Independent Community Bankers of America - ICBA
New Digital Platform and Smart Integrations Providing Excellent User Experiences
The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) is the primary trade group for many U.S. banks. Through effective advocacy, education, and innovation, ICBA empowers the potential of approximately 5,000 small and mid-sized financial institutions across the nation that are commonly known as “community banks.”
Challenges
ICBA faced several interconnected challenges that stemmed from an aging website platform solution. The existing website infrastructure lacked the management capabilities and flexibility needed to support ICBA’s evolving digital strategy. Integral business technology was not functionally integrated into the existing website solutions either, creating tech silos for both member engagement, which utilizes NetForum, and automated marketing campaigns that utilize HubSpot.
ICBA aimed to partner with an agency with a strong track record for success to confidently redevelop a modern web presence capable of seamlessly integrating their business tech stack while maximizing digital capabilities and performance.
Solutions
Americaneagle.com was identified as the ideal partner to help ICBA achieve all they set out to do with their digital transformation. Strategy teams produced a comprehensive roadmap to prioritize critical functionalities for this redevelopment, while also allowing flexibility for iterative improvements. Detailed project planning included extensive user experience research, in-depth interviews, and persona development. This user-centered approach informed critical decisions throughout the project, ensuring the new digital solutions would prioritize user success in every consideration.
Technical implementation included architecting the integration between NetForum, HubSpot, and the chosen digital experience platform, Liferay. The team implemented a multisite environment with careful attention to content migration and integration specifications, ensuring data flowed smoothly between systems without any disruption to member services. The NetForum and HubSpot integrations implemented by the development team performed extremely well within Liferay, enabling automated workflows and personalized member experiences that were previously impossible.
Recognizing that long-term digital success required confident, capable, and self-sufficient web management at ICBA, Americaneagle.com provided comprehensive training sessions for the in-house digital team. They quickly adopted powerful content management capabilities within the Liferay editing environment. These sessions also enabled internal developers to confidently build and maintain features on the Liferay platform, fostering unprecedented website management opportunities.
The expanded capabilities of the new digital solutions, personalization options for members, intuitive navigation, and entire user experience have earned appreciative response from ICBA members. Prototype testing revealed significant improvements in navigation success rates and overall user satisfaction. Members have reported easier access to resources and a more intuitive interface that better served their needs.
This project demonstrated the importance of aligning excellent technical solutions with user needs and consistent stakeholder communication. By conducting thorough research, providing comprehensive training, and maintaining clear documentation throughout the process, Americaneagle.com delivered not just a website, but a sustainable digital platform that positions ICBA for continued growth and impactful member engagement.
