Marketing in finance: Use of marketing data to send the right message at the right time

This blog is part 2 of a 4-part series marketing for financial services

• • Part 1: Improving customer insights using marketing data
  • Part 2: Use of marketing data to send the right message at the right time
  • Part 3: Gaining online trust
  • Part 4: Automating and integrating your marketing software

Would you send an offer for a senior trip to a customer you know is 28? No, of course not. But how is it possible that comparable mistakes are made in the financial services sector every day? Even though the average financial service provider knows a lot more about his customers and it has been demonstrated that it is very important to communicate in a personalized manner to gain the trust of your customer (as shown by the Edelman Trustmonitor).

An example based on a simple google search. Someone is clearly looking for an Accountant socialized in the music business. He/she finds an Ad that doesn’t suit.

The searcher was clearly looking for an Accountant with experience in the music business in New York City, but came across an Ad for learning the skills for an accounting job. This is not relevant for the searcher and will lead to unnecessary costs for the clicks.

How do you gather marketing data?

You can collect data in a variety of ways (taking into account the applicable GDPR):

• Data in your CRM system: your CRM system generally contains information about the customer. Make sure that you access this data in your marketing automation system to ensure that you can actually use it for segmentation.
• Ask your customer for data: if a customer signs up for a newsletter, downloads something, or completes a form, you can ask the customer for data in a number of steps. Do not ask too much at once, but use progressive profiling: incrementally ask for more data in a number of steps, after all, your marketing automation system can now recognize the visitor.
• Ask for more data and explain why: if someone has signed up for a newsletter or update, send a confirmation email with the question to supplement his or her profile. However, make sure to explain why you do this! This enables you to provide the customer with truly relevant information, for example, about an industry in which an investor is interested or topics a reader wants to learn more about.
• Gather behavioral data: besides the profiles, you can also gather behavioral data about a customer (but make sure to include this in your cookie statement). For example, this allows you to see that a certain visitor is interested in topics on your website or included in your newsletter, and which social updates he or she has clicked on.
• Use gamification: an interesting way to ask for data from a customer is using gamification, such as smart quizzes. Such as: ‘what type of investor are you?’ or ‘calculate your premium’.
• Work using a preference center: a last tip for collecting data is using a smart preference center where people can manage their profiles. Companies still too often use a simple ‘thank you for unsubscribing from the newsletter’ landing page, while this page, in particular, offers you the opportunity to retain interested people. For example, by having them select the frequency or topics or allowing them to take a break (rather than unsubscribing).

Marketing automation for personalized communication based on data

You can structure both the collection and application of data to offer recipients the right message at the right time using marketing automation. True personalized communication leads to more trust among recipients and gives you the opportunity to find new customers faster and better. You can also think about increasing your share or wallet. How cool is it to proactively offer your customer a fitting solution they are currently purchasing from a competitor?

Do you want to learn more about the use of marketing automation in the financial services sector?

Organizations like PayingIt, Standard Chartered Bank, and Fuse Capital are already using marketing automation. We have helped them select and implement the right platform, and – the most important thing – achieve the right results by making smart use of data in campaigns and communication. We do this around the globe. Do you want to learn more about this? Schedule an appointment below: