The Power of Connection with Neil Stevens

Connection – with your team, your bank, your customers, and your own self - is the key to great leadership and to creating a truly engaged team. It starts at the top. Your bank’s leadership needs to feel confident in and connected with the values, vision, and mission of your institution. When this happens, and you hire people whose personal visions are already aligned with yours, you start building a great company culture, too.

In this episode, Dan Novalis, Chris Bates, and Neil Stevens discuss what goes into connected teams. Neil shares his LEAD methodology for creating stronger connections: Love, Equip, Affirm, and Develop others. Being a better and connected leader starts with prioritizing yourself and your emotional and mental health. When you treat yourself right, you can encourage a better performance from your team.

Topics Include:

● Why connection is so important for bankers

● How to develop a company culture that makes sense for your organization

● Why you need strong leadership to lead your company culture

● Why leaders need to prioritize themselves and their emotional/mental health

● How to encourage better performance in your team

Neil Stevens is an accomplished banker, speaker, community leader, brand strategist, and fitness enthusiast. As President & CEO of Oconee State Bank in Watkinsville, Georgia, his visionary perspective inspires growth, drives direction, and helps clear obstacles for team members to achieve their personal and professional goals. Happiest when surrounded by his family, Neil’s passion is to create a positive impact on others through servant leadership.

Resources Mentioned:

● Website: https://www.oconeestatebank.com/

● The Remarkable Foundation: https://www.oconeestatebank.com/the-remarkable-foundation

● Make Your Remarkable Podcast: https://www.oconeestatebank.com/business/makeyourremarkable

● Book: Love Works by Joel Manby: https://www.amazon.com/Love-Works-Timeless-Principles-Effective/dp/0310359740/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1689791648&sr=8-1

● Book: Good to Great by Jim Collins https://www.amazon.com/Good-to-Great-Jim-Collins-audiobook/dp/B003VXI5MS

● Book: The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath https://www.amazon.com/The-Power-of-Moments-audiobook/dp/B074TZFTDG/

● LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-stevens-8a5b0514/

● Email: nstevens@oconeestatebank.com

Feeling stuck when it comes to using AI in your bank’s marketing? You’re not alone. In this episode, Dan and Chris walk through five simple and safe ways to start using Gen AI—without tripping compliance alarms or sacrificing your brand voice.

In this episode, we don’t just talk about it—we do it. You’ll see real prompts, live demos, and practical tips you can implement today.

- Drafting Blog Posts - without the blank-page anxiety

- Creating Social Media Posts – from those blogs

- Doing Competitor Research – in seconds

- Using Meeting Transcripts to extract action items, ideas, and plans (so you don’t have to take notes)

- Generating Images – for social media and blog posts, that don’t look AI-generated

- Why prompting skills matter more than ever (and how to build them)

Links & Resources:

- Website: https://bankmarketingshow.com

- Sign up for our newsletter: https://bankmarketingminute.com

- For a copy of the exact prompts we used in this episode, email us at: contact@bankmarketingshow.com

In this episode, Dan and Chris explore how AI is reshaping the bank marketing world—
and what marketing professionals need to do to stay ahead. From prompting effectively
in ChatGPT to building efficient workflows and bringing human insight to the table, this
episode outlines the skills that will define the next generation of marketing leaders.
You’ll hear how to shift from tactical task execution to strategic input, and how banks
can stand out in a sea of generic AI content by focusing on what makes them truly
different.
Key Topics Covered:
 Why AI won't replace marketers—but it will replace generic marketing
 The shift from doing to guiding: what the new marketing role looks like
 How to “prompt like a pro” and avoid generic, average results
 Turning your frontline staff and community events into rich AI inputs
 The power of systems thinking and creating reusable prompt workflows
 How brand voice, customer stories, and strategic judgment remain essential
 The emerging opportunity to differentiate as others automate generically
Resources Mentioned:
 Bank Marketing Show website: https://bankmarketingshow.com
 Subscribe to the Bank Marketing Minute for deeper dives after each episode
 YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@bankmarketingshow
Call to Action:
Want help developing your AI workflows or improving how your team uses tools like
ChatGPT? Reach out to Dan or Chris through https://bankmarketingshow.com — we’re here to help.

Ep 87 – Essential Website Strategy Insights with Brent Feldman

Many community banks don’t hesitate to invest hundreds of thousands, or even millions, in a new brick and mortar branch—but balk at the cost of a new website. In this episode, we dive into why that mindset needs to change—and what a modern bank website should actually do.

Brent Feldman, CEO of Matchbox Design Group, joins us to unpack what makes a website work for banks, how to shift your team's mindset, and the most common traps banks fall into when building or rebuilding their sites.

