NAFCU Services Blog

Originally posted on NCR Corporation's blog

Guest post by Gaby Abi Aad, NCR United Arab Emirates

Many people have different definitions for ATM marketing, so let me first start by defining what ATM targeted marketing is not: it is not about running a video on the idle screen of an ATM, nor is it the passive advert screen you would see while waiting for your cash to be dispensed.

I am talking about targeted interactive marketing. This means targeting a specific marketing message to a segment of ATM users, and allowing for interaction with the message, thus generating leads for your products.

As an example, you create a list of customers who are pre-approved for a free- or-life credit card, and once any of these targeted customers transact on your ATM, a message with an offer is shown to them and they are prompted to either accept or reject the offer. If they accept the offer, you would ask them to leave their contact details, and therefore, a lead is generated. Imagine the potential you could tap into on a large and geographically spread ATM network with high transaction volumes.

Doing it Right

ATM targeted marketing needs to be looked at carefully, its context is very unique in that the consumer is at the ATM for a very short period of time, and for a very specific purpose, so here are some tips to a successful ATM campaign:

• Select the right point in the transaction flow to be least disruptive, yet grab the customer’s attention.  Flow points can be pin entry, waiting for cash, card entry and so on.

• Keep consumer experience a priority: make sure you write concise and clear messages, stay away from clutter or “print marketing” copy.  This is not a product brochure nor a road billboard on a busy intersection, the consumer is on your ATM for a purpose and there may be other people waiting in line to transact.

• Keep timeouts of targeted messages short enough to avoid lengthening the overall transaction time, but long enough to allow the customer to understand your offer, and make a decision.

• As in every offer or lead generation message, follow marketing optimization principles: MECLABS came up with an interesting formula for optimizing conversion rates of marketing messages, albeit for email marketing, or web landing pages, these same principles could give you a good idea of how to optimize your ATM targeted message.  The formula includes clarity of your value proposition, the incentive you are giving the consumer to take action, friction and anxiety elements in the process.  You can read more about MECLAB’s formula or “heuristic” here.

• Test, and then test again: create variations of your offers and test them out, to see which one generates better conversion rates: test different headers, different calls to action, different font sizes, etc.

• Do not confuse ATM targeted marketing with sales, if you are getting inquiries or leads, converting these leads to actual customers is now a sales responsibility, demarcate job functions clearly and make sure constant feedback flows both ways between sales & marketing departments so you optimize the entire funnel.

A Case for ATM Targeted Marketing: the UAE

I am based out of the United Arab Emirates, a country which has seen a massive growth in ATM network in the mid 2000’s: demographically, the country’s population growth year-on-year peaked at 15.9% in 2007 according to the World Bank’s databank. Naturally, banks were looking for ways to reach their customers wherever they were, and hence, ATM networks grew in double digits.

However, bank interchange fees on ATM’s are regulated and are on the low side, thus providing limited income to banks. Obviously, the larger a bank’s network is and the more premium the location of an ATM, the more interchange fees the bank can collect,

With limited income from interchange fees, and operational costs rising with growing networks (cost of cash, telecom, rental of space, and so on), banks are starting to look for new and more efficient ways to monetize even further this massively spread out channel. Targeted marketing is an excellent way to turn the ATM network into a lead generation tool rather than just a fulfillment channel. In fact, quite a few banks started to target customers and non-customers on their ATM’s successfully.

To conclude, ATM targeted marketing is one way of monetizing ATM networks and offsetting operational expenses, the ATM marketing technology now available allows banks to craft successful campaigns, cross sell, and even acquire new customers, while providing solid ROI measurement and analytics. What other ways of monetizing your ATM channel have you tried, feel free to share your thoughts and insights in the comments below.

NCR is the NAFCU Services Preferred Partner for ATM Products and Services, Teller Cash Recyclers (TCRs).

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