New lifecycle marketing programs combine prebuilt workflows, financial services expertise and AI to help institutions improve customer acquisition, engagement and retention

Act-On Software has introduced industry-specific marketing automation solutions for credit unions and regional banks, designed to help financial institutions launch lifecycle marketing programs with greater speed, simplicity and effectiveness.

The new offerings bring together prebuilt financial services workflows, industry-specific terminology, a flexible data model and tailored content within Act-On’s marketing automation platform. By reducing the need for custom configuration, the solutions aim to help marketing teams prepare and launch campaigns more quickly.

The launch represents the first phase of a broader initiative to develop more comprehensive, industry-focused solutions. Act-On plans to combine nearly two decades of marketing automation experience with customer insights, industry best practices and artificial intelligence to align its platform with the needs and business outcomes of specific sectors.

Prebuilt Programs Across the Customer Lifecycle

Each solution includes four ready-to-launch programs designed around key stages of the customer lifecycle: acquisition, onboarding, cross-selling and retention.

• Acquisition: Nurtures prospects based on the financial products or services they are researching and follows up with individuals who begin but do not complete a form or application.

• Onboarding: Welcomes new customers and guides them through their initial weeks, with communications tailored to their recently opened accounts or purchased services.

• Cross-selling: Recommends relevant additional products or services based on a customer's existing relationship with the institution.

• Retention: Re-engages customers whose activity has declined and encourages those using a single product to explore additional offerings.

The programs include audience segmentation, campaign templates, performance reports, adaptable prewritten content and automated workflows that respond to customer actions. These resources are intended to give financial institutions the components needed to deploy campaigns without building each program from scratch.

Integrating With Financial Services Technology

Act-On's platform is designed to work alongside core banking, CRM, lending, digital banking and data platforms. It uses information from these systems to coordinate marketing and relationship-development activities throughout the customer lifecycle.

This approach is intended to help credit unions and regional banks connect customer data with relevant communications, supporting more consistent engagement across acquisition, onboarding, cross-selling and retention activities.

Building Industry-Specific Capabilities

Act-On CEO Kate Johnson said financial institutions should not have to develop their marketing automation strategies from a blank slate. The company's goal, she explained, is to incorporate more industry knowledge directly into its platform, providing customers with a stronger starting point while creating a foundation for more advanced vertical capabilities.

Future phases of the initiative are expected to expand the platform's data models, governance, integrations, analytics and AI-assisted features. The company said these developments will help customers spend less time preparing campaigns and more time improving acquisition, retention, engagement and customer value.

Availability

The prebuilt lifecycle marketing programs for credit unions and regional banks are scheduled to become available on November 4, 2026. The launch is the initial step in Act-On's broader strategy to develop marketing automation solutions tailored to the requirements of selected industries.