This week I chat to Shane Closser, and expert in strategy and digital technology in financial services.
Shane shares some home truths about how we use digital technology to engage with our customers and why we might need to go back to basics.
Welcome to episode 194 of the Marketing and Finance Podcast
.
What you’ll hear about in this episode
Why not having a strategy can be a problem
Why marketers should go back to basics
The impact technology will have on financial services
Why marketers should understand the online customer journey
The changing face of local financial services branches
Why organisations need to change their marketing focus
Who is Shane Closser?
Shane has worked as either a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) or CMO (Chief Marketing Officer) throughout his career in IT and software. He worked at Ascenture and many other large companies. He now works as General Manager for Yext, focusing on product and strategy for financial services.Yext is a digital knowledge management platform, which looks at the questions people have around a business brand. This includes where the company is located, information about the products and services advisers provide, and monitoring search results for individual businesses
They manage the overall online presence of a company, including via apps, and recently added voice search support.
Summary of our chat
Shane says that marketers haven’t adapted their processes to the changes taking place with customers’ demographics and how they do business. They think in terms of campaigns which focus on only one channel and don’t create engagement. Marketing budgets are wasted by not communicating effectively and efficiently.
Marketers need to get the basics right and using technology doesn’t solve the problem. Shane says instead they need to understand their customer and identifying their traits. Looking at customer data and knowing who spends the most money with the business is a great way to understand the customer journey.
Shane says the role of humans in marketing has changed, but financial advisers aren’t going to be replaced by robots. Customers want to talk to real people. However, advisers who use technology will put those who don’t out of business. It’s important to know what role AI and automation plays the industry.
Marketers need to think differently about how they approach things. We have connected cars and homes, and people use voice interface to talk to them. Buyers have less time than ever and millennials particularly have more of their customer journey online. We have to leverage technology to improve processes and the customer experience.
While many local outlets have closed, there has been an increase in micro-branches providing fewer, more specific services and using digital technology. There are also lifestyle branches offering refreshments as well as financial support. Local, physical venues are a differentiator for large organisations trying to take a share of the market.
The biggest challenge to change in the industry comes from compliance concerns within organisations. Marketing departments don’t think about the customer experience enough and need to communicate better with other teams. They should also focus on improving internal processes to help the customer more and make them the priority.
One big take away
Shane would recommend marketers go back to basics and think in terms of ‘crawl, walk, run.’ Marketers need to start to map out what they can do to drive a higher bottom line and increase revenue.
Come up with a long list of potential projects and assess which ones are doable and will give quick wins. Tasks that will take longer can be done in smaller sprints. Give consideration to new technologies too, such as using voice search.
When you’re making big investments, think about where the market will be in a few years’ time, rather than where it is now. Otherwise, you won’t get the ROI you hoped for. Break big projects into smaller pieces and leverage your digital knowledge.
A marketing campaign or product which grabbed Shane’s attention
Progressive Insurance created a parody advert, making fun of the challenges of raising a child in the digital age. However, it also highlights all the places financial services could be, such as virtual reality and games. It uses humour and empathises around quite a sensitive topic.
Recommended business book
Shane says he’s reading a lot around technology, and would recommend Unscaled by Hemant Taneja and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
He says if you’re not thinking about AI these days, you should be. In the US, and especially in Silicon Valley, it’s one of the fastest-growing industries with a lot of job opportunities. Reading The Master Algorithm by Pedro Domingos will help.
Links and contact details
Shane’s blog on www.yext.co.uk which features reviews of financial services.
On the show this week, I chat to Gwen, the founder of Fiery Millennials, a blog side dedicated to making sense of finances for young people.
We talk about how Gwen saved $200,000 whilst in her twenties and how she built her blog to help others achieve financial independence.
Welcome to episode 193 of the Marketing and Finance Podcast.
What you’ll hear about in this episode
How Gwen saved rather than spent her money
Why Gwen set up the Fiery Millennials blog
How she built her website by not following “the rules”
Making financial advice less complicated
How to make financial services an enticing career option
Gwen’s advice to millennials seeking financial independence
Who is Gwen Merz?
Gwen started her blog three and a half years ago after finding a ‘Financially Independent Retiring Early’ (FIRE) community during college. While it provided value, there was no-one young, female and starting out on their financial journey to relate to.
Realising that most bloggers were at a different life stage, Gwen created the blog she wanted to read. It helps her make connections, find new ideas and understand how others live. She worked for a large, globally recognised corporation and intended to retire at 35. By age 27 she’d saved $200,000, which over the next 30 years will compound to $1.5m without additional contributions.
Summary of our chat
Gwen prioritised saving over spending, always putting that first. She divided her paycheck into tax deferred accounts first and she spent the remainder. Gwen graduated debt-free and went straight into a well-paying job. She disliked working and not having freedom to do what she wanted, so did everything possible to get out of office life.
Creating Fiery Millennials to help others achieve what she has, Gwen now finds her story is inspiring people. The blog shows the steps Gwen’s taken and gives her audience ideas for entrepreneurial adventures.
She’s experimented with property management, selling printable downloads, freelance writing and stained-glass making.
Gwen didn’t do any market research before launching Fiery Millennials, because there wasn’t anyone creating what she was looking for. She created her blog to talk about her career, her life and to share tips on what not to do. The blog has attracted an audience of engaged, like-minded people she feels strongly connected to.
Financial advisers need to make their products easier to understand, which is what Gwen does for her audience. This takes away the mystery and overwhelm and encourages them to try things themselves. She offers clear steps to follow and avoids using the confusing jargon that traditional advisers use.
Gwen isn’t trained in classic financial services, but says there’s a level of mistrust around the industry and an assumption advisers promote things they make money from. It needs to be a more attractive career option. Reframing it as a way to help people rather than about raking in commissions would be a positive. Gwen recommends tracking your spending to monitor your finances. Doing this helps you find places where you can make savings in your daily life. Decide what kind of budget would suit you and prioritise saving. Putting money aside first and then spending allows you to hit your goals.
A marketing campaign or product which grabbed Gwen’s attention
Gwen says Amazon have done an amazing job of promoting Amazon Prime Day. Although she has no intention of participating in it, she knows when it is because she’s bombarded with adverts everywhere on the internet.
Recommended business book
Gwen recommends Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential by Dr Carol Dweck, saying it will help you to change your mindset into a growth mindset.
