3 Experiences Shaping My Approach to Financial Institution Marketing in 2027

As I’m working with community bank and credit union clients on their marketing plans, I’m thinking about what belongs in the 2027 budget ‒ and what we might need to leave room for.

A few recent experiences are shaping those conversations. One began with a looming government shutdown. Another came from conversations with business members. And one started with a conversation with my mother that sent me looking into services at my own financial institutions.

When Paychecks Were in Question

One of my clients is a credit union focused on organic growth, with one person handling marketing internally. I’ve worked alongside that team for several years as its outsourced marketing partner.

As a government shutdown loomed in the fall of 2025, I proposed a campaign to let members who worked for the federal government know where they could turn if their paychecks stopped.

Shutdown assistance isn’t a new concept, but my client had never built a campaign around it. The credit union already offered some options for members experiencing financial pressure. The campaign promoted a short-term loan for affected government employees who were existing members, with terms based on credit, along with its skip-a-payment option.

The campaign brought more members into the branches seeking help than we had anticipated. What made its impact very real to me was one story the staff shared. young widow raising two children on her own was holding back tears as she inquired about the program. She hadn’t been at her job for long. Her coworkers had encouraged her to set aside a few paychecks for this very reason, but she hadn’t been able to save as much as she needed.

That story stayed with me. She was facing an interruption in income with two children depending on her, and now she knew she could turn to her credit union for help.

The outreach continued into 2026. During a future shutdown, we plan to run the campaign again, supporting existing members while expanding outreach to eligible government employees in the community with the goal of growing credit union membership.

As I help clients plan for 2027, I’m encouraging them to leave room in the budget for unexpected opportunities. We won’t know every campaign we’ll need when the budget is approved. Having some flexibility allows us to respond when a service becomes especially relevant to the people an institution serves ‒ or hopes to reach.

A Familiar Institution, A New Business Conversation

One small community bank brought me in a few years ago to help attract more business members. I recommended partnerships with a merchant services provider and an ATM company to expand what it could offer local businesses ‒ from accepting card payments to managing cash through ATMs and smart safes.

Before taking that message into the community, the bank’s operations manager and I spoke with two business customers. As I suspected, they were being bombarded with merchant services and ATM offers. Both already had an ATM, and both told us they stayed with their current merchant services provider ‒ even though they felt they weren’t getting the best deal ‒ because the competing offers were difficult to compare.

Neither knew their bank offered merchant services until we told them. That changed the conversation. Here was an option through an institution they already trusted, with relationships that in some cases stretched back a decade or more.

Those conversations helped shape the campaign. We led with merchant services, connecting a challenge business accountholders had described ‒ choosing a payment processing provider ‒ with an option available through their bank. ATMs and smart safes were secondary offerings for businesses with cash-handling needs.

Using branch signage, screens on the bank’s drive up, deposit-taking ATM, email and social media, we focused first on existing business accounts. A number of businesses reached out about merchant services, and some asked about ATMs and cash-handling equipment. Many moved their payment processing to the bank’s program; others told staff they planned to switch when their current contract ends.

The response was stronger than we anticipated. We’re holding off on broader community marketing until 2027 to give staff time to support the businesses already responding. The CEO was especially pleased that the campaign generated noninterest income from existing customers while strengthening those relationships by helping meet another of their everyday business needs.

As I work on next year’s budgets with my financial institution clients, that experience reinforces the value of investing in existing relationships. Attracting new business accounts was the broader goal, but we deliberately started with businesses already banking with the institution. Their response showed how much opportunity there was to meet more of their needs ‒ and helped us plan the timing of our wider outreach.

A Service I Didn’t Know I Had Access To

Shortly after my mother’s husband passed away, she talked with me about her finances and her will. That conversation got me thinking more seriously about my own financial future.

I’ve always joked that I’d probably die sitting at my desk. Retirement still feels a long way off, but I want to know whether I’m on track financially and what I could be doing differently now.

That sent me looking for guidance at my own financial institutions. I have accounts at both a bank and a large credit union, and I was surprised to discover both offered investment services. My bank had an extensive financial planning department. My credit union offered access to investment professionals and life insurance.

I don’t remember seeing either institution promote its investment or financial planning services. Those are topics I would have noticed. From my perspective as an account holder, these services simply haven’t been given enough visibility.

I’ve already set up an appointment with my bank. But as a marketer, I couldn’t help thinking how easily I could have taken my business elsewhere if I hadn’t gone looking.

I’ve already brought this up with my financial institution clients as we discuss next year’s budgets: giving investment and financial planning services more visibility. An institution may already have the services and expertise to help, but account holders need to know they’re available. In my case, both had my trust. Neither was on my radar for financial planning until I went looking.

“A bank or credit union may already have the services and expertise to help, but account holders need to know they’re available.”

As those plans take shape, I keep coming back to three questions: Where could greater awareness help an existing service grow? What are account holders struggling with that we could help address? And have we left enough room to respond when something unexpected happens?

I see opportunity in making those connections ‒ helping someone find financial breathing room, a business owner choose a provider or an account holder take the next step toward planning for the future. Giving that work a place in the budget can help banks and credit unions grow while strengthening the relationships that make that growth possible.

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Alicia is a strategic communications and partner marketing leader with more than 20 years of experience helping organizations build partnerships, launch products, navigate change, and tell stories that build trust. She has worked across advocacy, financial services, technology, and B2B marketing, bringing a relationship-first approach to every organization she serves.

📩 Schedule your consultation alicia@blandamarketing.com