If I had to explain in one sentence I would say, personalized content is like a made-to-order suit. The length, fit and color determines customer’s tastes and preferences. Unlike the readymade suit, tailored outfit gives customer the liberty to choose the design, style and fit according to their expectations and imaginations.
And that’s pretty much the idea of content personalization. Marketers strive to build tailored messages that resonate with their target audience on an individual level 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 retailers and tech-savvy companies like Amazon, Netflix and Google offering more and more personalized experience, customer now anticipate the same level of personalization 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 the plate and create the best experience for their customers.
While most BFSI companies lag in adoption and strong execution of personalized customer experiences, there are some, who have been able to deliver meaningful and powerful experiences to their customers.
Today I will be discussing 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 times, marketers find it difficult to draw the difference between content and web personalization. However, to work a strong personalization strategy, you must fully grasp the difference between these two phenomena, in order to make the right move against the high-tech disruptors.
Content personalization is the artech (art & technology) of delivering right content, to the right people, at the right time and through the right platform. Personalized content offers tailor made experiences that keeps users hooked on with the brand by showcasing products or services on their preferred channels- email, mobile apps, push notifications, web pages, social media, search ads and more.
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 experience to each visitor on the website in that actual moment of user journey. Instead of providing a static content, web personalization enables companies to tailor website content and offers as per user preferences.
While content personalization is the totality of every customized element in a customer experience, inclusive of latest technology, marketing platforms etc., website personalization is one part of the whole system.
Now that we are clear on both these concepts, as promised, let’s quickly dive into the best examples of content personalization in 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 will redeem their credit card reward points. Based on the data procured, they weaved a 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 category to cater to them effectively. With this personalized content strategy HSBC derived about 70% jump at the reward cards with an amazing email open rates of 40%.
Citibank Personalizes Entertainment Experience of Its Potential Customers
Citibank has been profusely using experiential marketing to tap on 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, which offered exclusive access to select entertainment events like concerts, sports, events and so on.
To make it work, the brand used personalized content strategies by analyzing the events their customers might be interested in and sent personalized messages in the form of offers to attract those customers prompting them to buy the experience.
From music to sports to dinner to theatres, the brand ensured they cover all the categories to stay on top of the minds of millions of Citi’s debit and credit card holders worldwide by making a personalized offers.
So for example: If you are a Citibank member who loves music, the brand will send you personalized content on exclusive live music concerts that you will be interested to attend. This strategy helped Citibank to extend its brand reach to younger audience and make them opt for citi cards for their entertainment needs.
Credit Union Attracts Prospects with its Personalized Financial Wellness Program
Instead of repeating the mundane practice of offering financial counselling to everyone, 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 audience to set up a 1:1 counseling and meeting with the branch managers.
The campaign was a hit with 53% conversion rates and 736 appointments within the short span of just six weeks from the program launch. The activity also led to a surge in new account opens with 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 clever by personalizing web experience to engage effortlessly with their potential prospects.
Here’s what Coverfox did to convert prospects into customers!
The brand tracked user web journey and browsing history of every visitor and sent personalized ads and auto-fill forms that is most relevant to suit their needs.
In case, if a user visits the website, compares premium and drops out unexpectedly. The brand gathers all the user information available like the 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 click the ad, he is directly redirected to the prefilled page so they don’t need to enter data again and the visitor is only left to do one thing, that is opt for this service. So, if there are new website personalization ideas brewing in your marketing head right now, you got 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, added some to his/her shopping cart but when they opened the payment gateway they are bombarded with options which confused them and they end up cancelling the purchase at the checkout window. Hurts right!
The reason is that the way your payment options are presented at the online portal can have a big impact on the experience of your shoppers. If the shoppers face difficulty in shopping at your e-commerce store, they are more likely to leave in search of a better experience.
Here’s an inspiration from Paypal, the worldwide famous online payment system and a financial service provider, who overcame this challenge with the power of personalization.
Paypal utilized content personalization for e-commerce sites, to dynamically display the most relevant payment option and offers to its customers across each geography. So instead of retailers cluttering the checkout page with variety of options, Paypal Checkout’s new “smart payment buttons” alerts 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 what industry you belong, personalization is the true essence for any business that will help you build the right relationship with your potential customers.
Through all the above examples we can deduce that personalized banking is slowly becoming the new reality, with big brands breaking through the conventional norms and adopting to a solid digitalized approach to connect with their customers.
Evidently, banks that incorporate personalization at scale see a significant gains in their revenue graph, in comparison to those who are struggling to deliver a similar experience.
However, sitting on a goldmine of data that is readily available, financial institutions can effortlessly trace down their user’s next need and shoot their products and services to the customers 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 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 are here to-the-rescue!
