5th September 2016

Boring is as boring does

I recently had through my door a local magazine, you know, the type that has all sorts of information in a semi glossy, very thin A4 format about local ‘stuff and people’ that these days the internet is the ‘go to’ to find out about.

I do not know why but my wife started to flick through some of its pages before consigning it to the bin as she usually does. 

A few pages in she came across an ‘advertorial’ piece from a local IFA. What drew her attention in particular to this was that the IFA in question used to work for me in his first steps toward becoming an IFA.

What attracted me to him was his personality, his enthusiasm and ideas. And above all a desire to make a difference.

But what has happened to this ‘bright young thing’ some 15 years later?

The editorial was, in her opinion, boring, lifeless, colourless and totally bereft of any encouragement to speak to him or his firm about financial advice or becoming a client. 

In financial services today, to attract new clients to new businesses, or in fact any business, great marketing is essential. It should be with a digital focus and should be aimed at engaging with the client audience you are trying to attract. It should make a statement about your firm, what makes you different, what you are experts at and why they should choose your firm.

The UK finance sector was the second biggest spender online, accounting for 13.4% of total adspend (IAB/PwC adspend survey H1 2015). 

In the USA, total digital advertising spend for 2015 saw rapid growth, reaching $58B. US mobile devices surpassed desktop in share of digital ad spend, accounting for 52% of the total.

The finance sector was one of the earliest adopters of Internet advertising, quick to see its exceptional accountability and numerous opportunities to build brands online.

Display, search advertising, social media, affiliate marketing and behavioral targeting are just some of the methods which key players in the sector can use to reach their audiences in an effective and engaging way. 

The reason for so much mobile device engagement is due to the general mobile accessibility for consumers in their downtime- travelling, waiting, lunch breaks and of course the fact that today so many firms block private internet browsing in the office.

There are some brilliant examples out there of advisers grasping the digital way forward using video, blogs, and social media channels. 

So go digital, bin the boring and engage with the opportunity the 21^st century makes possible.

As Steve Jobs said “Design is a funny word. Some people think design means how it looks. But of course, if you dig deeper, it's really how it works”

And when it works, it works very well.

Panacea Comment, Regulation