Month: June 2005

_Michael Seaton is Director, eMarketing at “Scotiabank”:http://www.scotiabank.com. He currently leads Scotiabank’s one-to-one electronic marketing strategy for the retail bank in Canada. He is responsible for the design and implementation of Scotiabank’s award winning permission-marketing program and for data-driven marketing campaigns and initiatives across the bank’s electronic channels._
_He is active speaker and is a long-standing volunteer with the “Canadian Marketing Association”:http://www.the-cma.org/, currently Co-Chair of the CMA’s E-Marketing Executive Council and is on the Board of Directors with the Association of Internet Marketing & Sales (“AIMS”:http://www.aimscanada.com/)._
*One Degree: How important is e-mail marketing to Scotiabank?*
E-mail is very important for Scotiabank and is a critical part of our direct marketing and channel strategy. Our e-mail program called “The Vault” allows us communicate on a regular basis and consistently demonstrate our brand promise of helping customers get ahead financially. E-mail serves to enhance the overall Scotiabank experience.
We have established a trusted dialogue in this channel because we use it to help educate, advise and coach customers on a wide range of personal money matters. We appreciate and respect the ability to communicate through e-mail and we strive to provide value back. Customers really “get it” and like that we are not just hitting them with offers.
And, we’ve seen amazing results. In one campaign, e-mail qualified and drove “hot” leads directly to our branch-based sales force. In this model, customers connected with their local branch where the relationship is held for an immediate and targeted follow-up. Our branches love e-mail because they are closing upwards of 50% of the leads we generate. So, our frontline has seen the importance and effectiveness of e-mail and so have our customers.
*One Degree: Phishing is hitting the entire e-mail marketing industry through decreased trust. It must be a huge concern for Scotiabank as financial institutions are the most common sites used by scammers. How has the rise of phishing changed the way you use e-mail?*