Every bank has them. Most banks ignore them. If you’re smart, you’ll do whatever it takes to take care of them.

Low engagers are customers with a single account, a couple accounts but with low deposits, a loan that’s almost paid off, or a credit card that’s all but inactive. They drive next to no profit for your institution but hold untapped growth potential for community bank marketing teams with vision.

Marketing agencies for banks understand that these dormant relationships can transform into profitable, multi-product households. These are people who already know your brand, liked it enough to engage in the past, and are sufficiently sticky to not have closed their account. The path to success here is so much easier than starting from scratch.

Spotting Low Engagers Early

Data is your best friend when it comes to identifying low engagers early. The sooner you act on low-profit accounts, the better your targeted outreach resonates.

Flag customers who:

• Have only one product
• Rarely log in or use online/mobile banking
• Show minimal transaction activity
• Are nearing the payoff date for their loan
• Are approaching the award date for a signup bonus and only engaged in the minimum transactions to qualify for the incentive

Understanding Why Engagement Drops

Crafting compelling messaging to combat low engagement and support relationship building starts with gaining a stronger gasp on what causes low engagement to begin with.

Low engagement typically boils down to:

• Unawareness of your full product lineup
• Fear that adding or switching accounts is complicated
• Strong ties to competitors
• Rate sensitivity (they keep larger deposits in other accounts earning more interest)

It’s a mistake to presume low engagers aren’t in the market for more services or bigger deposits. They’re simply doing these transactions elsewhere. If you send the right offer, they will respond, and you’ve already got their contact information.

Personalization Wins Every Time

One-size-fits-all offers fall flat. To re-engage low-value customers, banks need to focus on relationship building, aligning products and services with a customer’s life stage and existing accounts while delivering communications that feel timely and relevant.

Effective segmentation allows you to group low engagers into distinct audiences and match each with tailored offers. With this approach, outreach becomes both relatable and actionable, turning underutilized relationships into profitable ones.

Building Lasting Relationships

Community bank marketing isn’t about pushing products. It’s about solving problems. And unlike bigger brands that struggle to make a local connection, your team lives, works, and plays in the same community as your customers. Leverage this to build stronger relationships.

Consider investing resources in more robust low engager outreach:

• Assign relationship managers to promising households, providing upfront value with no hard sells
• Offer financial check-ups to help customers identify financial gaps and opportunities
• Invite low-profit customers to exclusive educational events

If you want a low engager to care about your bank, show that you care about them with no strings attached.

How a Marketing Agency for Banks Can Help

Successfully creating and executing on a strategy to convert low engagers to valuable households can be difficult for smaller banks with limited in-house marketing resources, especially when it comes to developing creative, crafting targeted campaigns, optimizing segmentation, and staying on top of the data.

If you’re looking for a partner who can help you achieve goals and foster long-term growth for your institution, Whale would love to talk about our experience with our community bank partners across the county.

Let’s set up a time to talk. Call 585-967-2422, email isabella@whitewhalesolutions.com or fill out the form below.