In this environment, super funds and asset managers must rethink their marketing strategies to not only minimise costs but also address evolving client sentiments, emphasising transparency and value.

Understanding the shifting economic landscape

The global economic environment remains volatile, with inflationary pressures, geopolitical tensions, and shifting interest rates creating a complex backdrop for financial markets. The performance of superannuation funds, asset managers, and other investment vehicles has become increasingly tied to these macroeconomic factors, requiring firms to stay agile in their marketing and communication efforts. This has seen that 67% of marketers worry about reducing spending while staying ahead of competitors.

The Australian superannuation industry’s 2023 rebound is a case in point. While the 7.6% growth in assets reflects a recovery, it doesn’t negate the challenges posed by prior market contractions. Additionally, the cost-of-living crisis in Australia and similar pressures in other developed markets means investors and members are more acutely aware of the impact of fees on their returns. This heightened awareness isn’t limited to superannuation funds; it extends to the entire asset management industry, where transparency and perceived value have become crucial differentiators.

The global relevance of Australian superannuation trends

While Australia’s specific regulatory and market conditions are unique, the broader trends affecting its superannuation industry are relevant to financial services firms worldwide. The pressures Australian super funds face—such as balancing growth with cost efficiency and navigating member expectations in a volatile market—are shared by super and pension funds globally.

Similarly to Australia, despite market volatility global pension funds grew by 11% in 2023. This global alignment of challenges and volatility underscores the need for a more nuanced marketing approach. Super and pension funds not only need to communicate their resilience and growth in the face of market volatility but also provide a clear rationale for the fees they charge. This requires a shift from traditional marketing tactics to strategies that prioritise transparency, education, and value-driven messaging.

Cost-efficient strategies to match social sentiment during market volatility

Given the current economic pressures, super and pension funds must be particularly attuned to the sentiments of customers and members. When individuals are facing financial strain, they are less tolerant of what they perceive as excessive spending by the institutions managing their money. This presents a unique challenge for marketers in the superannuation and asset management sectors; you must balance the need to promote your services with the necessity of demonstrating fiscal responsibility.

One of the key considerations for super funds and other finance brands is the perception of marketing expenditures. In times of economic hardship, members are likely to be critical of marketing campaigns that appear extravagant or out of touch with their financial realities. This criticism can be particularly sharp in the superannuation industry, where members are acutely aware their funds are being used to finance such campaigns.

”While large-scale marketing efforts like paid partnerships or above-the-line advertising may seem like the easiest way to achieve mass reach, their high costs and lack of tangible value for members will face scrutiny during economic pressure,” says The Dubs Agency head of strategy, Alexandra Middleton. “To navigate this delicate terrain financial marketers need to put audience, not brand, first and build their strategy around delivering value at every stage of the funnel.”

Marketing should focus on conveying the value your brand provides as well as addressing the needs of your audience, even if it means stepping back from brand messaging or direct promotion. To do this effectively financial marketers need to identify the key topics that are relevant to their audiences in the long-term and build big rock content pieces that allow them to own the topic in market. Minimising investment in multiple marketing initiatives, these big rock content pieces can then be atomised to provide multiple opportunities to reach your audience using messaging that really matters to them. The Big Shift is the perfect example of this.

“From one big rock content piece a finance brand could produce awareness, consideration and conversion content year-round, simply by honing in on different angles within a big rock content piece,” says Middleton.

At an awareness level, this could involve using creative in-feed social content to engage audiences on the trends and topics that interest or concern them. Consideration content then provides an opportunity to introduce your brand, educate your audience and solve their needs, often through more editorial content. It can also be an opportunity to address barriers to entry such as performance and fees. Here funds can highlight past performance and explain the rationale behind fees as well as the strategies in place to protect and grow member assets. Transparency and education are critical components of this approach. By demystifying the fee structure and clearly articulating how those fees contribute to long-term growth and stability, you can build trust and reduce scepticism among your members. Having built a connection with your audience and addressed their needs, atomised conversion content can then focus on practical tools and resources that ultimately drive your audience to take action.

