This not only underscores the potential financial benefits of addressing this advice gap but highlights a broader, more pressing issue: the role of superannuation and pension funds in delivering affordable and accessible financial advice, both in Australia and globally.

The global context: Ageing populations and the rising need for financial advice

Australia is not alone in facing the challenges posed by an ageing population. According to the University of Sydney, by 2026 more than 22% of Australians will be aged over 65 (up from 16% in 2020). This demographic shift is mirrored globally, with 1 in 6 people predicted to be over 60 by 2030.

These demographic shifts place immense pressure on existing pension systems and highlight the need for individuals to be better supported into retirement. Financial advice is crucial in helping people navigate the complexities of retirement planning, investment strategies, and tax implications, ensuring they can maintain their standard of living in retirement.

As part of this support, Alexandra Middleton, the head of strategy from finance marketing specialist group The Dubs Agency (which developed The Big Shift interactive report) said digital tools and content should form the backbone of how pension funds help members.

“Educational content and resources should be a key tenet of how funds support members and a valuable tool to promote their offering in market,” said Middleton.

The role of superannuation funds in Australia

In Australia, superannuation funds are at the forefront of this challenge. As part of the government’s “Delivering Better Financial Outcomes” package of reforms, super funds are now empowered to deliver personal financial advice to their members. This reform represents a significant shift in the role of super funds, allowing them to go beyond their traditional function of managing retirement savings to becoming key providers of financial guidance.

The potential impact of this shift is enormous. With 11.8 million Australians currently lacking adequate financial advice, super funds have a unique opportunity to bridge this gap, ensuring their members are better prepared for retirement. This isn’t just about providing advice; it’s about fostering a culture of financial literacy and empowerment, helping individuals make informed decisions about their financial future.

The Global role of pension funds in financial advice

While Australia is pioneering in allowing super funds to provide personal financial advice, the role of pension funds in delivering such services is becoming increasingly relevant worldwide. In the United States, only 1 in 3 people who have not consulted a financial adviser feel financially secure according to the Centre for Retirement Research at Boston College. In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has raised concerns about the advice gap, noting many people are not receiving the financial advice they need, particularly those with modest pension pots. The same can be seen across Asia, with a report by Cerulli highlighting retirement advice needs are not being met.

Pension funds globally are in a unique position to address these needs. By leveraging their existing relationships with members and their deep understanding of investments and retirement planning, pension funds can play a crucial role in delivering tailored financial advice. This not only helps members achieve better financial outcomes but also enhances the value proposition of the funds themselves, making them more attractive to potential members.

However, a video with Prof. Dean Sanders, Partner, Deloitte Access Economics, highlights the growing opportunity for all kinds of financial organisations to fill this advice gap. Super and pension funds are in a perfect position to be successful in this space if they act quickly. Moving away from just traditional marketing and advertising to embrace technological shifts will be paramount to the success of your advice delivery model. Consider AI, personalisation and interactivity to engage clients and make a real impact.

Quantifying the opportunity in financial advice

The opportunity for super and pension funds to step into this advisory role is significant. According to the Iress and Deloitte research, addressing the financial advice gap in Australia could increase national savings by $2 trillion over 30 years. In a video with John O’Mahony, Partner, Deloitte Access Economics, the industry could see $2.1 billion in revenue if they effectively capitalise on this growing opportunity.

Globally, the potential impact is even more substantial. In the UK, addressing the advice gap could boost retirement savings by billions of pounds, while in the US, it could lead to a significant increase in retirement readiness among workers.

A report by Royal London found there are 3.7 million non-advised customers who are open to financial advice and have over £50k in investible assets. This is equated to over £185 billion in investible assets available. Further afield, looking across all 10 markets in Asia, the percentage of workers concerned about being financially insecure in retirement is substantial—ranging from 50% in China to 95% in Vietnam—and is equal to or even exceeds the percentage of retirees who share this concern. Looking to Singapore, according to a report by Statista “Singaporeans were less confident about their financial security when it comes to income streams and retirement issues.”

