Summer vacation is done and the kids are back to school. And while winter is still a few months off, the end of the calendar year will be here before we know it. Time for your financial institution to plan your digital strategy for 2019!
New and innovative ways to communicate with financial services consumers are always evolving. The latest “shiny thing” can be tempting, but will it work? Are there ways to blaze your own path? Here are five things we think will drive results in the New Year.
- Content, content and content. Now more than ever “content is king.” With financial consumers doing their homework online before (or instead of) stepping foot into a branch, you need to be there with the information they seek to make them smarter—and you, their go-to financial resource. Content marketing is a staple of the financial marketer’s diet. Indeed, marketing in social media channels is nearly impossible (and largely fruitless) without a strong content foundation. But creating that steady stream of content takes time—and money. Whether you choose to do so in house or to hire an outside resource, make 2019 the year you invest in creating quality content: It’s sure to pay off.
- Data-driven personalization. Financial institutions are sitting on mountains of data they collect across every touch point, including social media, websites, service and support interactions, and transactional information. So leverage it! Use what you know about your customers/members and prospects to personalize your communications: Test different approaches and messages, target groups with relevant content to increase conversions, deliver an individualized experience via marketing automation.
- Bring the Bots. Whether it’s AI or Alexa, savvy financial institutions will continue to serve up more interesting and convenient ways for customers and members to get their banking done on their schedule, how they want to—via websites, mobile apps or social channels—providing an authentic experience that can break through where other marketing tools can’t. It’s predicted that in less than two years, half of mobile searches will be done by voice, so completing transactions might not be far behind.
- Video! Perhaps it’s not news, but it’s still true: 90% of all content shared on social media is video and budgets are and should continue to grow to focus on that opportunity. The big challenge is figuring out how to capture your audience’s attention in the first three seconds. (Yes, we said THREE.)
- Advanced analytics. In the end, it’s all about results. Today’s digital marketing technology makes tracking those results in real time easier than ever. From combining call-tracking software with speech analytics so we can better understand purchase motivations and barriers to new, proprietary technology that allows us to attribute digital engagement to traditional media, we can now essentially track the customer journey from the first inquiry to the final purchase.
And that’s the best indicator of where to focus your future marketing dollars.
