All financial institutions have attrition. But there are relatively few reasons
why most people switch. A better checking product is one. Geographic affinity, or
how convenient the branch is relative to a consumer's home, workplace or drive patterns,
is another. At any time, from 22% to 25% of all consumers are actively shopping
for a new financial institution. You can hope they wander into one of your branches,
or you can capture as many as 75% of those customers with geographic affinity by
using targeted direct mail marketing.
Frequency
After 25 years of checking account marketing, our data shows that new account openings
peak when the mail is dropped, then taper off to a flat number. The next mail drop
energizes business again.
The checking account mail campaign will draw people into your lobbies. Then the
job of turning eager prospects into new customers is up to your branch staff. Because
this step is so crucial, you can't afford to have even one untrained individual.
ACTON offers complete (and different) training programs for branch staff, branch
managers, executives and back office personnel, ensuring everyone understands the
checking program.
Mystery shopping shows how well the training is understood and is being applied
over time. It points out problems and gives trainers an area to focus their efforts.
Marketing to Women
It's no small number, but independent research says it's true. Women open or are
responsible for opening 89% of all financial services accounts. And as cliché
as it sounds, men and women really do analyze and shop differently. It's important
that the checking account message targets that 89% segment of the prospect market.
Find out more.
A Compelling Offer
With all the competing advertising consumers are exposed to every day, you don't
want your mail piece to generate a "so what" response. A compelling offer
gets attention and motivates the person to act on it. And of course, the offer should
be front and center, in the eyes of the prospect.
See some examples.
Inside and Outside the Branch
We support the mail campaign with collateral materials. They all have continuity
of appearance and message.
See some examples.

TasCSM
Our proprietary TasC Model recommends the best of the best areas to drop prospect
mail. You see, data shows the most likely areas to recruit new customers aren't
defined by well-drawn circles. TasC recommendations are more productive (and less
expensive) than saturation mailing. TasC often surprises our clients...sometimes
with its recommendations, most often with its success and accuracy.
Discover more about TasC.

Hitting the Sweet Spot
This Sweet Spot is the statistical area where you get the best results. It shows
when a mail cycle gets the most checking accounts opened for a certain quantity
of mail before the results level out. It's also a way we save our clients' marketing
dollars and improve their ROIs.
From the initial creative, through production and printing, right up until the mail
is dropped off at the post office, ACTON's FREE Checking strategy takes care of
every project every step of the way. It's certainly better than the frustrations
that come from juggling it all yourself or trying to coordinate a variety of unconnected
vendors.