Topics we cover:

· Why your website is more important than any physical branch

· The mindset banks need before starting a web project

· Common content mistakes (and how to fix them)

· Why residential lending ≠ mortgages

· WordPress vs. core CMS platforms

· Creating a digital branch that actually reflects your brand

Brent Feldman is the CEO of Matchbox Design Group, a website and marketing company focused on banks and credit unions based in St. Louis, Missouri. Brent leads digital strategy initiatives for the organization and is also the host of the Mix & Matchbox Podcast.

Links & Resources:

· Brent Feldman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentfeldman

· Matchbox Design Group: https://www.matchboxdesigngroup.com

· Brent’s Podcast: Mix & Matchbox – featuring a banking series - https://matchboxdesigngroup.com/about/mix-matchbox-podcast-digital-marketing/

· Recommended Book: Smart Brevity by Jim VandeHei, Mike Allen, and Roy Schwartz

Learn more:
Website: bankmarketingshow.com
Sign up for our newsletter: bankmarketingminute.com
Contact Chris and Dan: contact@bankmarketingshow.com

Financial education isn't just about blogging — it’s one of the most powerful tools a community bank can use to connect with its audience, build trust, and drive long-term growth. And, it’s one that many customers are requesting – information and education from an institution they already trust.

In this episode, Dan and Chris unpack the real “why” behind financial education and dive deep into practical ways banks can use it to boost engagement and loyalty.

We discuss:
*Why financial education works better than promotional fluff
*Real-world delivery formats: blogs, workshops, bite-size videos, and more
*How to tailor your content for local relevance (and stand out from national
competitors)
*The ROI of financial education—even when results take time

Resources mentioned:
- Bankmarketingshow.com
- For more on this topic, check out our newsletter at bankmarketingminute.com
- 90-Day Checklist – email us at contact@bankmarketingshow.com

Turning Stories Into Strategy: Humanizing Your Brand

Think you need a massive ad budget to stand out? Think again. This episode is all about how community banks can turn everyday staff and customer stories into powerful, memorable marketing—while keeping spend to a minimum. If your team’s struggling with content ideas, this is your playbook.

In this episode, Chris and Dan cover:

• Why stories beat stock photos every time
• How to encourage employees to share small, real moments
• Turning everyday experiences into community trust
• Mixing personal + professional for maximum impact
• Campaign ideas that make your bank feel more human
• How to systematize story collection for social media gold

Links & Resources:
Website: bankmarketingshow.com
Newsletter: bankmarketingminute.com
Contact: contact@bankmarketingshow.com

Forget billboards and banner ads — this episode is all about unexpected, low-cost, high-impact marketing moves that big banks simply can’t pull off. Chris and Dan share real-life guerrilla marketing campaigns from community banks that sparked attention, built goodwill, and drove serious local engagement.

In this episode:

• What guerrilla marketing is (and why it works for banks)
• How surprise and delight builds brand loyalty
• Real examples: food trucks, cookbooks, classroom giveaways & more
• Ways to turn offline buzz into social media momentum
• Compliance watch-outs and how to stay inclusive
• Tips for measuring success and repeating what works

Links & Resources:

• Website: bankmarketingshow.com
• Sign up for our newsletter: bankmarketingminute.com
• Contact Chris and Dan: contact@bankmarketingshow.com

Podcasting isn’t just for influencers anymore—banks are getting in the game. In this episode, Chris and Dan sit down with Caleb Stevens, VP of Marketing at SouthState Bank’s Capital Markets Division and host of the Community Bank Podcast. From demand generation to practical AI use, Caleb breaks down how banks can modernize without losing sight of what really matters.

In this episode, we cover:

• - The rise of podcasting as a bank marketing tool
• - How digital lead gen is changing—and how demand creation is in
• - How to use AI in practical, low-risk ways inside your bank
• - Caleb’s “3Ms framework”: Message, Methods, and Metrics
• - Real-world examples of alignment between marketing and lending teams that actually drove results
• - Why the simplest marketing ideas might be your most powerful

About Caleb:

Caleb serves as the VP of Marketing for SouthState Bank’s Capital Markets Division, serving over 1,000 community banks across the nation through a variety of banking products and services. He is also the host of The Community Bank Podcast and the co-author of the book Collegiate: 7 Big Ideas to Make College Awesome. He lives in Athens, Georgia with his wife Grace and two young sons.

Links & Resources:

- SouthState Bank podcast: https://southstatecorrespondent.com/podcasts/

- Community Bank Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-community-bank-podcast/id1513967803

- Contact Caleb: caleb.stevens@southstatebank.com

- Favorite Book: Remarkable - David Salyers & Dr. Randy Ross

- Resource for brand messaging: https://storybrand.com/

- LEAD - Neil Stevens: https://www.oconeestatebank.com/business/make-your-remarkable-podcast

- Website: bankmarketingshow.com

- Sign up for our newsletter: bankmarketingminute.com

- Contact Chris and Dan: contact@bankmarketingshow.com