Ever spend more time than you would have liked trying to locate a file or document? Of course, you have. We all have.
With banking being one of the most heavily regulated industries, and one which is constantly evolving, there are a tremendous number of obstacles that banks must hurdle to achieve their goals, whether it’s consistent branding across channels, maintaining competitive online and mobile banking services, creating compelling marketing messaging, or meeting compliance requirements.
As financial institutions continue to grow—expanding into new markets, adding digital services, or merging with other institutions—the challenges associated with these goals grow with them. Further complicating constant upheaval is the massive volume of documents that must be efficiently managed: brochures, flyers, social media posts, digital ads, sponsorship requests, HR materials, and compliance documents, to name just a few. Without the right tools, doing so can quickly become an overwhelming task, and can quite often lead to:
- Inconsistent branding across channels
- Difficulty locating up-to-date marketing and compliance documents
- Costly resources wasted in recreating existing assets
- Compliance risks associated with outdated or unapproved content
- Operational inefficiencies caused by siloed information storage
This is where a Digital Asset Management (DAM) solution can change the game.
The “What” and “Why” of Digital Asset Management
A DAM system is a centralized platform that allows organizations to securely store, manage, organize, and distribute digital content. For commercial bank marketers, the benefits of utilizing a DAM system can be significant:
- Efficiency Gains: According to a McKinsey report, employees spend 1.8 hours every day searching and gathering information; 9.3 hours per week, on average. Put another way, businesses hire five employees but only four show up to work; the fifth is off searching for answers, but not contributing any value.1 In partnering with hundreds of banks over two decades, we’ve learned that this is absolutely true; much of the marketing and frontline staff’s time is dedicated to recreating existing materials simply because they can’t find them. With a DAM solution, teams can instantly locate pre-approved assets—everything from digital ads to regulatory disclosures—cutting hours of wasted effort.
- Stronger Compliance and Audit Control: In an industry as regulated as banking, outdated or unauthorized materials aren’t just inefficient. They’re dangerous. DAM platforms track every version of a document, log edits and downloads, and restrict access based on user roles. This provides a full audit trail and ensures teams are always using compliant content.
- Brand Consistency Across All Channels: A DAM solution serves as a “single source of truth”. With it, marketing teams can maintain visual and message consistency, even when empowering front-line employees to localize materials. From mortgage officers to branch managers, every user can access templates with built-in brand elements and compliant language, reducing the risk of off-brand or inaccurate, unapproved content.
- Un-siloed Collaboration: A DAM platform breaks down silos, benefiting more than just the marketing team. It serves treasury, wealth management, commercial lending, HR, risk management, and more. Departments can pull exactly what they need, when they need it, without submitting ad hoc requests to marketing.
First Interstate Bank’s DAM Success Story
We understand firsthand what a DAM solution can do for a commercial bank, and we’ve talked about why it's important in our blog, “3 reasons why you need a DAM solution.” A standout example of the power of a well-implemented DAM system is First Interstate Bank, a BMC partner which serves 14 states with over 300 branches and more than $30 billion in assets.
“Before implementing a DAM solution, we were drowning,” says Sarah Becker, SVP and Director of Marketing and Communications. “When we started, our team of three couldn’t keep up with field requests. We didn’t have in-house designers, and we were outsourcing small ad projects at $200 an hour for $500 sponsorships. It just didn’t make sense.” You can view our webinar with Sarah Becker as our guest here.
Before adopting Bank Marketing Center’s DAM solution, First Interstate struggled with cost inefficiencies, brand inconsistencies, and compliance issues. Local teams often created their own materials using outdated logos, incorrect disclosures, or off-brand messaging; simply because they couldn’t get what they needed on time.
The turnaround came with the implementation of a customized, private-label DAM portal. “We wanted a platform we could own and shape,” says Becker, and with plans to grow, needed a solution that was scalable. “We’ve evolved a lot—having grown from 120 branches in six states to more than 300 in 14 states—and our DAM solution has scaled with us every step of the way.”
Another big win? Efficiency. “We’ve just become so much more efficient in every aspect of our business,” Becker explains. “Our bankers can now get what they need when they need it, not just when we have time to provide it. Everything is pre-approved and brand-compliant. No more stretched logos, no more missing disclosures.” The platform has empowered First Interstate to move from being seen as “the Department of No” (as Becker puts it) to one “that provides our team members with exactly what they need when they need it. As a result, our compliance and brand management have never been stronger.”
The portal has also become an essential tool for audit readiness. “When compliance or internal audit comes calling, we just send them a link. We know exactly when an asset was created, updated, and downloaded. It’s all there for the regulators, saving us a tremendous amount of time… and stress.”
And it’s not just the marketing team members that benefit. Associates from wealth management, treasury services, commercial banking —even the bank’s philanthropic foundation—use the DAM system regularly. One particularly creative application Becker notes is a standardized email signature generator to “eliminate inconsistent (and sometimes cringeworthy) signatures. Someone once added a Santa hat to our logo during the holidays,” Becker recounts. “That was the final straw.”
Her advice to other banks considering a DAM solution? “Don’t limit your vision. A DAM solution can support every department, not just marketing. And partner with a provider who will be right with you for every step of the customization and implementation process. We did, and it’s one of the best investments we’ve ever made.”
Bank Marketing Center
We’re Bank Marketing Center, the leading, subscription-based provider of automated marketing solutions to the financial services industry. Our goal is to help bank marketers with topical, compelling communication with customers that builds trust, relationships, and revenue. And we do this through automating critical bank marketing functions, such as content creation, social media management and digital asset management, as well as regulatory and brand compliance.
We also want to share what we know—and learn along the way—with all our banking industry friends. Whether it’s the latest on AI technology, suggestions on how to attract and retain top talent, or the importance of data protection, we’re here to make bank marketing the best that it can be.
Want to learn more about what we can do for your community bank and your marketing efforts? You can start by visiting bankmarketingcenter.com. Then, feel free to contact me directly by phone at 678-528-6688 or via email at nreynolds@bankmarketingcenter.com. As always, I welcome your thoughts.
1utrconf.com. “Top 3 reasons why employees spend so much time looking for information”. May 2023.