ICBA LIVE 2027: Made for This Moment

ICBA's Marketing Certification program is designed to equip community bank marketers with the tools and knowledge to succeed in today’s dynamic banking environment. Over 3.5 days, participants gain a comprehensive understanding of banking fundamentals, marketing strategies, and data-driven decision-making to elevate their marketing capabilities. Content Day 1: Building a Foundation  Explore the banking industry’s landscape, trends, and revenue models. Master marketing fundamentals, including market segmentation and targeting, and develop strategies for product promotion, branding, and digital marketing. Learn how to create consistent, impactful messaging across channels like social media, email, and online advertising. Review regulatory compliance relevant to community bank marketing.  Day 2: Data-Driven Marketing and Customer Relationships  Learn how to leverage internal bank data and market research to refine your strategies. Build and maintain strong customer relationships through sales techniques, CRM strategies, and effective communication. Develop enterprise risk management skills and enhance your public relations approach for crisis management, media relations, and more. Day 3: Strategic Reporting and Exam Preparation  Gain financial insight with budget allocation and accounting basics. Learn how to deliver effective board presentations and review marketing’s role in bank operations. To earn the Certified Community Bank Marketing Strategist (CCBMS) certification, you will be required to attend this program in its entirety, complete all assignments, and achieve a passing score on the certification exam(s). Learning Objectives: Examine the role of marketing in community banking. Develop an understanding of how community banks operate and generate successful financial performance. Provide instruction on the most common management structures and responsibilities assigned to bank marketing departments. Provide information and resources to outline the process to develop a strategic marketing plan and determine the budget requirements to implement the plan. Examine research methodologies and how to utilize results to guide decision making. Develop a clear view of data analytics and how community banks can leverage customer and market information to make strategic marketing decisions. Share insights to guide effective sales and relationship development efforts across all lines of business and customer segments. Provide a structure and context for effective branding and brand management. Examine the core elements of effective messaging and communications to support employee, customer, and community relationships. Provide evaluations of media options and how to determine the best options for planned communications. Provide guidance for the management of digital and social media communications. Share insights to improve website design, features, functions, and search engine optimization. Provide resources to help evaluate the return on investment for marketing projects and activities

Regulation W implements Sections 23A and 23B of the Federal Reserve Act and governs transactions between banks and their affiliates. The regulation is designed to protect banks from transferring undue risk, losses, or funding advantages to affiliated companies within a corporate structure. This session provides an overview of Regulation W, focusing on the provisions most frequently applicable to community banks. Participants study real world examples to understand the ways Regulation W impacts day-to-day operations of community banks, and strategies which may be utilized to achieve and maintain compliance with the applicable requirements. Learning Objectives: Describe the purpose and scope of Regulation W and its role in governing transactions between banks and their affiliates. Explain the key provisions applicable to community banks. Recognize the types of day-to-day community bank activities that may trigger Regulation W compliance obligations. Analyze real-world scenarios involving affiliate relationships and transactions to identify potential compliance risks. Duration: 60-minutes Presented live and recorded on 10/06/26.

Community banks are increasingly investing in artificial intelligence, yet many institutions struggle to move beyond experimentation and achieve meaningful adoption across the organization. This session addresses the leadership, cultural, and change-management challenges that often slow AI initiatives and prevent employees from realizing their full potential. Participants get to explore strategies for establishing ownership, building internal champions, creating accountability, and overcoming resistance to change. The session also examines approaches for helping employees transition from passive exploration to practical, business-focused application of AI tools. Through real-world banking examples and live demonstrations, attendees leave with a clearer understanding of how effective leadership can drive AI adoption and unlock tangible value across the institution. Learning Objectives: Identify leadership, cultural, and change-management barriers to AI adoption in community banks. Establish ownership, accountability, and internal champions to support AI initiatives. Apply strategies to overcome employee resistance and encourage responsible AI adoption. Evaluate real-world banking use cases to identify opportunities for improved efficiency, decision-making, and productivity. Duration: 60-minutes Presented live and recorded on 10/20/26.

Your website is open 24/7, staffed by no one, and it's often the very first, and sometimes only, interaction a prospective customer has with your brand. Yet most financial institutions manage it like a project instead of a branch, with no one clearly accountable for how it performs. This session helps you pinpoint exactly how mature your website management really is, assign real ownership before the gaps cost you, and build the kind of reporting your executive team can actually act on. Learning Objectives: Assess your own maturity: a four-level model for where your website sits today, from unmanaged, to monitored, to managed, to fully staffed, so you can name the gap before you fund it.Understand what "being discovered" now requires: how AI-driven and generative search changes the discovery job, and what that means for who owns it internally.Assign real ownership: a framework for defining who the branch manager is, what authority they need, and which standards the site is held to.Build reporting executives can act on: web performance framed as decisions and dollars rather than clicks, opens, and impressions. Duration: 60 minutes Presented live and recorded on 10/21/26.