MoneySKILL’s curriculum and technology is updated each summer. A recent technology upgrade made the course compatible with all hand-held devices.  

http://www.moneyskill.org/

 

Trends in Customer Service

 Its hard to say that there are trends in Customer Service. But the trends in the markets today is to automate so many processes that people do and replace these processes with computers, recorded messages, and what some call "Customer NO SERVICE." It may save the companies much time and money, however the customer suffers from the lack of support and the ability to talk to a live person that understands the problem and is happy to solve it quickly and cheerfully.

Cartoon Randy Glasbergen, used with special permission from www.glasbergen.com  
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