Ep 58 - Producing Content that Actually Engages with Hollie Brown
Release Date: 04/29/2024
Ep 85 - Turning Stories Into Strategy - Humanize Your Brand
Bank Marketing Show
Turning Stories Into Strategy: Humanizing Your Brand Think you need a massive ad budget to stand out? Think again. This episode is all about how community banks can turn everyday staff and customer stories into powerful, memorable marketing—while keeping spend to a minimum. If your team’s struggling with content ideas, this is your playbook. In this episode, Chris and Dan cover: Why stories beat stock photos every time How to encourage employees to share small, real moments Turning everyday experiences into community trust Mixing personal + professional for maximum impact ...
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Ep 84 - Guerrilla Marketing - High-Impact Engagement & Tactics
Bank Marketing Show
Forget billboards and banner ads — this episode is all about unexpected, low-cost, high-impact marketing moves that big banks simply can’t pull off. Chris and Dan share real-life guerrilla marketing campaigns from community banks that sparked attention, built goodwill, and drove serious local engagement. In this episode: What guerrilla marketing is (and why it works for banks) How surprise and delight builds brand loyalty Real examples: food trucks, cookbooks, classroom giveaways & more Ways to turn offline buzz into social media momentum Compliance watch-outs and how to...
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Ep 83 - The Future of Community Bank Marketing with Caleb Stevens
Bank Marketing Show
Podcasting isn’t just for influencers anymore—banks are getting in the game. In this episode, Chris and Dan sit down with Caleb Stevens, VP of Marketing at SouthState Bank’s Capital Markets Division and host of the Community Bank Podcast. From demand generation to practical AI use, Caleb breaks down how banks can modernize without losing sight of what really matters. In this episode, we cover: - The rise of podcasting as a bank marketing tool - How digital lead gen is changing—and how demand creation is in ...
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Ep 82 - Building an Army of Brand Ambassadors
Bank Marketing Show
How do you grow your bank’s social media presence without relying on your bank's own profiles? Most banks don't - but in this episode, Chris and Dan explore a different strategy: using your own staff as influencers and brand ambassadors. You’ll learn why employee-led content consistently outperforms corporate posts—and how to turn your team into your most powerful marketing channel. Here’s what we cover: - Why your employees’ social media reach outperforms bank official pages - Creating a culture of brand ambassadorship, not just marketing...
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Ep 81 - Traits of a Successful Marketing Director
Bank Marketing Show
We’ve met a lot of bank and credit union marketing teams – and we’ve noticed some commonalities among those that see more success in their efforts. In this episode, we talk about the role of a marketing director (or VP, or manager, or any lead marketer at a bank) – and the things we see in our work that are most impactful to personal career growth and organizational success (which are highly correlated!). This episode covers a lot of ground – the essential traits that define top-performing marketing professionals, the importance of building strong internal relationships, and...
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Ep 80 - Marketing in a Cookieless Future with Hollie Brown
Bank Marketing Show
Many community banks are missing out on valuable marketing opportunities. Statistics show that many community banks aren’t currently utilizing cookies, which used to put them at a disadvantage. However, with cookies being increasingly phased out, updating your website pop-ups and refining your other marketing strategies is crucial. While some data will be lost in a cookieless environment, there are ways to continue engaging with customers. In this episode, Chris Bates, Dan Novalis, and Hollie Brown explore what a cookieless future means for community banks. Email marketing is one...
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Ep 79 - How Much Should You Spend on Marketing
Bank Marketing Show
Regardless of your asset size and marketing bandwidth, budgeting is a challenge. Marketers never have as much as they would like, and those setting the budgets might see it as an expense (hint: it's not! It's an investment!). In this episode Chris and Dan discuss the crucial strategies for effective bank marketing budgeting. They emphasize the importance of digital marketing, the evolving role of bank marketers, and the significance of holding a portion of the budget for unplanned opportunities. Key insights are drawn from the American Bankers Association (ABA) article...
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Ep 78 - Good Marketing Starts With Culture
Bank Marketing Show
Chris and Dan discuss the critical importance of business culture in impacting and enhancing marketing efforts. They explore how a positive internal culture can translate into authentic and engaging marketing & content that connects with audiences. Highlighting real-world examples, they emphasize the value of genuine storytelling featuring employees and community activities. They also outline the significant role of leadership support in fostering a culture that reflects positively in marketing strategies, ultimately helping community banks to differentiate themselves and connect better...
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Ep 77 The Essentials and Benefits of Brand Messaging with Erin Fults
Bank Marketing Show
With over 5,000 community banks and credit unions in the US, your brand is the only thing that differentiates you in your community and online. “Brand messaging” is the collection of words, imagery, and stories that you use to explain the value your community bank brings to customers. It’s not enough to say that your bank is “better” at something than others—better is unclear and doesn’t help you stand out. Instead, your brand message should answer important questions: What makes your bank different? What problems do you solve that other banks don’t? A strong brand...
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Ep 76 - The Power of Local - Banking in the Community
Bank Marketing Show
Chris and Dan discuss strategies for community banks to enhance their local marketing efforts. They emphasize the importance of connecting digital and brand initiatives with local engagement to build trust and visibility. This episode provides a checklist for banks to leverage local strategies, use digital tools, and measure ROI effectively. Chris and Dan also discuss the benefits of outsourcing technical marketing tasks to focus more on community involvement while providing practical tips and best practices for amplifying local campaigns. Topics Include: Importance of Local Community...
info_outlineContent marketing is an oft-misunderstood thing – most banks just produce blog posts about financial topics, and sometimes collect them into a periodic newsletter. But are you really adding value to your customers with a blog post on “the difference between fixed and ARM mortgages”, when there are literally hundreds of similar blogs already online?
In this episode, Chris and Dan chat with Hollie Brown, VP of Marketing for Coastal Community Bank. Hollie leverages her journalism background and the bank’s network to create regular, expert-driven content for her customers. That content “engine” has even led to a system that drives email signups, and a busy calendar of in-person events – truly creating a community where customers can learn more about the bank, network with other similar customers and small businesses, and learn from experts. And most importantly – this system actually converts readers and attendees to real customers.
Topics Include:
● How content marketing and digital marketing work together
● How producing regular content is a resourceful task for local banks
● How banks can leverage a content strategy to create face-to-face community events
● How to determine if your content audience becomes customers
● Why it’s important to involve your internal team in your content strategy
Hollie Brown is Vice President of Marketing for Coastal Community Bank. Coastal provides personal and business banking services for Puget Sound, WA customers, and Banking as a Service (BaaS) for fintech partners. At Coastal, Hollie leads marketing strategy, brand and corporation communication, public relations, and digital marketing.
Hollie earned a BA in Journalism from Western Washington University, an Executive Development Professional certificate from the Washington Bankers Association, a certificate in Bank Marketing from the American Bankers Association, and she is a Certified Financial Management Professional from the American Bankers Association. She is currently enrolled in Pacific Coast Banking School.
Before joining Coastal, she was the Regional Marketing Manager for Moss Adams LLP in Seattle and the Vice President and Director of Marketing for Peoples Bank in Bellingham, WA.
Resources Mentioned:
● Website: https://www.coastalbank.com/
● LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holliejoybrown/
● Website: https://bankmarketingshow.com/