Leveraging data and insights to drive marketing effectiveness

The use of analytics can help identify emerging trends in member sentiment, allowing you to proactively address concerns before they become widespread issues.

For example, social listening tools can be used to gauge member reactions to market fluctuations and adjust messaging accordingly. If members are expressing concern about market volatility, marketing campaigns can be tailored to reassure them by highlighting the fund’s risk management strategies or long-term investment approach. Similarly, segmentation analysis can help identify different member groups based on their financial situation, enabling more personalised communication that resonates with their specific needs and concerns.

Strategic marketing in an era of market volatility

The financial services industry is at a crossroads, where the interplay between market performance and member expectations is more complex than ever. For superannuation and asset managers, the key to navigating this environment lies in adapting marketing strategies to reflect the realities of the economic landscape and the evolving sentiments of your members.

By focusing on transparency, education, and value-driven content, you can not only weather the current volatility but also strengthen your relationships with members and clients. In doing so, you position yourself not just as custodians of wealth but as trusted partners in your members’ financial journeys, capable of guiding them through both the peaks and troughs of the market cycle.

The post How to market cost-effectively in times of market volatility appeared first on Financial Marketer.

By leveraging principles like loss aversion, framing effects, and social proof, you can design campaigns that resonate more deeply with investors, driving better engagement and ultimately, more successful outcomes.

Global financial advertising platform Dianomi’s APAC managing director, Julian Peterson, said while behavioural economics can significantly help marketing he warned there are too “too many cases” of campaign effects being overstated.

“Humans can find it hard to overcome our inherent biases, therefore, ads that exploit these can be strong behavioural drivers. Behavioural techniques, such as choice architecture, can also be used for landing page and website design.” Peterson said.

“However, context is important and effects are not always as expected – constant testing and learning will help evaluate the effectiveness of targeting biases with an advertising campaign.” he said.

For those working in financial advertising Peterson suggested the “Save More Tomorrow” program to learn about behavioural economics. At the time of writing more than 15 million Americans are using the Save More Tomorrow approach to save towards their retirement. 

This program was developed by behavioural economics pioneers Shlomo Benartzi and Richard Thaler with three core principles.

People are first asked to commit now to saving more in the future which helps avoid their “present bias”. Secondly savings rates increases are linked to pay rises to minimizes the influence of loss aversion since “take-home pay” does not fall. Thirdly, once people are signed up they remain in the program unless they opt-out. This makes use of inertia.

The power of loss aversion in financial marketing

One of the most potent concepts in behavioural economics is loss aversion, the idea that people fear losses more than they value equivalent gains. In financial marketing, this principle can be harnessed to shift consumer behaviour in subtle but powerful ways.

Research has shown people are significantly more likely to act when faced with the possibility of losing something they already have, rather than the prospect of gaining something new. A case study by Morningstar found 65% of people displayed signs of having stronger responses to losses than equivalent gains (loss aversion).

Financial marketers can apply this by crafting messages that frame inaction as a loss. For instance, “You could miss out on a comfortable retirement by not starting your investment plan today” could be more compelling than simply stating, “Start your investment plan today for a better future.” By strategically framing messages in the context of loss, marketers can tap into deep-seated psychological biases, encouraging consumers to take immediate action.

Framing effects and decision contexts

The concept of framing effects is closely related to loss aversion, where the way information is presented significantly impacts decision-making. Ultimately, understanding and applying framing effects can be a game-changer in your campaign design.

A notable example of this is the framing of fee structures in investment products. Research by Barberis demonstrates consumers are more likely to choose products when fees are presented as a small percentage of their investment rather than as an absolute monetary amount. This subtle shift in framing can make fees appear less daunting, leading to higher conversion rates.

Moreover, framing can be used to influence perceptions of value. For example, consider two investment products: one with a guaranteed return of 3% and another with a potential return of 7% but with higher risk.

By framing the guaranteed return as a way to “protect your capital in uncertain times,” marketers can appeal to risk-averse individuals while framing the higher-risk option as “a chance to significantly grow your wealth” might attract those more comfortable with taking on risk.

