Financial services marketing
We provide solutions to 8 of the 10 leading financial institutions
Innovation, changing consumer behaviors, and an explosion of data, channels, devices, and applications has significantly impacted Financial Services Marketing. Acxiom’s expertise in technology, proprietary data, and advisory services focuses on helping our clients refine their marketing capabilities in a rapidly transforming industry.
Financial institutions are finding it harder than ever, in today’s data-driven digital world, to balance the importance of cyber security and a seamless customer experience.
They face several technology and compliance-related challenges and with the constant threat of fraud and cyber-attacks, knowing who’s a legitimate customer and who’s not, in real-time, can mean the difference of millions in revenue.
Quick Links
- How marketing in the financial services industry has changed
- How Fintech is disrupting the banking industry
- What are the challenges of financial services marketing?
- How to plan financial services marketing
- Financial services marketing success stories
- Speak with Our Financial Services Marketing Experts
How marketing in the financial services industry has changed
Customer experience plays a key role in the future of financial services marketing
In the last few years, it has become evident that a conventional, product-focused approach is no longer an effective formula for banks and other financial services. Industry key stakeholders are realising that the customer experience is just as important as the institution’s offerings. As a result, many CMOs and CFOs have shifted away from a product-focused marketing strategy toward a people-based marketing strategy. Financial institutions gain a significant competitive advantage by leveraging the right technology and taking a customer-focused approach to marketing and operations.
Customer experience is expected to overtake price and product as a brand differentiator. Customers expect their interactions with their bank to be as advanced, instantaneous, and personalised as their interactions with other industries. As a result, financial services customers are willing to share data in exchange for tailored offerings. Most banks, however, are unable to deliver on this personalisation potential.
How Fintech is disrupting the banking industry
Marketers in the financial services industry are operating in a time of digital disruption. Traditional financial services companies are experiencing rapid digital change, while new digital start-ups are seeking rapid growth and shaking up the market. When implemented effectively, financial services martech and fintech marketing enable great opportunities to get closer to customers on both sides of the spectrum.
Consumer trust and values are at the heart of financial services and fintech marketing. A marketing strategy that influences customers’ safety and financial stability requires increased responsibilities and implications for the entire marketing strategy. Acxiom enables financial services marketers to better understand each stage of their customers’ lifecycles, recognise identity strengths, and discover new opportunities to achieve their goals.
What are the challenges of financial services marketing?
1. The rise of personalisation in the financial industry
The financial services industry is becoming increasingly competitive, and personalisation provides a way for organisations to differentiate themselves and turn their focus on the customer. By utilising tolls which consider all available factors, financial institutions can gain a better understanding of their campaigns’ efficiency. This can help to facilitate personalised relationships and customer loyalty while also reducing long-term marketing costs.
How can financial services providers execute an advanced personalisation strategy?
Here are four suggestions for providers looking to embark on the insight-led personalisation journey.
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Align business priorities with data strategy
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Bring in the right partners and technology
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Support regulatory compliance with advanced personalisation
2. What to do with rich data sources?
Financial providers have access to a wide range of customer data, but sources are disparate and siloed. To achieve one-to-one customer engagement, providers must use their first, second, and third-party data to develop a thorough understanding of each individual customer. However, customer profiles can be limited, and trusted providers such as Acxiom can significantly enrich customer data. The more relevant data an organisation has about people, the more personalised it can be about what matters to them.
Additionally, the growth of data privacy awareness has made customers more intentional about what data they share. Customers are more likely to trust a financial institution that collects only data relevant to current or future products and educates them on how the data will be used to meet their needs.
3. From bricks to clicks – the shift to online banking
People’s habits are changing, and digital-first companies are gaining a large portion of the financial services market as they expand their product lines and entice customers with a seamless user experience. The challenge for financial institutions is to maintain that degree of personalisation as more and more services go online. This is the next frontier of personalisation in financial services. As these technologies advance and are combined with increasingly sophisticated predictive models, the potential to offer clients exactly what they need becomes available.
4. How to reconnect with customers post-pandemic?
People learned to rely on digital banking tools for day-to-day operations when banks were closed or had restricted hours. As we return to pre-pandemic normality, people are unlikely to abandon their preference for digital engagement. Financial institutions have adapted in order to meet client expectations; however, due to the deprecation of third-party cookies, companies can no longer rely on third-party data to personalise their communications and offers. Establishing a solid foundation of first-party data is the new way forward.
5. How to support customer financial wellbeing?
Financial well-being and financial wellness are important to address, especially as we continue with the uncertainty of current times. Financial services providers aim to support their customers by offering financial health checks. However, there’s little evidence to suggest they are combining individual survey results with existing customer data and insights.
Recent research highlights the importance of relevant data in the customer engagement strategy. People should receive appropriate, timely, personalised communications, enabling them to make more informed financial decisions.
6. How to tackle cross-departmental integration?
Due to data silos, organisations often lack a comprehensive view of their customers and have significant challenges in correctly analysing their data. With a centralised analytics strategy, customer information can be housed in a single place, connected across all lines of business. Breaking down silos and allowing sophisticated decision-making can greatly benefit the overall performance of the company.
7. Can advanced analytics improve customer experiences?
The value of advanced analytics and machine learning is being recognised by key players in the financial services industry. Marketers can intelligently offer the correct messages to people at the right moment by employing these technologies. Solutions that fuel intelligent learning frameworks can offer data-driven insights regarding market trends. These tools can assist in reducing ad waste and determining whether prospects are worth pursuing.
How to plan financial services marketing
Acxiom solutions can help you better connect with the financial services customer by helping your organisation:
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Know your customer
Understanding the characteristics, lifestyles and drivers of your customers and prospects is essential for any successful marketing campaign or effective person-level CRM strategy
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Recognise customers with identity resolution
Recognising customers across channels and devices is key to people-based marketing. Fifty years of identity resolution experience empowers us to recognise and evaluate customer data for a single view of the customer.
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Access the best possible insights
Utilise geo-demographic data for enhancement and analytics, providing insight that enables clients to better manage audiences, personalise customer experience across channels and create more profitable customer relationships.
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Optimise your campaign strategy
Identifying the right solution and tools for your organisation can greatly improve your customer reach. Our industry leading data strategists can help every step of the way from strategy consulting, advanced analytics, implementation, and measurement.
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Activate your data
Acxiom activates data for clients across our network of more than 500 partners, including the largest marketing technology platforms.
Financial services marketing success stories
Acxiom solutions can help you better connect with the financial services customer by helping your organisation:
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Learn MoreFinancial services company reduces costs and improves ROAS for digital prospecting
Learn how one client decreased the cost per account and increased ROAS
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Learn MoreConnecting the customer journey for better marketing performance
Recognising customers across channels and devices is key to people-based marketing. Fifty years of identity resolution experience empowers us to recognise and evaluate customer data for a single view of the customer. Acxiom implemented the Real ID™ first-party tag solution to improve the customer journey visibility, maximize attribution, and improve the cost per conversion
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Learn MoreEnabling a more relevant site experience with first-party data
A major financial services brand needed to connect individual-level data for unauthenticated website visitors
