Live from BAI Retail Delivery : Online Search Engines Deliver Customers

The online search engine may not resonate with bankers as a potential customer acquisition tool, but failing to make that connection is a mistake, said Justin Merickel, director of the finance category at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo! Inc. during a Thursday afternoon presentation entitled "Leveraging Search Engine Marketing to Build Customer Connections."

Merickel said banks need to take advantage of the fact that consumers are increasingly using Internet search engines to manage their finances. According to a survey commissioned by Yahoo, 61% of consumers said they shop for or research bank accounts online, compared to 30% in-person and 5% by phone.