To effectively utilise framing effects, financial marketers need to understand the target audience’s risk tolerance and tailor messages accordingly. Testing different frames through A/B testing can also provide insights into which messages resonate most effectively with different segments of the market.

Social proof as a catalyst for action

Social proof, the idea that people look to the behaviour of others to guide their actions, is another powerful tool in the behavioural economics toolkit. In financial marketing, leveraging social proof can help overcome inertia and spur action, particularly in markets where trust and credibility are paramount.

One successful case study comes from Wealthsimple, a robo-advisor platform that improved user engagement by showcasing testimonials and user statistics prominently on its website. One way was by highlighting “over 100,000 investors have chosen Wealthsimple,” the platform effectively leveraged social proof to build trust and encourage new users to sign up.

Social media platforms provide fertile ground for amplifying social proof through user-generated content, where satisfied customers share their positive experiences, further validating the financial products or services being marketed.

Behavioural economics for marketers

To effectively incorporate behavioural economics into financial marketing campaigns, consider the following strategies:

• Segment and personalise: Behavioural economics principles are not one-size-fits-all. Segment your audience based on risk tolerance, investment goals, and other relevant factors, and personalise campaigns to align with these characteristics.
• A/B testing: Continuously experiment with different imagery, loss aversion messages, and social proof techniques to determine what resonates best with your audience. Use data-driven insights to refine your campaigns.
• Storytelling: Weave behavioural insights into compelling narratives.
• Transparent and simple messaging: While behavioural economics can make campaigns more sophisticated, clarity is still paramount. Ensure messages, regardless of how they are framed, remain clear, transparent, and easy to understand.

Behavioural economics: your secret to success

Harnessing the principles of behavioural economics allows your finance brand to move beyond traditional strategies and engage consumers on a deeper psychological level.

As the financial landscape becomes increasingly competitive, financial marketers who integrate these advanced behavioural insights into their marketing efforts will be well-positioned to stand out and succeed.

The post Worried your financial marketing is failing? Use behavioural economics appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Understanding the funnel strategy for Women Talk Money

Tactical integration

Fidelity’s Women Talk Money community stands as a testament to the power of strategic funnel tactics in achieving brand objectives. Through a holistic approach that combines content, distribution, and targeted marketing efforts, Fidelity not only educates and empowers women in finance but also cultivates lasting relationships with its audience.

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Addressing common challenges

Across geographies, pension and super funds face similar challenges in engaging audiences who may not prioritise retirement planning. Individuals worldwide struggle with long-term financial planning, with BlackRock’s 2023 Read on Retirement Report indicating a 15% decline in retirement confidence since 2021. This emphasises the importance of tailored marketing strategies that address the informational needs and emotional concerns of diverse audiences globally.

Laura Blows, editor at Pensions Age, writes in an article about social media and finance institutions, “The pensions industry has lagged behind in its use of social media to engage with savers, due to attitudes and time/cost constraints, but this is starting to change.”

Engaging social media: Legal & General

Legal & General Pension utilises social media to disseminate expert insights on retirement planning, investment trends, and market analysis. It utilises platforms like like X and Instagram for raising awareness through engaging visuals and business updates while LinkedIn is used to provide expert insights to audiences in the consideration stage.

What sets it apart?

What sets Legal & General apart is its interactive approach. They actively respond to queries, conduct live Q&A sessions with financial experts, and organise virtual events, creating regular touchpoints with their audience. This dynamic engagement educates its audience and establishes a sense of trust and transparency.

Search marketing and website optimisation: Aviva Retirement Solutions

Aviva Retirement Solutions stands out for its comprehensive approach to search marketing and website optimisation, ensuring a seamless user experience for audiences across the globe. By focusing on relevant keywords and optimising its website content, Aviva ensures individuals searching for retirement planning solutions find valuable resources effortlessly.

What sets it apart?

The website features interactive retirement calculators, webinars, and thought-provoking blog posts on financial planning. Aviva employs personalised content recommendations based on user behavior, ensuring visitors find relevant information effortlessly. The seamless user experience contributes to increased user engagement and, ultimately, customer satisfaction.

