{"id":1732383,"date":"2026-04-27T16:26:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T23:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fintelconnect.com\/?p=1732383"},"modified":"2026-06-17T15:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T22:21:46","slug":"why-financial-marketing-budgets-start-with-last-years-number","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fintelconnect.com\/fr\/blog\/why-financial-marketing-budgets-start-with-last-years-number\/","title":{"rendered":"Pourquoi les budgets de marketing financier commencent toujours par le chiffre de l'ann\u00e9e derni\u00e8re"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here is a question worth raising in your next budget review: how was last year’s marketing number actually decided?<\/strong> In most financial institutions, the answer is surprisingly circular \u2014 it started with the year before that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New research from Cornerstone Advisors, commissioned by Fintel Connect, surveyed 126 senior executives at U.S. banks and credit unions and surfaced a finding that should concern every CFO overseeing a marketing line item. Nearly 6 in 10 institutions determine their marketing budgets by simply adjusting the prior year’s figure.<\/strong> Only 18% build budgets from the ground up, using business cases and expected returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is not a budgeting methodology. That is institutional inertia dressed up as financial planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Download the full report: The Marketing ROI Gap in Banking<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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The 10 Basis Point Illusion<\/h2>\n

The industry rule of thumb \u2014 that financial institutions spend roughly one-tenth of 1% of assets on marketing \u2014 has held essentially constant for a decade. To some, stability signals discipline. To the Cornerstone research team, it signals something more troubling:\u00a0budgets that grow with the balance sheet but are never scrutinized for return.<\/strong><\/p>\n

As institutions doubled in average asset size over the past ten years, marketing budgets doubled alongside them. Not because evidence supported that level of investment. Not because attribution analysis justified the allocation. Because assets went up, and the percentage stayed fixed.<\/p>\n

For a CFO, this should register as a capital allocation problem. The marketing budget is not small \u2014 at a $5 billion institution, 10 basis points represents $5 million annually. Across the industry, those are material dollars being deployed on the basis of historical precedent rather than prospective return.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 10 Basis Point Illusion<\/a><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Why the Cycle Perpetuates Itself<\/h2>\n

The research reveals a self-reinforcing loop that finance leaders are positioned to break \u2014 but must first understand.<\/p>\n

Problem 1: Marketing ROI measurement infrastructure lags behind spend<\/h4>\n

Six in 10 marketing executives report that their core banking or CRM system directly limits their ability to measure marketing ROI. Nearly a third admit they have no reliable attribution at all. Another 27% rely solely on basic web analytics. Only 14% use marketing mix modeling \u2014 the methodology that would allow them to connect channel spend to funded accounts and loan volume.<\/p>\n

When measurement is this weak, there is no data basis for a fresh-start budget. The only available reference point is what was spent before.<\/p>\n

Problem 2: The wrong source gets the credit<\/h4>\n

The attribution problem is not merely technical \u2014 it is strategic. The research found that 31% of banks and credit unions believe they are crediting the wrong marketing source more than a quarter of the time. Another 26% are not sure. That means for at least half of all institutions, the channel performance data driving next year\u2019s budget is materially unreliable.<\/p>\n

In any other capital allocation context \u2014 lending, treasury, M&A \u2014 decisions made on data this unreliable would trigger an audit. In marketing, they become the baseline for next year\u2019s plan.<\/p>\n

Problem 3: Mid-year changes are driven by instinct, not insight<\/h4>\n

Seven in ten institutions regularly modify their marketing budgets mid-year. The top two triggers? Executive requests (53%) and competitive reactions (52%). Performance insights from analytics ranked third, cited by 45%. The implication is direct: reallocation decisions are more often driven by internal politics and reactive instinct than by what the data shows is working.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Why the Cycle Perpetuates Itself<\/a><\/p>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

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Where the Money Goes vs. Where the Returns Are<\/h2>\n

The research surfaces a striking mismatch between spend allocation and perceived effectiveness \u2014 one that the current budgeting approach obscures rather than corrects.<\/p>\n

Paid search commands the single largest share of marketing budgets, cited by 46% of respondents as one of their two highest-spend channels. Yet when executives were asked which channels deliver the strongest ROI,\u00a0email marketing ranked first (48%), with paid search second (38%).<\/strong>\u00a0Email, meanwhile, ranks last for budget share.<\/p>\n

\"Horizontal<\/p>\n

A few additional disconnects worth noting for financial institution marketing budgets:<\/p>\n