However, this opportunity is not without its challenges. The competition for new customers—those seeking financial advice—will be fierce. “Super and pension funds need to be proactive in capturing this market, and marketing will play a critical role in this effort,” says Middleton.

The importance of marketing in capturing new members in a changing landscape

In an increasingly competitive landscape, super and pension funds must be visible and actively engage with potential members. Far from simply taking a volume approach, to effectively drive member growth and retention, marketing activity needs to be strategic, with content and channel chosen based on audience and the objective you’re trying to achieve. As shown in The Big Shift research, as megatrends reshape the landscape and open up new opportunities, super and pension funds need to be flexible in pivoting their offering and how they communicate it, to ensure they remain relevant.

A full-funnel marketing approach, which includes brand awareness, consideration, and conversion strategies is essential for differentiating in market and driving awareness of expanded offerings. Research consistently shows the impact of an always-on, full-funnel marketing program. A recent Nielsen meta-analysis found that full-funnel strategies see up to 45% higher ROI compared to marketing campaigns across a single purchase stage. This approach is particularly relevant for super and pension funds, as the decision to switch funds is often a long-term process that involves multiple touchpoints. “As well as delivering consistent content that addresses audience needs at each stage of the funnel, super and pension funds also need to think about how they can tailor their content to serve the needs of different audience demographics,” says Middleton. “To make this as effective and efficient as possible, funds can leverage creative social assets to deliver relevant, personalised messages in-feed, while driving back to useful base material.”

The Big Shift: A case study in strategic marketing

As well as shining a light on the opportunities tied to evolving advice needs, The Big Shift is also a case study of how super funds can use interactivity and content atomisation to drive engagement with members.

With interactivity shown to drive 73% more engagement than static content, The Dubs Agency worked with Iress to extend the reach of its insights through an interactive content ecosystem that provided multiple touchpoints on site and in social feeds. Through the atomisation of content around key pillars, Iress was able to cement its thought leadership in areas that underpin its broader strategic objectives. The Big Shift shows how super funds can utilise one big rock content piece to produce assets that target multiple audiences with relevant messages at every stage of the funnel.

It’s time to fill the gap

As the competition for new customers intensifies, the need for a comprehensive marketing strategy becomes even more critical. Super funds must ensure they’re not only visible but also actively engaging with their target audience across all stages of the marketing funnel. This requires a commitment to continuous marketing efforts, with a focus on building long-term member relationships through content and resources that reflect their changing needs.

The post Meeting the financial advice gap: The role of super and pension funds appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Financial storytelling often feels like navigating a labyrinth of charts and reports, inducing yawns faster than a market downturn. But what if you could elevate your financial narrative, turning complex data into a compelling story that captivates investors? Enter Tome, the AI storytelling tool poised to revolutionise your approach without unnecessary frills.

What is Tome?

Consider Tome as a sophisticated amalgamation, merging GPT-4’s linguistic prowess with Dall-E 2’s visual acumen. Present it with a prompt, such as your company’s vision for fintech disruption, and it generates narratives that transcend typical financial discourse.

Tome’s magic lies in its ability to tap into human emotion. It understands that financial decisions aren’t driven solely by logic, but by a complex tapestry of hopes, fears, and aspirations. Tome helps you to weave narratives that resonate with audiences on a deeper level.

Speaking to The Dubs Agency, senior graphic designer, Tom Bradshaw, explains, “Tome makes it easy to create a sophisticated visual presentation in a relatively quick time period. Enter a simple prompt and it produces a presentation right away.” Bradshaw continues, “AI features such as the ability to adjust tone, extend or shorten copy are helpful.”

Why should you use Tome?

