To explain it in one sentence, personalized content is like a made-to-order suit.
The length, fit, and color determine customer’s tastes and preferences. A tailored outfit gives the customer the liberty to choose the design, style, and fit according to their expectations.
And that’s pretty much the idea of content personalization. Marketers strive to build tailored messages that resonate with their target audience to entice them in the best possible manner.
Content personalization in BFSI
Personalization has rapidly grown to an extent where it has become inevitable for marketers across all sectors, including BFSI.
With tech-savvy companies like Amazon, Netflix and Google offering personalized experiences, customers now expect it from their financial partners.
According to a report, 89% of consumers choose financial institutions based on how well they incorporate personalized experiences. So, it’s essential for financial institutions to step up to the plate and create the best experience for their customers.
While most BFSI companies lag in adoption and execution of personalized customer experiences, there are some who have been able to deliver meaningful and powerful experiences.
We will discuss about five such financial institutions that raised the bar by creating unique experiences for their customers. But before we get started, let’s understand the difference between content personalization and web personalization.
Content personalization v/s Website personalization
Many a time, marketers find it difficult to draw the difference between content and web personalization.
However, for a personalization strategy, you must fully grasp the difference between these two phenomena.
Content personalization is delivering right content, to the right people, at the right time and through the right platform.
Personalized content offers tailor-made experiences that keep users hooked. It showcases products or services on their preferred channels- email, mobile apps, push notifications, web pages, social media.
Website personalization is the real-time customization of a website with relevant content based on user behavior and customer journey. It deals with building customized experiences to each visitor on the website in that actual moment of the user journey.
Instead of providing static content, web personalization enables companies to tailor website content and offers as per user preferences.
Content personalization is the totality of every customized element in a customer experience. Website personalization is one part of the whole system.
5 examples of content personalization done by BFSI companies
Let’s quickly dive into the best content personalization examples in the BFSI Industry that you can use to your benefit.
HSBC Bank Takes The ‘Reward Card’ Game Up a Notch
Personalization in banking is mostly dominated by offers, discounts, and rewards. To cut through the tight competition on reward cards, HSBC went a step ahead by predicting their user journey.
With the help of AI technology, the brand predicted how clients would redeem their credit card reward points. Based on the data procured, they weaved tailor-made content segmenting the customer interests- travel, merchandise, gift cards or cash.
The brand created email content personalized as per the individual user journey for select categories to cater to them effectively. With this personalized content strategy, HSBC achieved about 70% jump in the reward cards with an amazing email open rate of 40%.
Citibank Personalizes the Entertainment Experience of Its Potential Customers
Citibank has been profusely using experiential marketing to tap into the generation augmented by digitization.
To keep the demand ticking for Citi Credit and Debit cards, the brand launched a unique program called Citi Entertainment. It offered exclusive access to select entertainment events like concerts, sports, events, and so on.
To make it work, the brand used personalized content strategies. They analyzed the events their customers might be interested in and sent personalized messages. These messages were in the form of offers, prompting them to buy the experience.
From music to dinners, the brand ensured they covered all categories for all Citi’s holders by making personalized offers.
For example, a Citibank member interested in music, the brand sends personalized content on exclusive live music concerts.
This strategy helped Citibank to extend its brand reach to the younger audience and make them opt for Citi cards.
Credit Union Attracts Prospects with its Personalized Financial Wellness Program
Instead of repeating the mundane practice of offering financial counseling, Credit Union took the creative route by personalizing each educational module (which consisted of 22 modules) of their financial wellness program ‘moveUP’, as per the interest of their customers.
The brand sent personalized email content to attract relevant audiences to set up a 1:1 counseling with the branch managers.
The campaign was a hit. It saw a 53% conversion rate and 736 appointments within a span of just six weeks from the program launch. The activity also led to a surge in new account opens with the biggest uptick in unsecured personal loans.
Coverfox Crafts Personalized Campaigns to Convert Potential Website Visitors
When it comes to converting website visitors into customers, Coverfox plays it cleverly by personalizing web experience to engage with potential prospects.
Here’s what Coverfox did to convert prospects into customers!
The brand tracked the user’s web journey and browsing history and sent personalized ads and auto-fill forms.
In case a user visits the website, compares premium, and drops out unexpectedly, the brand gathers all the user information available. Data like search data, vehicle images shared with the form, the insurer’s logo, and premium, to craft a personalized retargeting ad campaign across Facebook to reconnect with the lost users.
Once the user clicks the ad, he is redirected to the prefilled page and only needs to opt for the service.
So, if there are new website personalization ideas brewing in your marketing head right now, you have the hint on how to execute it.
Paypal Introduces Personalized Payment System for Smart Payment Experience
So a customer has visited your website, searched various products, and added some to their shopping cart. But when they opened the payment gateway, they were bombarded with options that confused them. They ended up canceling the purchase at the checkout window.
The reason? The way your payment options are presented at the online portal can impact the experience of your shoppers. If the shoppers face difficulties in your ecommerce store, they will leave in search of a better experience.
Here’s an inspiration from Paypal, who overcame this challenge with the power of personalization.
Paypal utilizes content personalization for ecommerce sites to display the most relevant payment option across each geography dynamically.
So instead of retailers cluttering the checkout page with options, Paypal Checkout’s new “smart payment buttons” alert you to show the right payment option to the right customer.
This also enabled retailers to add alternative payment options, like local wallets and country-specific options, alongside a PayPal button.
Conclusion
Irrespective of industry, personalization will help you build the right relationship with your potential customers.
Through the above examples, we can deduce that personalized banking is becoming the new reality. Big brands breaking through the conventional norms and adopting a solid digitalized approach to connect with their customers.
Banks that incorporate personalization at scale see significant gains in their revenue graph in comparison to those who are struggling to deliver a similar experience.
Sitting on a goldmine of data that is readily available, financial institutions can predict user’s needs and recommend products accordingly.
All you need to do is form a personalized content strategy of desired products and services, so the next time, your customer needs it, your army is ready to cater to them with all your might.
Hope all these cases have enlightened and motivated you to step up and kick-start your personalization journey. And if you need a guide to light your path, we can show you a demo.
