I’m excited to host Shelly Loftin, a career bank marketer and SVP, Retail Banking, Payments, and Lending at the American Banking Association, on the blog this week as she shares her wealth of industry knowledge with the Girl Banker readers with her handy dandy Marketing Media Toolkit! 

About Shelly
I live in a world of branding, banking, and boys. I am a banker who was promoted to a customer then turned ABA team member who believes banking and education should be fun, simple and helpful. I am a mom to two superheroes, ages 7 and 4.  My career started in the nerve center of the bank, the proof department, when I was 15.  I learned to run a sorter, key like a champ and became fascinated with how banking worked. After a few years of keying, balancing and counting zeroes, I held multiple retail roles including teller, customer service representative and financial service representative before I transitioning to the marketing side of banking. For the past 14 years, I have worked on branding, marketing and retail in several positions at various community banks.  Prior to going to the American Bankers Association, I was Chief Administrative Officer at Bear State Bank. Connecting brand, culture and customer experiences across channels is what I love. I am a cultivator of member happiness, passionate about improving the experience banking business, a brand ambassador, training enthusiast, conference concierge, design fanatic, team builder and infographic nerd. Covey facilitator, creative collaborator, culture advocate, professional learner and happiness sharer. I’m forever a Bear, as there are always trails to blaze and pawprints to explore. Oh, and a millennial. Kind of. Solving problems collaboratively is my preferred way to work and I am a strong supporter of communication.

A Bank Marketer’s Tool Bag
The pace of change is rapidly increasing and the banking industry is no exception. Data drives the majority of our key business decisions as bankers. Who is my customer? Who should be my customer? What channel does Bob prefer? Where should Sara see my digital ad? How can we best deliver disclosures? How can we distinctly brand our experiences while remaining compliant, growing and making money? Bank marketing strategies should light the path for executing revenue generating activities and the beauty of managing this strategic, creative, and detailed operational balance is that everyone will do it differently. So why don’t we share what guides us? We have a vested interest in our industries success and growth. I am a committed learner, but I know for a fact that my brain cells aren’t always keeping up with technology, innovation and the rapid pace of change.

The projects I have been involved with that achieved the best results were collaborative. In the spirit of sharing, below are a handful of resources that I reference consistently; not just titles, publications, or sound bites I have read or visited, but resources I utilize a lot when solving problems, developing strategies, implementing operational processes, designing experiences, etc. Enjoy!