Now, why should financial marketers consider integrating Tome into their arsenal? Let’s dissect the advantages:

• From data deluge to persuasive narrative: Escape the monotony of data slides. Tome breathes life into numerical intricacies, transforming your growth trajectory into a dynamic narrative that outshines traditional presentations.
• Tailored brand persona: For brands lacking a distinctive voice, Tome steps in. Seeking a witty and disruptive image? It crafts intelligent and humorous remarks. Aiming for the embodiment of stability? Tome weaves narratives of financial sagacity, leaving a lasting impression.
• Memorable content: Move beyond forgettable presentations. Tome taps into emotional cues, constructing experiences that resonate.
• Efficiency meets creativity: Marketers face perpetual time constraints. Tome acts as an efficient creative partner, generating tailored narratives and visuals fast.

Tom shares other benefits of Tome, “It can be used for training purposes, e.g. brand guidelines, event presentations and webinars.” He continues, “Anyone on the team can use it. It doesn’t need a designer to do much fixing once someone is finished. I spend a bit of time doing this in Google Slides.”

Not a perfect tool

However, let’s not be overly enamored with Tome. It’s a tool, not a silver bullet; it necessitates your guidance. The narratives it produces are raw materials, awaiting your input. Investors still seek a human touch, a genuine connection that AI cannot replicate. Think of Tome as your AI-assisted collaborator, streamlining the creative process while you, as the orchestrator, craft the masterpiece.

Bradshaw continues, “If you require simple charts and tables, it’s great. However, for the work we do, like complex tables and charts, the level of functionality and personalisation just isn’t there. This is the case across a lot of AI image generators. The output is not usable yet. For generic images such as a laptop or the Harbour Bridge, the quality is so bad we wouldn’t use it.”

Final thoughts

Is Tome the Hemingway of pitch decks? Not quite, but it stands as a potent tool for injecting sophistication into financial marketing. It’s an invitation to break away from mundane data-centric presentations and allow your brand’s narrative to shine. In an era saturated with information, what resonates isn’t just numbers; it’s the carefully curated narrative.

Overall, Bradshaw recommends using Tome to create simple presentations featuring text, image, a simple chart or table. “Use it to share among your team and with clients; it’s perfect for these tasks,” said Bradshaw, adding, “If you need anything bespoke such as an infographic, complex charts or tables, you’ll need a designer’s input.”

The post AI-powered financial storytelling: does Tome deliver? appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Content marketing for asset managers

Content marketing can benefit asset managers in several ways. According to HubSpot, “Consistent, high-quality, and engaging content impacts audience decision-making more than any other technique.”

Given asset management firms generally produce sophisticated research and insights papers for its own purposes and for clients, your firm may already have an impressive bank of content that’s able to be repurposed for content marketing material.

For asset managers, building a relationship with your clients is important to foster loyalty and brand trust – two things that are critical to your brand’s longevity and success. Content marketing can improve this as it enables you to engage with clients directly and offer them valuable information in a timely manner. Adopting an always-on marketing approach is a surefire way to build that connection with your audience and become a brand they look to for trusted information.

Content marketing shouldn’t be an afterthought. Instead, your asset management firm should take a targeted and strategic approach in order to see the benefits. For B2B marketers globally, content marketing makes up around 26% of their overall budget indicating it’s a priority for businesses in all industries.

Some benefits of content marketing for your asset management firm:

• Foster a positive brand image
• Increase engagement
• Improve lead generation
• Become a trusted brand
• Improve conversions
• Strengthen your SEO strategy
• Increase brand awareness and foster loyalty

Building trust through content marketing

One of the main benefits of content marketing for asset managers is its ability to build trust and loyalty. According to findings by Edelman Trust Barometer, while trust has increased in the financial sector in Australia there still remains large trust inequality (AKA trust in the informed population is high but low in the uninformed population). In the UK and USA, trust in business has continued to decline.

According to Edelman however, good, high-quality information is “now the most powerful trust builder across institutions”. Content is key to building and improving trust among clients and stakeholders. Providing transparent information that’s educational, easy to understand and value-driven will help your asset management firm maintain loyalty.

Asset managers leading the charge

Aviva Investors

Aviva Investors’ high-quality editorial content supported by its strong distribution channels – LinkedIn and X – highlights how asset managers can do content marketing effectively.

