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News and advice

April 2010

IN THIS ISSUE:

Report from the AFT Spring Meeting

Banker Credibility Study -- What Communications Work Best

Fintech Media Update

Mortgage Banking Association’s 97th Annual Convention Comes to Atlanta

Report from the AFT Spring Meeting
By Scott Mills

For those who may be unfamiliar with the Association for Financial Technology (AFT), it is a volunteer association of industry visionaries, thought leaders, strategic senior managers and delivery professionals from companies serving the financial services vertical market.

AFT recently hosted its annual Spring Meeting and I had the opportunity tto participate in a special panel on social media along with four bankers and credit union executives. I thought that I would share some thoughts from the meeting. Other panelists included: Trey Reeme, Director of Channel Integration of Texas Dow Employees Credit Union; Jesse Torres, President and CEO of Pan American Bank; Susan Guess, SVP/Marketing Director of The Paducah Bank & Trust; and Joe Bartolotta, EVP/Marketing Director of Eastern Bank.

AFT Spring Panel.VR Version 2 In general, the panelists and their organizations recognize the potential of social media and accept that it will likely remain a growing, necessary component of the marketing mix moving forward, but each institution had a unique approach to its evaluation and implementation.

Read the entire article at fintechmarketing.com.

Banker Credibility Study Provides Interesting Perspectives on
What Communications Work Best

A few months ago, we decided to conduct a study on bankers’ opinions bank credibility.vr 2 on what sources of information were most credible. We also looked at communications tactics, e.g., white papers, ads and social media. A few of the results left us rethinking how to best reach bankers.

Here are a few findings for your consideration:

General media scored the lowest of the sources we surveyed. In addition to the numerical score, bankers expressed skepticism. One wrote, “General media has an agenda...much of what is presented about the U.S. banking industry is not in good context.” Our observation is that bankers don’t read general media to help them solve problems or assist in better decision-making.

Industry peers scored the highest among bankers for credibility. If you market to bankers, include a banker in your communications to increase the trustworthiness of your materials. If you can’t find a banker, get an analyst.

Read the entire article at fintechmarketing.com.

Fintech Media Update

The financial media, just like the industry, is in a continual state of change. We thought it useful to share with you several of the major changes in the publications, such as changes in publication formats, editorial calendars and staff assignments. We plan to make this a regular feature of our newsletter.

HousingWire
The print publication is now monthly.

BankNews/Western Banking
Two new publications:
Green Banking (run by publisher Michael Schiebach): www.greenbankingmagazine.com
   Community Banking Web site: www.communitybankingtoday.com

Origination News
Broker Magazine is no longer published, but is an insert in Origination News.

ABA Banking Journal
Combining with Community Banker magazine

Mortgage Technology
Mortgage Technology Award entries are due June 30th

Mortgage Banking Association’s 97th Annual Convention & Expo
Comes to Atlanta, October 24-27, 2010
Georgia World Congress Center

The MBA will be coming to Atlanta this fall. Our associates here at William Mills Agency are ready and willing to provide you with guidance on meeting places, our favorite restaurants and interesting places to visit during your downtime. Let us know how we can help.

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