Is Your Financial Institution’s Marketing Budget Aligned With ROI?

Financial institutions are not short on marketing data. Most teams have web analytics, platform dashboards, campaign reports, CRM data, core data, and channel-specific metrics.

The problem is that those systems often do not connect cleanly enough to show which activities are driving meaningful business outcomes such as funded accounts, deposits, loans, and long-term customer value.

That puts Marketing in a difficult position. Teams are accountable for growth, but often lack the infrastructure to confidently connect spend to results across the full customer journey.

The report found that nearly 6 in 10 institutions determine their marketing budgets by adjusting the previous year’s budget. It also found that core or CRM integration limitations are the most common barrier to measuring marketing ROI.

That is not just a reporting issue. It affects how budgets are set, how channels are evaluated, and how Marketing is perceived inside the organization.

The quiz is designed for senior marketing, growth, digital, and acquisition leaders at U.S. banks and credit unions who want a quick way to pressure-test how their current approach compares with broader industry patterns.

It focuses on five core areas:

• Budget planning: Is your marketing budget built around expected outcomes, or mostly adjusted from last year’s number?
• Attribution confidence: Can your team reliably connect marketing activity to customer-level outcomes?
• Measurement barriers: Are core systems, CRM limitations, identity resolution, or tracking gaps holding back better ROI analysis?
• Channel allocation: Are your largest investments aligned with the channels you believe perform best?
• Strategic influence: Is Marketing helping shape growth strategy, or primarily supporting campaigns requested by other teams?

These questions are intentionally practical. They are not about whether your institution has a perfect attribution model or unlimited budget. They are about whether your current approach gives Marketing the clarity and influence it needs to make better growth decisions.

The quiz is built from findings that point to a larger issue across financial services marketing: many institutions are working hard to optimize performance, but their budgeting and measurement systems are not always designed to support that goal.

One of the clearest findings from the report is the disconnect between where financial institutions spend and where they see returns.

Paid search was most often named as one of the largest areas of marketing spend. Email marketing, meanwhile, was most often cited as delivering the strongest ROI.

Affiliate/partner marketing also stood out. While only about a third of institutions invest in it, it was the most frequently named under-leveraged channel and ranked second overall among evaluated channels. Its strongest attribute was customer and lead quality, which is especially important for institutions focused on funded accounts, qualified customers, and sustainable growth.

For banks and credit unions, this matters because channel decisions are not only about traffic or visibility. They are about whether the institution can attract the right customers, measure meaningful outcomes, and manage acquisition cost in a way that supports long-term performance.

Search behavior is changing. Consumers are increasingly using AI-powered tools, comparison content, and third-party sources to research financial products before they ever reach a brand’s website.

That makes channel mix more important, not less. Organic search, partner ecosystems, comparison sites, and trusted publisher content can all influence whether a financial brand is discovered, cited, considered, and chosen.

Institutions that continue to rely mainly on familiar channels may miss opportunities to reach high-intent consumers earlier in the decision process. They may also struggle to understand which sources and touchpoints are shaping consideration before conversion.

The quiz helps surface whether your current budget and measurement approach is ready for that shift.

The quiz is not meant to grade your institution or prescribe one “right” marketing strategy.

Instead, it gives you a starting point for better internal conversations. Your result can help identify whether your institution is operating with:

• A budget alignment gap, where spend is still driven more by historical allocation than business outcomes.
• An attribution confidence gap, where Marketing cannot fully prove which channels or touchpoints drive funded results.
• A channel opportunity gap, where underused channels may deserve a closer look based on customer quality, cost efficiency, or growth potential.
• A strategic influence gap, where Marketing is involved too late in product, audience, or growth decisions.

Each of these gaps can limit Marketing’s ability to make a stronger case for investment. They can also reinforce the perception that Marketing is a support function rather than a strategic growth driver.

Closing the marketing ROI gap requires more than better dashboards. It requires Marketing to play a more strategic role in how financial institutions define growth, evaluate channels, and connect spend to outcomes.

That means working more closely with Finance, IT, product, data, and executive leadership. It means shifting budget conversations from “What did we spend last year?” to “What outcomes are we trying to drive, and which channels are best equipped to support them?”

It also means being honest about where measurement is incomplete. No institution has perfect data, but teams that understand their blind spots are better positioned to improve attribution, test new channels, and make more confident investment decisions.

The quiz is a simple first step in that process.

Take the quiz to see how your institution compares

Who is this quiz for?

The quiz is designed for marketing, growth, digital, acquisition, and executive leaders at U.S. banks and credit unions who want to evaluate how their marketing budget, attribution, and channel strategy compare to broader industry benchmarks.

How long does the quiz take?

The quiz is designed to be quick and practical. It asks 10 questions based on key findings from the Cornerstone Advisors and Fintel Connect report.

What will I learn from the quiz?

You will get a clearer view of how your institution approaches budget setting, attribution, measurement, channel investment, and Marketing’s role in growth strategy.

Is the quiz based on research?

Yes. Each quiz question is connected to an insight from The Marketing ROI Gap in Banking, a report from Cornerstone Advisors commissioned by Fintel Connect.

Where can I read the full report?

You can download the full report here: The Marketing ROI Gap in Banking.

Marketing leaders do not need another dashboard that only tells part of the story. They need a clearer way to understand how budget, channel mix, attribution, and growth ownership fit together.

Start with the quiz, then use the full report to dig deeper into how senior executives at U.S. banks and credit unions are thinking about marketing spend, measurement, and performance.

Take the financial marketing ROI quiz

Download the full Cornerstone Advisors and Fintel Connect report