Adopting an always-on content strategy approach, Aviva Investors shares long-form and short-form editorial and audio content on its website to provide insights into the investment landscape alongside timely and important information that stakeholders and clients require.

In combination with the editorial content, Aviva also delivers its annual ‘Little Book of Data’. This is published yearly and is a coffee table book of over 120 pages displaying data in a visually stunning way.

Aviva’s social media presence combines short-form videos and imagery with informative post copy that captures the attention of users while supplying them with important data.

Vanguard

Vanguard Group is leading the charge in offering a diverse range of content across multiple channels. From editorial to podcast content, Vanguard showcases how to achieve diversity in an asset manager’s content marketing strategy.

The best aspect of Vanguard’s online editorial content is it’s easy to digest and offers key information for every level of investor. On Instagram, Vanguard provides tailored content that appeals to a diverse range of investors, sharing infographics alongside short snippets from its podcast. On X, LinkedIn and Facebook content is targeted towards sharing longer-form articles, alongside short videos. This means content remains fresh, interesting and engaging for followers.

Finally, its podcast ‘The Expanding Universe of Choice’ provides conversations with experts about a range of investing topics in short 20-minute episodes. Expertly made, this podcast enables Vanguard to become a bigger authority in the industry, reach a greater investor audience and create a more ‘human’ connection with audiences.

Pictet

Pictet showcases how to deliver a diverse range of editorial content for every type of investor. Its ‘perspectives’ section provides weekly market insights from the Chief Information Officer (CIO), alongside trending news stories that offer timely information on interesting topics.

Its editorial content is not only easy to understand, as it’s written simply and in plain English, but it’s also easy to navigate. The user experience is enjoyable helping to improve the average user’s session time.

To break up the written content, Pictet has also invested time and effort into producing high-quality short-form videos. These videos feature leading industry experts and offer insights into a broad range of global topics that may affect investments. With a high-production value, these videos are professional and engaging to watch.

Pictet shares both its editorial content and videos on LinkedIn regularly, while also providing insights into the company, such as industry awards and employee achievements. This offers a more ‘human’ side to the content program, helping to build connections while also sharing important information with investors.

This diversity in content and focus on delivering information that’s been written and produced by industry experts, highlights a great way asset managers can get their content marketing right.

The post The benefits of content marketing for asset managers appeared first on Financial Marketer.

For finance brands, particularly in the B2B sphere, it might be tempting to cut budgets or opt for a stripped-back performance-based marketing approach. However, according to Josh Frith, Managing Director at The Dubs, “Right now, we’ve seen that investor audiences are seeking reassurance, loyalty and empathy. And content marketing is the ideal way to deliver that”.

“A robust content programme allows asset managers and other finance brands to share their own research and views on the investment landscape. There’s no better way to build trust with audiences,” Frith says.

So, how can your finance brand continue to create valuable content during this period of global uncertainty?

Leading with empathy during a recession

A recession can have a large impact on the wellbeing of your clients. Keep this understanding at the front and centre of your content marketing strategy. This is important, as sharing content that leads with empathy can help you to continue to build trust and foster loyalty.

Offer transparent and educational materials

During times of uncertainty, transparent communication goes a long way in maintaining trust, building confidence and fostering loyalty. Be open and honest with your client communications and regularly update them on changes in the market or your finance brand’s everyday dealings. This steady presence online and in communication materials will build strong brand awareness and create meaningful connections with clients.

At the end of the day, great financial content marketing is focused on education. Adopting an always-on content marketing strategy that prioritises educational resources is key to maintaining trust with your clients. Create strong thought leadership, easy-to-understand infographics, short-form videos and engaging editorial content in order to continue to provide value to clients.

Keep your ear to the ground

During periods of recession and economic downturn, the social climate can change rapidly. It’s critical your finance brand continues to monitor the global mood and recognise the style and type of content people are responding to best. One of the worst things that can happen is for a piece of your content to be viewed as out of touch or not reflective of what your current audience needs.

