Branch employees are the face and voice of your company to local communities. Engaging local branches and ensuring they use appropriately branded and compliant marketing material is a challenge that can seem insurmountable. It’s essential to achieve the right balance between empowering branches to reach local audiences with relevant messages and the clear need for oversight in order to maintain compliance and brand consistency.

We’ve worked with clients in the banking industry helping them to streamline the process of partnering with branches in bank marketing. In the end, the initiatives not only increase the engagement of branches and the local community but also increase the capacity of the corporate marketing team by reducing the amount of time spent fulfilling local sales and marketing requests.

Here are 3 tips that have worked for our banking clients as they engage branches in local bank marketing:

How do local branches and teams access corporate marketing materials? Local teams need easily accessible materials, on-going support and clear, constant communication about upcoming campaigns to effectively motivate them to participate. Marketing platforms that house corporate marketing assets in an online portal can be the conduit for easily distributing compliant materials.

Are branches able to customize messages that resonate with local communities? It’s essential to give branches, who know their local market best, a customizable approach to marketing. At the same time ensuring regulatory compliance and the accurate representation of current rates is paramount. Marketing platforms, like marketing resource management systems, enable a balanced approach. Marketing assets are templatized: up-to-date disclosures are automatically populated and unchangeable, image options are provided, and specific text can be customizable and automatically routed for review.

Do all branches receive the same in-branch signage, regardless of location size or restrictions? Due to size and/or local restrictions, branches can’t always use the same number and sizes of banners, posters and other in-branch signage. In addition, individual employees, such as mortgage loan officers, might also have specific needs when it comes to types and quantity of marketing materials: One may need a batch of postcards one month when another mortgage loan office needs flyers instead of postcards. Providing an easy-to-use system that enables local teams to order exactly what they need builds a sense of empowerment while also greatly reducing waste.

When branches have easy access to materials that will resonate with their local audience, and the opportunity to customize materials and place specific orders, they become an engaged partner in your marketing efforts. At the same time, a streamlined marketing approach reduces the amount of time spent fulfilling local sales and marketing requests thereby increasing the capacity of your corporate marketing team.