Financial marketers’ top 3 challenges for the next 12 months

Operating in a post-crash market, the financial services industry has undergone huge change in recent years. Stricter regulations, higher consumer expectations, and disruptive business models now shape the industry. But these 21st century problems are no match for an industry still heavily reliant on 20th century processes.

It’s no secret that many financial services organisations are struggling to master many of the components of transformation. According to the 2019 Financial Trends Report, 60% of financial marketers lack the tools they need to create compelling, personalised real-time experiences. While 44% lack the data analysis capabilities required to understand the consumer.

Simply dabbling in digital marketing isn’t enough. Financial institutions need to harness its power and start personalising customer experiences.

No matter what size the financial institution, all face the same challenges. Here’s how to overcome some of the challenges identified in the report.

1 Managing big data

Collecting, assimilating and analysing big data to deploy real-time solutions is at the heart of digital marketing transformation. This is a challenge in itself, but is made worse in financial services by the multitude of siloed systems that fragment the customer lifecycle. Financial marketers have always collected and analysed data, but absorption of data now needs to be faster and more accurate.

One solution is to centralise customer data to create a single view of the customer. Another, is to leverage the reliability, scalability, security and flexibility of the cloud. This means pulling from disparate data sources to improve the quality and accessibility of data (and thus avoiding the need to replace legacy systems).

2 Understanding the customer journey

Improving the customer experience has been a priority for financial marketers for nearly a decade. But the challenge is understanding both the individual needs of the digital customer and the customer journey.

Digital transformation success relies on not just advanced technology, but on a top-down supportive culture, journey mapping and cross-company communication. Financial marketers need to work with every department to understand the path to purchase – and they need the buy-in and support of senior leaders to do so.

3 Attracting the right talent

In the digital world, how consumers research and make purchasing decisions are all digitally interwoven. With the constant evolution of digital communication techniques and channels, financial marketers need people who can make the most of new opportunities in real-time. However, this talent is in high demand and experienced digital marketers aren’t always looking to move – especially not into financial services.

Financial marketers can overcome this challenge in two ways: internal training or working with a specialist recruitment provider. While internal training can take time, using the services of a marketing recruitment agency helps financial organisations access the top marketing talent right away. Their specialist knowledge of the industry means recruiters can identify passive candidates and expand the available talent pool.

At Stopgap, our consultants know the financial services sector inside out. As a sector, it is always looking for marketers with digital and traditional marketing skills, as well as candidates with financial services credentials. We have worked with global financial services companies, household names and specialist investment organisations to help them find the right digital marketing talent.

Are you a financial organisation looking to recruit the best marketing talent? Why not brief us now?