Financial Marketing Trends for 2014: What You Really Need to Know

Financial Marketing Trends for 2014:

What You Really Need to Know

Welcome

Your Panel

Jen Joly, Marketing & Communications

Director, Financial Marketing Strategist

Beth Miller, EVP/Innovation, Content

Strategy and Client Engagement

Grant Evans, Director of Digital Publishing

Christian Twiste, Vice President/Interactive

Services

Agenda: Trends That Should Drive

Your Financial Brand in 2014

Brand and Design

Authenticity, Transparency, Consistency & More

Content

Knowledge, Audits and Engagement

Multi-channel Approach

Integrating Print and the Digital World

Before We Dive In …

What’s expected in the economy for 2014?

The U.S. economy is expected to grow roughly 3%

The unemployment rate will fall to roughly 6.6%

Credit union savings balances are expected to grow 5%

Loan balances are expected to rise more than 6% for banks and credit unions

Bank business loans are expected to grow by more than 7%

Bank charge-off rates are expected to drop to 2.2%

SOURCES: Economic Projections of Federal Reserve Board Members and Federal Reserve Bank Presidents, September 2013 CUNA Economic Forecast as of September 2013 Economic Advisory Committee of the American Bankers Association, June 2013

Persistent Trend:

Consumer as the Core

Brand and Design:

Authenticity, Transparency and Consistency

Trend: Authenticity

“I don’t tell my friends about your brand

because I like your brand, rather because I

like my friends.”

Know Thy Self

Know who you are:

Aspirational

Unknown

Mature

Trend: Authenticity

Trend: Transparency

Guilt-free Consumption (GFC)

Source: trendwatching.com

Trend: Transparency

“A new kind of consumption: one free

from worry (or at least with less worry)

about its [consumption’s] negative

impact, yet that allows continued

indulgence.”

Source: trendwatching.com

Transparency in Action

SELF

SOCIETY

PLANET

Emotional Connections in Action

Trend: Brand Consistency

Consistency is the new black. Why?

With more and more channels, consistency is

more important than ever

Your audience is inundated every day!

Document

… and Evangelize

Other Action Items

Internal

Employee goals

New Employee Orientation

Brand Training

Brand Champion Program

Brand Recognition Programs

External Focus

Defined plan to meet business and audience goals that is measurable

Brand Consistency Proof Points

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Design guidelines, brand standards manual or style guide

New employees receive brand orientation/training

Ongoing brand training for employees

Source: Financial Brand/Aite Group survey of 258 financial services executives (2/13)

High Performing Banks and Credit Unions vs. Lower Performing Peers

Consistency in Action

Consistency in Action

A brand is

The sum of all characteristics and

feelings, both real and perceived, that

create an impression and make

a promise.

Trend: Innovation

“Banking innovation’s gonna change more in the next 12 months than it has in the previous two decades.”

- NCR VP Brian Bailey, who works with banks on branch transformation

Sources: BAI Banking Strategies, “Innovation Focus on Mobile and Online” American Public Media, Marketplace, “Your bank teller will live inside an ATM”

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

“60% of banks today have an innovation strategy compared to just 37% in 2009,” says Haragopal Mangipudi, global head, Finacle.

Trend: Innovation in Action

Pretail (pre-retail)

“A mode of consumption that sees consumers treat crowdfunding platforms as the new shopping malls. Why? Because that’s where current customer demand for more innovative, exciting and unique products and services is being served better than anywhere else, by an army of entrepreneurs and start-ups.”