Strategic traditional advertising: Prudential Pension Campaign

Prudential has successfully blended traditional advertising with a modern touch to engage a broad audience at various stages of the marketing funnel. Its pension campaign, aired across television, radio, and print media, leverages storytelling and real-life scenarios to raise awareness and foster interest among potential customers, ultimately guiding them toward consideration and conversion stages

What sets it apart?

Prudential understands the emotional aspect of retirement planning and has crafted advertisements that resonate with individuals on a personal level.

Beyond the conventional channels, Prudential has also integrated its offline campaigns with online platforms. This synergy enhances the overall impact of its marketing efforts, allowing Prudential to reach a broader demographic and reinforce its brand message effectively.

Harnessing the power of podcasts: Scottish Widows

Scottish Widows has embraced podcasting to deliver insightful content to its audience. By hosting regular podcasts featuring industry experts, it provides in-depth analysis, market trends, and expert opinions on retirement planning. This approach not only caters to the growing popularity of podcasts but also positions Scottish Widows as a thought leader in the pension industry.

What sets it apart?

The podcasts cover a range of topics, from investment strategies to the psychological aspects of retirement. Hosted live with a panel of impassioned experts, the content, people and host changes often keeping it engaging and fresh for audiences.

Pension marketing explained

In the UK pension industry, successful funds are those that understand the evolving needs of their audience and adapt their marketing strategies accordingly.

Laura Blows explains in her article on social media and finance organisations, “Pension schemes utilising social media need to tailor their approach on different platforms, for instance talking to younger members on TikTok and older members on Facebook.”

The ability to create a compelling narrative, provide valuable content, and target the audience at each stage of the funnel across multiple platforms is the driving force behind successful financial marketing.

The post UK Pension funds Redefining Digital Marketing appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Everything you need to know about integrated digital marketing

Digital marketing is important for your finance brand to implement so as to build meaningful relationships with clients and improve brand awareness. With consumer journeys fragmented across multiple communication channels, you don’t want potential leads to be lost in the milieu. When done right, an integrated digital marketing strategy can ensure your finance brand nurtures leads no matter where your client interacts with your brand.

How to create a successful strategy

To create a successful integrated digital marketing strategy, you need to understand your consumers intimately. Utilise data across your communications channels, to track and analyse your client’s journey. From there, you can build a detailed and comprehensive digital marketing strategy that’s tailored to your specific audience base.

Here are some tips for creating a successful integrated marketing strategy:

• Identify the number of visitors that are visiting your website on mobile or desktop. Ensure your website is mobile-friendly and caters to people not only finding you via search engine results but also social media channels.
• Recognise your target audience on each different social media channel (For example, often LinkedIn will have a much different audience than Instagram). Create tailored content that not only aligns with the right content format but also provides value-driven information specific to your target audience.
• Understand what channels you’re generating the most leads from. Are you gaining more leads from social media or search engine results? Once you identify this, you can begin to plan a marketing content strategy that succeeds.
• Look for trends in your data. The best part about customer relationships moving online is that you have more data at your fingertips than ever before. Begin to identify what content makes your audience click or remain on your website.
• Ask your clients how they found your finance brand and what channels they saw your content. Speaking to clients can help offer you a better perspective on the customer journey and inform your marketing decision-making in the future.

At the end of the day, to nurture leads, convert clients and maintain retention you need to be creating an authentic relationship with your audience. You need to ensure that everywhere a consumer interacts with your finance brand is a positive one. An integrated digital marketing strategy can ensure your finance brand doesn’t lose connection with potential clients.

The post The ins and outs of integrated digital marketing appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Ads retargeting: your finance brand’s secret weapon

Targeted and specific, ads retargeting is overall a successful acquisition strategy for finance brands when executed right. In fact, retargeted ads have 10x higher conversion rates than display ads. This is because retargeted ads are much better at identifying consumers that have buying intent from the get-go.

Other reasons why ads retargeting should be a part of your overall financial marketing strategy include:

• 91% of marketers who have used retargeting have found it to perform the same as or better than search, email, or other display ads.
• The click-through rate (CTR) of a retargeted ad is 10x higher than the CTR of a typical display ad.
• 3 out of 5 online viewers notice and consider ads showing products they viewed from another page.
• Website visitors who are retargeted are 43% more likely to be converted.
• 25% of online viewers enjoy seeing retargeted ads.