Utilise your monitoring tools to see which content is working and what’s not working. Always maintain active communication with your current target audience and actively engage with them by starting conversations.

Final points for marketing during a recession

Your content marketing shouldn’t stop because of a recession. Instead, your finance brand should shift its focus and rethink its marketing strategy. Here are a few final points to consider when creating content during a recession:

• Don’t panic and stop marketing, instead, rethink your strategy and identify new marketing objectives
• Maintain an empathetic approach to all your marketing materials
• Monitor the mood of your audience to ensure your content is still hitting the mark and not turning clients away
• Actively engage your audience and communicate with them – find out what content they want and need at this time
• Share your acts of goodwill and charitable initiatives during this time to improve brand awareness, maintain trust and foster loyalty
• Be active during periods of high uncertainty by sharing educational resources that are easy to understand, timely and present accurate information

The post The lowdown on content marketing during a recession appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Why loyalty is so important for finance brands

There are a number of reasons why loyalty should be a strategic priority for your finance brand’s content marketing goals. At the end of the day, loyal customers means greater retention and greater retention is important for your finance brand’s bottom line.

For finance brands, retention is not just about repeat sales. Instead, retention can help profits for a number of important reasons according to Bain and Company, including:

• Repeat customers refer more people
• Repeat customers spend more and make bigger purchases
• Loyal customers will purchase different products and services from you

Unfortunately, the finance industry has a high customer churn ratio of 25%, which is higher than the average of less than 20% for most industries. Improving this churn rate can be done through a strategically created content marketing program.

So, how can your finance brand foster loyalty and improve retention through content marketing?

Content marketing 101

Gaining customer loyalty is a long game. It’s more than just providing quality products and services but also fostering authentic connections. Content marketing can help form relationships with customers by delivering information that they want and need.

When it comes to content marketing and retention, the keyword financial marketers must keep in mind is ‘valuable’. All content you produce and share needs to offer value to consumers, whether that’s in the form of entertainment, education or personal financial development.

To create truly valuable content you need to understand your finance brand’s target audience. Consider what they want and the best way of sharing it whether that’s social media, email marketing or website traffic or a combination.

Here are three tips for creating engaging content that builds loyalty:

• Helpful and informative content is a must-have
• Send content directly to consumers
• Utilise personalisation to foster relationships
• Promote content on social media
• Create content in a variety of different mediums (video, blog, infographics) to ensure it remains fresh and engaging

Key lessons for financial marketers

At the end of the day, loyalty should be a priority for finance brands around the world. Customer retention is vital for profits but it’s not a given. While often financial content marketing is centred on nurturing leads and converting clients, this shouldn’t be the only area of focus.

Once your finance brand converts a customer, your content marketing strategy doesn’t end there. Creating a strategic content marketing strategy that places consumers at the forefront is critical to developing value-driven content that creates meaningful connections with consumers.

The post How content marketing can build loyalty appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Breaking down the metaverse

The metaverse is the next stage in Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire. Rather than interacting online with friends and family via social media, this new virtual reality is a place where you can create a digital ‘second life’.

While this may seem like futuristic technology, it’s actually the here and now. Even though this virtual reality space hasn’t quite yet reached the ‘second life’ level as you may see in the Matrix, around 74% of adults will join or consider joining the metaverse in the future (if you want to find out more about what the metaverse is, we wrote an article explaining it).

According to Oliver Wyman Partner, Lucia Uribe, “If you have an end consumer who’s gaming or exploring the metaverse, they come across you there and it reinforces that brand relationship.” She continues, “I think it’s potentially a massive growth opportunity for financial services players.”

Despite this virtual reality being still in the beginning stages, finance brands, and brands in general, have already started setting up shop and utilising it in several different ways.

What three finance brands are doing in the metaverse

Finance brands have already begun adapting to the metaverse in unique and interesting ways. The metaverse isn’t as simple as creating a social media strategy. This is because there are so many different ways your finance brand can show up and produce content for it. Finding the right type of content and marketing strategy for the metaverse will be unique to you and your finance brand’s goals.