Source: trendwatching.com

Pretail in Action

Pretail vs. Consumer Controlled Innovations

Trend: Flat Design and Grid Systems

Flat design Minimalistic, simplistic

Vibrant colors

Geometric shapes

Typically limited to two (2) sans serif fonts

No embellishments: i.e. no shadows, bevels, gradients or textures

Grid systems

Single page design

Transparency

Locked headers

Large Photos

Content as visuals

Focus on typography

App style interfaces

Single version (mobile and desktop)

Retina Ready

Flat Design

Then

Now

Grid Systems and Info Graphics

Scrolling, Headers and More

Content 2014 Trends:

Knowledge, Audits and Engagement

Trend: Knowing Your Audience

“As the science of data analysis becomes

more cost efficient and sophisticated and

consumers generate more measurable data

than ever, brands will increasingly be able to

predict what a customer needs or wants—

and tailor offers and communications very

precisely.”

Source: JWT Intelligence 10 Trends for 2013

Knowledge in Action: Customizing

Your Message by Audience

Message Map created by target audience and specific goal(s). Content process = Create, Curate and Influence

Trend: Shift to Strategic Content

No 52%

Yes 39%

Unsure 9%

Percentage of B2C Marketers Who Have a Documented Content Strategy

Content Marketing Usage by B2C Marketers

Rose to 90% (from 86% the previous year)

60% surveyed expect their company’s

content marketing budget to increase in the next 12 months.

Source: 2014 B2C Content Marketing Trends—North America: Content Marketing Institute/MarketingProfs

Content Strategy Approach

Strategy

Workflow and

Delivery

Create

Govern

Content Audit

Identified Goal

Channel

Key Messages

Purpose (Training, Education, CTA, Promo)

Goal Alignment

Distribution/Reach

Cross Organization

Budget Allocation

Rating

Conducting an Audit

Reporting Your Findings

Summary

Content Audit Factors

Rating System

Findings of Audit

Strengths

Weaknesses

Distinct Gaps

Recommendations

Best Practices

Next Steps

Make the Strategy Stick:

Content Tactical Plan

Target Audience

Goal(s) to influence

Content outlined

Tactic

Execution & Reach

Timeline

Budget implication

Measurement

Outline of success

How to Measure Content

Primary Content

Indicators

Secondary Content Indicators

User Indicators

Source: “The objective approach,” Joe Pulizzi, IABC Communication World, November 2013

Trend: Own the Brand Experience

You need to own the customer experience from start to finish.

Marketing/communications should OWN the customer experience (at least the understanding of it).

Why is owning the brand experience

so important?

Trend: Designing the CX

CX

UX

The Customer Experience (CX) looks at every experience and interaction across the customer journey.

Source: http://blogs.forrester.com/kerry_bodine/13-10-04-how_does_service_design_relate_to_cx_and_ux

CX Trend Meets Measurable Results

Source:: Forrester’s The Business Impact Of Customer Experience, June 10, 2013

USAA saw a 77% Y-O-Y increase in

site visitors, a 15% increase in

completed auto loans and a 23%

increase in vehicles sold when it launched a platform for researching, financing and insuring vehicle purchases.

Multi-channel Approach:

Trends for Integrating Print and

the Digital World

Trends: Multi-channel Approach

Does this sound familiar?

We need…more Facebook likes.

We need…more Twitter followers.

We need…more YouTube videos.

We need…to be on Pinterest.

We need…to figure out Google+.

This is in addition to your traditional print

and digital channels!

Ask the Initial Questions

Who are you trying to reach?

Start by being “medium agnostic” and choosing the medium based on where your targets are

What is the conversation you’re trying to have?

Multi-channel doesn’t take place of an overall marketing strategy, good content or consistent positioning

Successful Multi-channel Approach

Trend: Make It Easy

Financial marketers continue to move

toward tools that simplify life for their

customers/members …

Make it Easy in Action

This section will allow

people to click on their age group to view age specific

content

General retirement planning article or

timely news

This section will

always contain a poll. The recipient will be

able to see how everyone answered after they make a

selection.

This section will guide people to take action

– anything from increasing their contribution to

checking out a blog.