How your finance brand can nail retargeting

Nailing ads retargeting is all about thinking strategically about the message that is served to users who have visited your website.

Three tips for finance brands to help nail ad retargeting:

• Be relevant – Ensure your advertising material is targeted to your audience and provides helpful information that’s tailored to their needs.
• Segment your audience – Select a specific market segment that aligns with your finance brand’s strategic marketing goals, whether that be acquisition or brand awareness.
• Employ personalisation strategies – Make sure your ads are tied to what the user was browsing on your site, such as a specific product or piece of content. For instance, if a user visits the ESG page on your website, you could serve ESG-related research and insights articles from your content hub or research centre.

How iOS 14.5 has changed ads retargeting strategies

Apple’s newest version of iOS has altered retargeting strategies significantly. This new update has introduced mandatory permission users have to grant to apps and websites to use their personal data. Whereas previously, apps and websites could access this personal data much easier. Owing to these changes, the size of your retargeting audience may decrease and you’ll no longer be able to target users who have denied personal data access via their iOS device.

What changes do you need to make to your finance brand’s ads retargeting strategy:

• Reduce your retargeting of mobile users by device and operating type
• Employ geotargeted advertising strategies
• Utilise other retargeting strategies that don’t rely on device identification such as email retargeting

At the end of the day, ads retargeting is a great method of improving brand awareness and converting clients. By delivering relevant and personalised ads after a client has viewed your site or social media, you are able to effectively nurture leads.

The post How to nail retargeting ads appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Changed financial habits

This is a great area for growth and opportunity for financial marketers looking to retain clients and gain new ones. By optimising your digital financial marketing strategy, you can begin to create real and authentic connections with clients across the ASEAN region. But how can you do this?

The three biggest areas for growth, according to research by McKinsey, for ASEAN financial marketers include:

• Improve performance marketing
• Ensure the responsible management of first-party data
• Balance spending between all channels

How ASEAN financial marketers can improve performance marketing

Performance marketing focuses on continually optimising core objectives such as a click, sale, or lead along the customer-journey funnel.

As the research team at McKinsey explain, “Performance marketing plays a vital role in driving customer experience, especially at the lower-funnel interventions, such as digitizing interactions and offering a customer-service response team that responds within an hour.”

To get this right, it’s important ASEAN financial marketers don’t focus on vanity metrics but hone in on the ones that matter. Rather than focusing on traffic or the number of users viewing your content, focus on metrics such as click-through rates or referrals. These are what matter and will help convert clients.

Manage first-party data responsibly

While personalisation is more important than ever to attract new clients and retain old ones, it can’t come at the expense of the client’s privacy. Privacy is critical to trust between the client and the finance brand. While first-party data should be scaled to continue to improve the customer experience, it can’t be at the expense of client trust.

The best way of not losing trust is by being transparent with your data. ASEAN financial marketers will need to continue to be transparent about what clients’ data is being used for, so as to ensure that trust is maintained and upheld. Additionally, implementing greater staff training, improving methods of preventing data theft, and ensuring data use is an opt-in system are other ways of maintaining trust and safety.

Balance spending between all social channels

ASEAN financial marketers continue to find it difficult to understand how much money should be allocated to online and offline marketing strategies. To achieve the right balance, ASEAN financial marketers should be looking at the micro-market level, to see where spending makes the biggest impact.

Two ways ASEAN financial marketers can achieve this is by looking at:

• Geospatial analysis – this combines geographical data with other important information such as demographics, connectivity, behavioural and income data.
• Multitouch attribution – Rather than looking at the ‘last click’ that leads to the conversion, finance brands should consider the entire customer journey to understand the affect and ROI for each channel

Final thoughts for ASEAN financial marketers

As the world continues to move on post-pandemic, it’s important for ASEAN financial marketers to reconsider consumers’ habits and how this affects their marketing strategies. Focusing on areas for growth and re-optimising your finance brands’ financial marketing strategy can help you not only retain current clients but gain new ones.