1. JP Morgan Chase created a virtual bank inside the metaverse
Called Onyx, this is the first Blockchain bank ever created. This virtual lounge can be found in Decentraland within the metaverse. According to Yahoo Finance, Decentraland has a monthly active user base of 300,000 people and 18,000 daily users, meaning it’s a great place for JP Morgan Chase to reach a wide audience.

When entering the virtual bank you can click and watch a demo video of how payments could be made in a virtual space using smart contracts as well as a history of the bank’s blockchain projects.

2. Zelf is bridging the gap between virtual reality and the real world
Zelf Bank, known as the bank of the metaverse, saw how people adapted and leaned into digital financial management after the events of the pandemic. Zelf is building an embedded banking system that will enable users to exchange value in the virtual world and transfer it into the real world in conjunction with a bank account.

3. HSBC purchases land in The Sandbox
In the metaverse, The Sandbox is an area typically used to host events or competitions. The Sandbox has been downloaded 40 million times and has 1.2 million monthly active users, typically comprising gamers and esports enthusiasts.

HSBC has purchased land in this area and is planning to use it to connect with users by providing educational, inclusive and accessible experiences for users.

Is virtual reality for you?

Joining the metaverse won’t be something that every finance brand does or needs to do. The positive about joining the metaverse is that a presence in this space can help your finance brand attract younger consumers, and also help lead you to be at the forefront of new products and financial management services. Additionally, building a presence can help reinforce your brand and build both brand awareness and credibility.

However, if the metaverse doesn’t align with your finance brand’s goals it may be worth sitting back and waiting to see how the metaverse expands in the future. It’s currently such new technology it’s difficult to say how critical a part it will play in not only financial services but people’s lives.

The post Should your finance brand move into the metaverse? appeared first on Financial Marketer.

The importance of thought leadership post-pandemic

The pandemic was a time in which misinformation was rife – fact and fiction became difficult to distinguish. Becoming a thought leader and an authority for accurate information is critical to gaining consumer trust and loyalty.

A recent report by Edelman discovered the importance of thought leadership in gaining trust and credibility. Around 65% of people say thought leadership significantly improved the perception of a company and 64% of buyers say that an organisation’s thought leader content is a more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities and competency than its marketing materials.

To regain the trust of consumers and improve credibility and brand awareness, your finance brand should be producing value-driven thought leader content. But how can you ensure your thought leader content cuts through the noise and makes a lasting impact?

How finance brands can get it right

In the same Edelman report, it was found that not all thought leadership is quality content. In fact, 71% of Decision-Makers say that less than half of what they consume gives them valuable insights and 47% of people say that most content does not seem to be created with their specific needs in mind.

Creating thought leader content that makes an impact is about creating content that offers value and content that’s tailored to your specific target audience. Without these two things, your content won’t be effective in gaining trust.

So, how can you ensure your thought leadership content makes a lasting impact?

• Use data decisively and display extensive research – The best way of combating misinformation and gaining public trust, is by backing up your content with accurate and in-depth data.
• Create a community – To ensure your audience reads your content and engages with it, creating a small community is the first step. This can be done by interacting with your audience online, sending personalised communications and focusing on forming authentic relationships.
• Communicate in a timely manner – Create content that addresses issues as they are happening to become a thought leader consumers turn to for accurate information.
• Educate consumers – Education should be a core component of your thought leadership content, especially during times of uncertainty. Explaining difficult concepts in an easy-to-understand way can help your finance brand ease concerns and develop meaningful connections with clients.

What consumers want from thought leadership

According to Edelman’s research, there are a number of things audiences want:

• 64% want a less formal tone
• 81% want content that is provocative and challenges people’s assumptions regarding a topic
• 77% want experts diving into deep subject matter
• 80% want content that features third-party data and insights from other trusted sources
• 62% want a focus on analysing current trends that will affect them in the future

Thought leadership can’t be an afterthought, but instead must be produced with consideration. By developing thought leadership that provides value and is tailored to specific audiences your finance brand can gain trust, credibility, and loyalty.