This section guides

people to web

Digital Trend: Intelligent Objects

“Everyday objects are evolving into

tech-infused smart devices with

augmented functionality. As more

ordinary items become interactive,

intelligent objects, our interactions with

them will get more interesting,

enjoyable and helpful.”

Source: JWT Intelligence 10 Trends for 2013

Intelligent Objects in Action:

GPS & Maps Integration

Mobile sites and

apps can

access device

specific features

such as the

GPS or camera

to provide more

functionality

Intelligent Objects in Action:

Responsive Design

BENEFITS PITFALLS

Consistent user experience across all platforms

Limited ability to customize the experience and access device specific features

Streamlined site management Slower and less responsive

Reduced maintenance risks and improved release cycles

Longer initial development times and higher upfront costs

Can improve analytic visibility with a single URL structure for all devices

Can complicate your ability to segment traffic sources and plan upgrades

Trend: Re-emergence of Email

91% of consumers reported checking their

email at least once a day.

“Nearly 90% of businesses said email

marketing was 'very important' or

'important', and yet the DMA also reports

that over a third of businesses are unable

to calculate ROI from email marketing.”

Trend: Email 3.0

As email marketing has evolved into a mature

advertising medium, campaigns have advanced to

include more targeting and interactive content

PURLs (Personalized URLs) provide each subscriber with

their own unique Web address to offer a more customized

experience and drive access in offline marketing

Triggered campaigns provide additional content and

features based on subscriber interactions with your

standard email campaigns and websites

Drip campaigns allow users to opt-in for a pre-defined

series of emails based on their preferences

Email ROI in Action: Planning

Successful Campaigns

Successful campaigns

require a strategy that

balances the interplay

between your marketing

goals, target audiences

and available email lists

Personalization features

should be determined

before creative is developed

to ensure tight integration

between brand, content

needs and the final design

Strategy

Marketing Goals Target Audiences

List Definition Content

Personalization

Creative Execution

Email 3.0 in Action: Onboarding

Email 1 Email 2 Email 3

Email 4 Email 5 Email 6

Streamline welcome messaging and

product education

Sync products so customers receive

the right message for the right

products

Email 3.0 in Action: Triggering

Trigger #1 Mortgage Offer

Email

Trigger #2 Mortgage Offer

Email

1 week later 2 weeks later

Shared Landing Page

Email 3.0 in Action: Drip Campaigns

Marketing automation

features enable you to

configure campaigns in

advance including the

ability for users to

select which “track”

they wish to receive.

In this example, users

select business or

personal, and then

receive a series of 4

emails over time.

Welcome

Email 1 Email 2 Email 3 Email 4

Start Track

Business Track

Personal Track

Email 1 Email 2 Email 3 Email 4

Switch Track

Trend: Human-centered Search

Google recently introduced a new search algorithm

called Hummingbird that combines 200 separate

services to offer a more conversational and semantic

search

The goal is to better focus on the “meaning” behind the

words

For example, a search for “What’s the closest place to buy

the iPhone 5s to my home?” will recognize that a “place”

signifies a traditional store and that an iPhone 5s is a

particular kind of device

Hummingbird doesn’t replace the traditional PageRank

algorithm and your current search engine tactics do not

need to change

Human Search in Action

Hummingbird

works with voice

enabled search to

provide intelligent

answers to spoken

queries such as

“Where is the

nearest ATM?”

Human Search in Action

Search can be combined with “retargeting” or “remarketing” to improve your online lead conversion

As Beth is fond of saying, “Retargeting is the pair of shoes that keeps following you around the web”

Advertisers purchase targeted keywords and then tag pages on their site

These tags display additional targeted ads during future web browsing

Questions

& Answers

About BlueSpire

What we do…

BlueSpire provides strategic

marketing solutions for clients in

health and wealth industries,

focusing on content marketing

that elevates audience

engagement and inspires action.

30 years of experience with

financial institutions

Clients include some of the

largest names in the industry

To request a consultation, visit www.bluespiremarketing.com.