Are all the marketing initiatives you’re involved in roughly equal to one another?
Or, are some of those light years ahead of–and produce better results than–all your others?
Time and again, scientific research has proven a simple fact: most of your efforts are not nearly as effective as a small minority of your efforts.
The trick, of course, is identifying the powerful minority, which are usually hidden by the weak majority.
“The 80/20 Principle, like the truth, can make you free. You can work less. At the same time, you can earn more and enjoy more. The only price is that you need to do some serious 80/20 thinking.” ~ Richard Koch, author of The 80/20 Principle.
We’ve all been exposed to the 80/20 Principle at some point in our lives: The principle stating that, in any endeavor, 20% of efforts lead to 80% of results.
That’s an incredibly powerful concept. As every marketing professional knows, there is a world of difference between efficiency and effectiveness. You can be organized, on time and under budget (efficient), but your marketing can fall short of the results you want (ineffective). The 80/20 principle states 80% of your results are caused by only 20% of the efforts you’ve invested in obtaining those results.
A quick look at some numbers highlights this idea:
- 80% of what you achieve at work comes from 20% of the time you spend working
- 20% of all criminals account for 80% of all crimes
- 20% of drivers cause 80% of all accidents20% of your carpets get 80% of the wear
- 80% of traffic jams occur on 20% of the roads
- 20% of your clothes will be worn 80% of the time
- 20% of your marketing efforts cause 80% of your results
Knowing that only 20% of your marketing really works, it’s wise to identify that 20%. How did each of your members or customers first hear about you? What made them decide to open an account? Insights that come from these answers will also motivate you to recognize that all account holders are not created equal and that 20% of them probably account for 80% of your bank or credit union’s growth.
Your job as a financial institution marketer is to find out which 20% of your marketing is motivating the most members. You might also want to determine which 20% of your customers are producing 80% of your profits and learn which 20% of your potential members are most likely to become actual members.
When you discover which 20% of your members are responsible for 80% of your credit union’s success, you can focus on keeping them happy, optimizing the business you do with them, and seeking ways to encourage other members to be more like them.
But don’t lose perspective. While paying more attention to your “best” members reduces your marketing expenses and increases the effectiveness of the marketing you do, a financial institution has a responsibility to ALL its consumers, and you cannot exclusively focus on the members who are best for your bottom line. The awareness, however, will give you a new perspective and help you decide how to best allocate your marketing budget.
Having adopted an 80/20 mindset, consider applying it in other ways: Celebrate exceptional productivity throughout your branches, rather than praising average efforts. Be selective rather than exhaustive. Target a limited number of goals and focus on them like a laser beam. By doing so, you’ll be remarkably effective rather than merely efficient. In short, you’ll be an 80/20 marketer.
“80/20 thinking requires, and with practice, enables us to spot the few really important things that are happening while ignoring the mass of unimportant things. It teaches us to see the wood for the trees.”
Using the apps and tools that are the best fit for you, focusing on your personal and professional strengths, identifying the best use of your time, and getting the most for every marketing dollar are just some of the ways you can apply the 80/20 Principle to your own marketing.
Join us for an 80/20 Marketing workshop on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at 1PM EST.
It’s a low cost, great way to get much more leverage from the tools you already have.