The post The Importance of Thought Leadership Post-Pandemic appeared first on Financial Marketer.

Student Super’s Year in Review

In 2015, Spotify released Spotify Wrapped, which provided an interactive look back at a user’s music preferences for the previous year. With fun interactive graphics and statistics, Spotify Wrapped quickly became a success with over 90 million people interacting with it in 2020 alone.

Student Super took a similar approach in 2021 by offering clients a ‘Super Year in Review’. Providing statistics on things like how much your balance has grown throughout the year, Student Super has provided a fun and interactive way for clients to gain a greater understanding of their superannuation and a way to visually see how it has changed. With 18-34-year-olds being the largest demographic on Spotify, it makes sense for Student Super to adopt this content strategy as it’s tailored to their target audience.

Similar to infographics, the Super Year in Review helps visualise dense information that would normally be unengaging for clients. Infographics are 61% effective for helping individuals learn and retain information.

Student Super showcases not only the importance of visual information like infographics but also the importance of thinking outside the box and sharing content in an innovative way.

Active Super: Nailing free webinars

Over 70% of marketers say webinars are highly effective. Active Super has a rich webinar calendar, with each event tailored to specific audiences. By providing educational and free webinars, you are providing valuable content that consumers need, helping you to capture and nurture leads. In fact, 89% of attendees go on to check additional content on a vendor’s website after viewing a webinar.

You can also continue to utilise webinar content even after the event. Active Super has done a great job of creating a webinar hub, where old events are recorded and uploaded for site visitors to watch in their own time. Additionally, you can splice and dice these webinars helping you to repurpose content in a fresh format, for example creating little snippets for your social media.

But what makes a good webinar?

• Question and Answer: 92% of webinar attendees say they would like live question and answer sessions before the webinar ends.
• Customer-focused: 78% of buyers will be put off if your webinar is too salesy or marketing-focused.
• Passion: 32% of attendees say they feel more engaged when the host is passionate
• Resources: 62% of webinar watchers find resources effective.

Australian Super’s educational content hub

Australian Super has provided a great educational content hub for web visitors. Other than their blog posts, which cover a wide range of topics tailored to specific audiences, Australian Super also provides free financial wellbeing learning modules.

Called ‘Money 101’, Australian Super has taken their blog posts one step further by providing educational modules focused on super, managing your money, retirement, and wellbeing. Each topic has several modules users can learn from for free. This provides in-depth information that’s easy to understand and interactive, helping to make their educational content engaging and valuable for users.

Additionally, they also offer a dictionary of superannuation and financial terms for users. With simple explanations and an easy-to-use navigation tool, this dictionary helps to break down financial literacy barriers that often arise from finance brands using unfamiliar and technical language.

Overall, Australian Super highlights how your finance brand can take educational content one step further. By offering free educational content your finance brand can create strong connections with clients, generate interest, and nurture leads.

Educational wins superannuation funds content

At the heart of it, educational content should be a core component of your superannuation funds overall content strategy. However, to gain a competitive edge, it’s important to provide educational content beyond just blog posts. Thinking outside the box and placing your customer at the forefront of your content strategy will help you create new and engaging content that speaks to your target audience.

The post The superannuation funds doing content well appeared first on Financial Marketer.

What is embedded finance?

Embedded finance can help elevate your digital financial services by expanding what your consumers can do and access through your platform.

As Richard Wormald, Mastercard Division President of Australiasia states, “We are living in an on-demand society, and as such, consumers are looking for more choice when it comes to payment options…People want to be able to access and use their money how and when they want, using any form of device they choose.”

By making the customer experience easier and providing consumers with relevant financial services, you can satisfy a number of pain points helping to garner greater brand awareness and loyalty.

