Don’t Let Marketing Fall Apart: Why Your Bank Needs a Documented Contingency Plan

In community banking, marketing is often the glue between your brand and your customers. It touches everything—from debit card designs and branch events to digital ads and compliance communications. But for many banks and credit unions, marketing operations are vulnerable. Why? Because vital information—like campaign plans, vendor contacts, brand assets, and software credentials—is spread across inboxes, spreadsheets, and maybe even sticky notes. If a key marketing team member takes a week off or leaves the bank entirely, everything can grind to a halt. That’s where a documented contingency plan becomes essential—not just as a crisis response tool, but as a way to streamline, safeguard, and strengthen your marketing department from the inside out.

For the Marketing Team:

You know the frustration. Campaign timelines live in one spreadsheet. Branding assets are buried in an old shared drive. Vendor contacts are in someone’s inbox. And contracts? Somewhere in legal… maybe.

When key information is scattered across tools, people, and platforms, you spend more time chasing details than executing campaigns.

Now imagine a single, streamlined system where your team can quickly access:

• Branding guidelines and logos

• Campaign plans and schedules

• Vendor and contract details

• Performance reporting

• Marketing asset libraries

• Internal processes and responsibilities

A documented contingency plan does more than protect against emergencies—it makes your day-to-day work faster, cleaner, and more collaborative. It gives you a centralized hub to stay aligned and reduce the dependency on institutional memory (aka “just ask Susan”).

For Bank Leadership:

If your marketing director gave two weeks’ notice tomorrow, what would happen next?

Would your team be able to:

• Keep marketing campaigns running?

• Maintain compliance and consistent branding?

• Access vendor contracts, credentials, and points of contact?

• Understand what’s in flight and what’s on the calendar?

For many banks, the answer is “let’s just hope Susan doesn’t quit.” And that’s a real risk.

Community banks rely on small teams—sometimes one-person marketing departments. That means institutional knowledge is fragile. When it walks out the door, it takes years of accumulated process, strategy, and structure with it.

A documented contingency plan protects your institution from that risk. It provides:

• Continuity – so marketing doesn’t stop when someone leaves

• Visibility – so leadership knows what’s being done and why

• Efficiency – so new hires or cross-functional staff can step in with confidence

• Compliance – so required disclosures, approval workflows, and brand standards are preserved (annual audit, anyone?)

What Should the Plan Include?

For both marketers and leadership, a strong contingency plan should cover:
✅ Team Roles & Responsibilities – Who does what, and who can step in
✅ Key Accounts & Access – Platform logins, social accounts, ad platforms, and software subscriptions
✅ Vendor & Contract Info – Contact details, expiration dates, and service scopes
✅ Campaigns in Progress – What’s live, what’s coming, and what’s on hold
✅ Asset Repository – Central storage of logos, templates, disclosures, and more
✅ Process Documentation – Approval workflows, content scheduling, and compliance steps

Bottom Line: A Contingency Plan is Not Just a Safety Net—It’s a Growth Tool

For the marketing team, it creates structure, reduces burnout, and eliminates inefficiencies.
For leadership, it ensures continuity, accountability, and peace of mind.

In a world where trust, consistency, and compliance are non-negotiable, your bank can’t afford to let marketing fall through the cracks.

Build the plan now—before you need it.
Better yet, invest in a centralized platform that keeps everything organized, accessible, and up to date. Learn more about BankBound Keep – a centralized marketing department management platform for financial institutions.