New Cornerstone Advisors Research Reveals Why U.S. Banks and Credit Unions Still Struggle to Prove Marketing ROI

Led by Ron Shevlin, chief research officer at Cornerstone Advisors, and Abbie Jones, director at Cornerstone, with contributing analyses by Cornerstone's Elizabeth Gujral, the report is based on a survey of 126 senior executives at U.S. banks and credit unions. The findings show that many institutions remain under pressure to prove marketing ROI while still lacking the systems and attribution needed to clearly connect performance to outcomes.

“Banks and credit unions spend an average of 0.10% of assets on marketing each year, but Marketing departments historically struggle to demonstrate how their efforts translate into growth,” said Shevlin. “Yes, attribution, measurement, and outcome-based results are difficult in prove. But our research illustrates that the biggest challenge facing Marketing leaders today is their reputation inside the organization.” 

Key findings include:

• Affiliate marketing remains underused. Only about one-third of institutions report using affiliate or partner marketing, yet 1 in 5 identify it as their most under-leveraged channel, despite ranking second on customer lead quality.
• Channel spend does not always align with perceived ROI. Paid search accounts are the largest share of the marketing budget, yet email marketing is most often cited as delivering the strongest ROI, pointing to a broad gap between where dollars go and where institutions believe they see the best return.
• Budgeting and measurement remain structural challenges. More than half of institutions set marketing budgets by adjusting the previous year’s budget, while nearly 6 in 10 say their core or CRM system limits their ability to measure marketing ROI.

“Traditional financial institutions are continually being squeezed, and there are good examples of institutions bucking the trend,” said Nicky Senyard, CEO of Fintel Connect. “This report shows there are winning channels. For example, affiliate programs were shown to drive scalable, compliant, high-quality customer growth.”

The report offers senior leaders at banks and credit unions a benchmark-based view of how their peers are approaching marketing investment, measurement, and performance.

“The bottom line is this: Marketing leaders need to claim a strategic role in growth and accept a higher level of accountability for outcomes,” Shevlin concludes. “The opportunity exists, but only when Marketing becomes part of the decision-making process around products, segments, and distribution.”

Get the free report here: https://www.crnrstone.com/gritty-insights/research/the-marketing-roi-gap-in-banking

About Cornerstone Advisors

For over 20 years, Cornerstone Advisors has delivered gritty insights, bold strategies, and data-driven solutions to build smarter banks, credit unions, and fintechs. From technology systems selection and implementation to contract negotiations, performance improvement, vendor management, strategic planning, and merger and acquisition services, Cornerstone combines expertise with research and proprietary data to help financial institutions thrive in today’s challenging environment.

About Fintel Connect 

Fintel Connect is the leading all-in-one affiliate marketing platform, network, and agency exclusively for financial services. The company drives scalable net new growth for the modern bank, credit union, fintech, and insurer through its specialized tools, expert support, and deep experience in regulated environments. Fintel Connect proudly partners with thousands of targeted high-quality traffic sources and powers the affiliate programs of 100+ leading financial institutions, including Live Oak Bank, Grasshopper, Scotiabank, and BMO.