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What are Performance Max campaigns?

Performance Max is a new goal-based paid advertising campaign, that’s designed to help drive performance based on your specified conversion goals. Google employs automated services to ensure you achieve your campaign targets.

This campaign enables your finance brand to engage consumers across all of Google’s channels. This means you no longer have to make decisions about where your campaign will be housed and your ad can be shown in more places your target audience is.

A great aspect of this new Google ad campaign is that it utilises Google’s machine learning models to make accurate predictions about which ads, audiences and channels will perform best for you automatically. This enables your campaign to reach new audiences helping you to generate meaningful leads. In fact, brands who have used Performance Max campaigns have seen conversions increase by an average of 13%.

Recently, Allianz Spain utilised Performance Max campaigns with the aim of improving the efficiency and profitability of its advertising. Allianz was successful and “increased qualified car insurance leads by 15% at a lower cost-per-lead compared to generic Search campaigns.”

When should finance brands use it?

Google ads and Performance Max campaigns aren’t always the best strategy for every financial content marketing campaign or finance brand. To be truly successful, a paid media advertising campaign should be a part of a broader, multi-faceted content marketing strategy.

You should only use this style of Google campaign if your finance brand:

• Has a specific conversion goal
• Wants to expand reach and conversion beyond keyword-based search campaigns
• Wants to access and advertise across all of Google’s channels
• Wants to implement automated paid advertising that’s designed to expand reach and conversion

Benefits of paid media advertising strategies

Google’s new Performance Max campaigns can be a helpful addition to your overall financial marketing strategy, but only if it aligns with your finance brand’s goals. Additionally, a paid media strategy doesn’t have to live on Google ads either. Creating a paid media strategy across social channels such as LinkedIn and X can also help to expand brand awareness and extend the reach of your content. In fact, paid social advertising can result in a 25% higher conversion rate than organic social.

There are several benefits to including a paid media strategy as part of your overall content marketing:

• Scalability
• Reach beyond your organic following
• Generate new leads
• Build a captured audience

A paid advertising strategy shouldn’t be where your content marketing ends. Instead, it should be a part of a targeted strategy that spans across all social channels and website content.

The post Google Performance Max and Financial Content appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Get in the Christmas spirit

With Christmas plans last year being affected globally, there’s a lot of excitement and pressure for people to celebrate with less pandemic stress associated. The takeaway for finance brands is that Christmas content needs to be emotionally charged and joyful. Combined with people’s financial stress, your Christmas content and promotional campaigns should look to relieve individuals of their holiday anxieties.

Christmas content is where it’s at

Creating Christmas content that connects with consumers emotionally can help increase brand awareness and lead generation. Emotional content is content that elicits a strong response in the audience, whether that is happiness, sadness or even fear. For your Christmas content you should appeal to customers’ joy or empathy as this encourages consumers to act, with 70% of people who experience an intense emotional response to an ad more likely to purchase from the brand.

St. George Bank – Rock someone’s world this Christmas

In Australia, St. George Bank has taken a fun approach to their Christmas content by sharing a video of a son who makes his father, a truck driver, a tape with his favourite music. The tagline, “Rock someone’s world this Christmas” alongside the emotional storyline of his father receiving a handmade gift, builds a fun and caring brand image. With the family storyline, St. George is seen as a community bank that shares in its customers’ Christmas joy helping to connect with consumers this holiday season.

Lloyd’s partnership with Llamau – Sharing Christmas

In the UK, Lloyds Bank has partnered with Llamau, a charity that’s committed to combating homelessness, by becoming a secret Santa. Earlier this year, Lloyds Bank had also created a ‘Sleep Out’ in partnership with Llamau, where individuals would sleep outside to raise money for homelessness. This partnership and becoming a secret Santa helps Lloyds Bank to capture the attention of consumers and showcase their commitment to helping others this Christmas. This helps to build brand loyalty and a sense of trust as it cements their supportive role within the community and builds an image of selflessness.

