

Banking on Digital Growth
James Robert Lay
If you’re part of a financial brand marketing, sales, or leadership team, you know the entire industry is in the midst of exponential change fueled by new technologies. Consumers now make purchase decisions long before they walk into a physical branch location, if they walk into a branch at all, while mobile banks, digital lenders, and fintechs have transformed traditional growth models rooted in legacy broadcast marketing and branch sales strategies.Get ready to gain practical insights, proven ideas, and empowering inspiration as financial brand marketing and sales leaders, along with the leading digital marketing and sales technology firms, share their stories to help you maximize your digital growth potential here on Banking on Digital Growth.
Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 24, 2020 • 42min
46) #ExponentialInsights: Three Exponential Growth Insights w/ James Carbary
You've thought about your financial brand's purpose and your culture because as the ancient wisdom says, without purpose — without vision — you have no future. You need a future because we're not going back to the way things were pre-pandemic.
But how can you create purpose and culture for the digital world we're entering?
In this episode of Banking on Digital Growth, I talk with James Carbary, founder of Sweet Fish Media, about education, empowerment, and elevation as we build digital teams for the future.
James and I discuss:
How to value relationships over transactions when you're working digitally
The core definition of digital growth
Why the best sales and marketing pros will transform into micro-media teams
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 23, 2020 • 34min
45) #DigitalGrowthJourneys: Creating Servant-Oriented Content w/ Lynne Jarman-Johnson
During the pandemic, we should ask our customers three questions:
How can we make sure you feel comfortable?
How can we help your neighbor?
How can we help your business partner?
Our goal is to bring those resources to everybody through our online content.
In this episode of Banking on Digital Growth, I talk with Lynne Jarman-Johnson, chief marketing officer at Consumers Credit Union, about how to create servant-oriented content.
Lynne and I discuss:
How to offer empathy through digital content
Why our best solutions are our simplest
What needs to happen right now for financial brands to make progress along their digital growth journeys
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 17, 2020 • 41min
44) #ExponentialInsights: The Role of Images in Financial Brand Storytelling w/ Andy Janning
The first two questions we ask a prospective customer are:
Do you feel like you can trust this institution?
How does what you're looking at on the website make you feel?
Financial brands that use stock photography almost inevitably raise a red flag. Yet about 9 in 10 financial brand websites show at least one stock photo.
In this episode of Banking on Digital Growth, I talk with Andy Janning, president and CEO at NO NET Solutions, about the role of images in financial brand storytelling.
Andy and I discuss:
Why it's important to have a conversation around imagery
How images, pictures, and videos communicate empathy
The critical value of taking action on imagery in financial brand storytelling
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 16, 2020 • 21min
43) #InsideDigitalGrowth: Bridge the Gap Between Marketing and Sales
Marketing sees the value of digital, but sales culture can be heavily entrenched around the branches. How can we begin to bridge the gap between marketing and sales teams?
In this episode of Banking on Digital Growth, I answer this question from Tyler, a marketing director for a bank in the Midwest.
I talk about:
Why financial brand CEOs don't trust marketers and marketing teams
How chief marketing officers are transforming their role into chief growth officers
Why marketing teams need to hold themselves to higher standards
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 11, 2020 • 21min
42) #ByTheBook: Purpose Can Power Your Financial Brand Internally
Purpose can power your financial brand. But your purpose is fragile if it's not backed up by process and by proof.
On this episode of Banking on Digital Growth, I continued our earlier conversation about the idea of banking on purpose. This time, we talked about the internal power of purpose.
I discussed:
Why purpose-driven thinking is key for internal stakeholders
The four elements of a purpose statement
The story of Aspiration, a purpose-driven financial brand that began in 2015 and has raised $100 million in capital
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 10, 2020 • 29min
41) #DigitalGrowthJourneys: Digital Growth Means the Courage to Act on New Information w/ Mia Perez
One thing I’ve learned over the years is that people want two things in their personal financial journey:
They want help and hope. And more often than not, hope has to come before help.
But if your digital marketing consists of only saying you can offer a loan at X%. What hope are you offering?
That’s something my guest today, Mia Perez, Chief Administrative Officer at Louisiana Federal Credit Union, learned on her digital growth journey.
And unlike others, she had the courage to act on the information.
On today’s show, Mia goes over:
Why you should have the courage to change what you know isn’t working
The importance of taking risks to try new things
Why we should admit when we don’t know everything about something newYou can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.
Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 9, 2020 • 31min
40) #InsideDigitalGrowth: How Effective Are Focus Groups in Digital Marketing Strategy?
One in three Americans loses sleep over financial problems, but they're too embarrassed to talk about it.
Yet when financial brands want to know what their customers think, what do they do? Ask them to talk about it.
This approach cannot work.
In this episode of Banking on Digital Growth, I address three pitfalls of digital focus groups and then provide a clear path to getting insights that create value for your financial brand and the people you serve.
I talked about:
Why people make the decisions they do when buying financial products
How people make those decisions
Why focus groups hone in on the wrong things
How to uncover the greatest insights for your financial brand
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 4, 2020 • 19min
39) #ByTheBook: This One Word Determines Where People Buy Financial Products
Can I trust you?
That's the question your customers and prospective customers are asking. And you can't answer their question with a broadcast marketing strategy focused on commoditized products.
Instead, you have to use the fundamentals of neuroscience and gain access to your customer's reptilian brain. I share my thoughts on how to do that in this episode of Banking on Digital Growth.
I talked about:
The three levels of connection in all human relationships
The two ways you build trust
How to use neuroscience to increase customer loyalty to your financial brand
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 3, 2020 • 33min
38) #DigitalGrowthJourneys: Fast Forward: Creating Community Around a Simple Idea w/ Yury Nabokov
Twelve years ago, Yury Nabokov arrived in the U.S. from Russia. He wore a backpack and had less than $500 in his pocket. Today, he's building Fast Forward, a platform for an online growth summit.
I wanted to know what he'd learned in the last dozen years.
So I invited Yury Nabokov, assistant vice president of customer experience & digital marketing strategy at Machias Savings Bank in Portland, ME, to join me on this episode of Banking on Digital Growth.
Here's what Yury and I discussed:
What's exciting about the post-COVID landscape
Yury's personal story and the idea of transformation
How he developed the Fast Forward platform
Yury's best recommendations for financial brand marketers over the next 12 months
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Nov 2, 2020 • 22min
37) #InsideDigitalGrowth: Battle With the Big Banks: Content Marketing Gives You a Competitive Advantage
How can content marketing help community banks and credit unions compete with the big banks?
Lauren asked that question, and I answered it on this episode of the Banking on Digital podcast. There is no better way to get close with your prospective account holders in a digital world than through content, and there's no better way to retain account holders in a digital world than through content and community institutions.
I talked about:
What a digital community is and how to build one
How the acronym ALL (Ask, Listen, Learn) can help you go all in on your digital marketing
Why small, focused institutions can build communities faster than big banks
You can find this interview, and many more, by subscribing to Banking on Digital Growth on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, or here.Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.