Ways your finance brand can get in on the action

Embedded finance is only just starting to ramp up globally with Lightyear Capital estimating embedded finance revenue will grow to nearly $230 billion by 2025. In fact, Ikea has recently begun offering financial services in-store after it bought a 49% stake in Ikano Bank. Even the online retail giant in Australia, Kogan, now offers superannuation, credit cards, and home loans.

So what are some ways your finance brand integrates embedded finance?

• Embedded investing – Fintechs like Acorns and Raiz are investing clients’ spare change quickly, easily and automatically. Banks and other investing platforms can jump on the bandwagon and begin to create services that make investing easier and automatic.
• Embedded insurance – Purchasing insurance is typically separate from purchasing the product, such as a car or home. Embedding insurance within the purchasing process starting to catch on, with Tesla now offering a tailored insurance program from the moment the car has been purchased.
• Embedded lending – Rather than having to apply for a loan separately, ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ (BNPL) schemes, such as Klarna or AfterPay, have created a loan scheme at the point of purchase.
• Embedded shopping – Some finance brands are beginning to expand their digital platforms by providing access to online retailers within their app.

Two finance brands nailing embedded finance

While embedded finance remains in its infancy, there are a number of financial organisations jumping on to this new development early.

In Brazil, NuBank has entered the eCommerce space by offering online retail experiences within their app. Consumers will have access to special offers, discounts and coupons, as well as a more seamless shopping experience. By creating frictionless online shopping experiences, NuBank aims to retain current customers and continue to expand its current digital offerings.

In the UK, Caura is making the lives of car owners easier by enabling users to handle all vehicle-related admin, such as paying for city charges and car tax, in the one app. They’ve also embedded insurance within the app, by allowing users to access and insure their car with the top insurers like Aviva and Ageas.

The way of the future

The growing demand and need for convenient, frictionless and digital financial experiences are fueling the embedded finance space. At the heart of it, embedded finance is about addressing consumers’ pain points in a variety of areas that finance brands may have previously dismissed.

If your finance brand is looking to expand your digital offerings, retain current customers and improve brand loyalty, embedded finance is an area you should invest in.

The post Embedded finance: Banks move into eCommerce appeared first on Financial Marketer.

M1 Finance: bridging the gap between investing and banking

M1 Finance customers can invest, borrow against their investment and spend money through their partnership with Lincoln Savings Bank, which offers users access to an insured debit card and checking account. Additionally, with their partnership with Celtic Bank, they also offer a credit card. Soon, M1 aims to offer mortgages and loans as they’ve newly acquired Buhl Bank. These partnerships and bank acquisitions offer M1 flexibility with the tools and services they can offer consumers in the one app.

M1 is successful as they are meeting the digital finance needs of customers. A study by PwC found 69% of customers say the most up to date technology is an important factor in choosing a bank or financial product. Additionally, 45% say this will only become more important, indicating finance brands will be competing for customers more and more through the digital services they offer.

Unlike many neobanks and fintechs, M1 Finance aren’t catering to the underbanked or unbanked market segments. Instead, they are targeting consumers who are already banking with large, traditional finance organisations that are being underserved by their digital platforms. This indicates an opportunity for finance brands of any size to retain customers and generate new leads by improving their digital services and tools.

What consumers want in a finance app

M1 is catering to the needs of consumers by offering many financial services in one place. Customers want financial management to be easy. By creating tools within your digital platform that empower consumers to do more with their money easily, your brand can generate greater leads, retain customers and gain a competitive edge.

So, what services are consumers wanting in their digital finance apps?

• Integrating biometrics
• Easy connectivity between financial apps
• Easy-to-access and high-quality customer service
• Alert systems that help financial management
• P2P integration
• Automated investing

The rise of the finance app

Digital platforms are becoming more important than ever. In fact, 55% of consumers have at least one full-service banking app, 40% have at least one peer-to-peer payments app, 17% have at least one stand alone budgeting app and 17% have at least one stand alone investing app.

With consumers wanting more digital finance options it’s critical your finance brand begins to cater to users’ wants. Expanding your digital services will help generate more leads, create greater customer satisfaction and build consumer relationships.

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