Goldman Sachs – Small businesses matter this Christmas

In America, Goldman Sachs has taken a slightly different approach by creating content that helps consumers shop with small businesses this Christmas. Christmas content accompanied by the hashtag #MakeSmallBigMarket, encourages consumers to purchase their Christmas gifts from small businesses. This creates a sense of community and support for businesses in America that have been hit hard by the pandemic. It also helps to alleviate some of the stress around Christmas shopping by providing a curated list of gifts which help others, rather than large organisations, through customers individual purchases,

Christmas content that wows

Christmas content doesn’t need to be complicated. It should simply appeal to consumers’ emotions by offering support, sharing community initiatives, and by creating a sense of empathy and joy.

While your finance brand can go the big-budget video approach like many businesses, it doesn’t have to. Taking a simpler approach like Lloyds Bank or Goldman Sachs can also wow consumers, helping to generate leads and improve brand awareness and brand image.

The post Christmas content to capture customers appeared first on Financial Marketer.

The ‘add yours’ sticker feature is great for finance brands as it creates a domino effect, with users’ followers jumping on the bandwagon, like what occurred with the Plant a Tree Co campaign. By capitalising on this Instagram trend your finance brand can generate leads, create user generated content and improve brand recall.

With 80% of people stating Instagram influences their purchasing decisions and 90% already following a business page, the new ‘add yours’ feature offers finance brands a way to maximise their social media presence. While this Instagram trend seems simple enough, it’s critical that your finance brand creates a campaign that’s tailored, timely, and encourages individuals to participate. A campaign asking people to share their home buying experience and how they felt when they bought their first home, may be one way a new home loan product could be marketed across Instagram using this new feature.

How to use the new ‘add yours’ sticker feature

1. Upload an Instagram story
2. Click the stickers button at the top of the screen and then tap the ‘add yours’ sticker
3. From there, type in a prompt, which will be what users see on each other’s stories, and then press upload

After you’ve created the sticker campaign, other users can click on the sticker on your Instagram Story and respond by uploading their own image (and see if their friends have as well). This is where the domino effect takes place as your singular Instagram story gets amplified the more times it’s shared.

How to capitalise on an Instagram trend for finance brands

Going viral can be an effective way to generate leads, build brand awareness and foster authentic relationships. However, it’s important to consider the dangers of a poorly thought out campaign when you know just how quickly viral campaigns can get out of hand (case in point the Plant a Tree Co campaign).

While there’s not just one way to go viral there are three simple things you should consider that can help.

• Tailor your content to your target audience and the app’s largest demographic. On Instagram, two-thirds of Instagram users are aged 18-29, meaning you should take a younger approach to your content and reflect what they’re worried about financially.
• Make the campaign easy to participate in and engaging. As it is a photo-based campaign the content needs to be easy to create, not too personal, and enticing for other users.
  To maximise this Instagram trend tie it back to a broader campaign.
• You need to funnel users to your website after they view your Instagram page. Making the ‘add yours’ sticker a part of a broader, always-on content marketing strategy will ensure your finance brand can improve lead generation, increase profits, and gain more clients

How an Instagram trend can help finance brands create UGC

The success of Plant a Tree Co’s ‘add yours’ sticker campaign showcases the ability for Instagram to help generate a large amount of UGC. UGC is a great way for your finance brand to create personal connections with 79% of people saying UGC impacts their purchasing decision and 55% trusting UGC over other forms of marketing.

Taking this UGC and applying it within a content program can enable your finance brand to create a tailored marketing strategy and become more appealing. With ads that utilised UGC as a key component seeing 5x greater click-through rates than ads that didn’t, this Instagram trend can help close the approachability gap.

Additionally, because the ‘add yours’ feature relies on UGC it offers a prime opportunity for your finance brand to improve brand image and generate leads from new market segments via a trusted channel. In fact, 90% of people are more likely to trust a recommended brand (even if it’s recommended by strangers).

While you’re unlikely to want to ask users to share a picture of their pet in exchange for planting a tree, finance brands looking to increase their UGC, capture new market segments, and orchestrate a viral campaign should incorporate this new Instagram trend into their strategy.

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