By Vanessa Stoykov, February 2008
In examining digital marketing opportunities for financial services clients, we repeatedly come across the same metrics being used as a measure of success. Those metrics tend to revolve around hard measures of click through, cost per lead and conversion rates (purchase, appointment etc). These are all valid measures of campaign performance, but they are not the complete picture, especially for high involvement offerings.
Because of the in-depth nature and educational requirements of financial services products, there needs to be a greater focus on measures of how the user interacts with your content, such as time on page and navigation paths through the site. Often this information is already captured by web analytics, but not considered in the success metrics. If they are flicking from page to page of clicking away from the site quickly, then we can ascertain that the information presented is not of value. It is noted that prospective buyers will spend more time on an engaging piece of video than they will on ‘brochure ware’ on a site.
This is hardly a surprise - TV has taught us long ago that people want to be entertained as well as informed, something many players in the industry lose sight of. Our work with ANZ Financial Planning creating ANZ Digital TV demonstrated that the video component of the site was viewed over three times more than any other area of the site.
As a specialist agency working with financial services businesses, we see every day companies that are not willing to take risks or be entrepreneurial with new channels to connect with possible customers or investors. And most of the time this is due to legal and legislative requirements. We are so busy making sure our communications and campaigns are legally and brand compliant, that we tend to lose sight of the real goal - to effect people; to change their minds; to stimulate ideas and most of all, to act.
With some offer driven products, like credit cards, the challenge is easier. There are simple selling propositions around interest rates and payment times that consumers understand. But for more complex offerings, such as superannuation, managed funds or insurance, the level of customization is greater; therefore the need to educate and entertain is greater.
While consumer brands are experimenting with social media and user generated content, we in financial services are still selling on performance and price.
Fundamentally, we believe this is wrong. There are two subjects that most people get pretty passionate about - politics and money. We have just experienced the most internet savvy federal election of all time, with Kevin Rudd launching his political campaign on My Space. Politicians are quickly coming to understand that social opinion and more importantly voting preferences can be made or broken via the internet.
There are key issues surrounding financial services products that would certainly have people engaged on a human level, whether this is mortgages, the value of investments or the very real outcome of an insurance claim. So how do we get people engaged?
We believe that branded content, combined with user generated content, is the future for financial services brands who are commoditised, with ‘me too’ products. This content can be both online and offline. For wealth managers, super funds and insurance providers, this is an opportunity to demonstrate the effect your service has on the lives of real people. And give customers the opportunity to demonstrate their loyalty to your brand.
We are not saying traditional digital and communications methods no longer have a place. Rather, that there is an untapped channel for companies to engage potential and existing customers/investors/ members with in a highly competitive market. If we in financial services step outside our world of traditional ROI analysis and start considering other metrics and indicators of brand penetration, we may well tap into a wealth of opportunity.