The Digital Marketing for Financial Services (DMFS) Virtual Summit connects leaders, experts, and professionals from the dynamic financial services sector across North America, serving as a melting pot of ideas to drive conversions, create loyalty, and maintain a competitive edge in an increasingly competitive industry.
At the 2020 edition, DAC’s own VP of Client Strategy, Nasser Sahlool, was a featured speaker. Using DAC insights and industry-wide data, Nasser explored the centralized nature of digital, why financial service businesses need to focus on local digital expectations, and how that relates to the era of local lockdowns we’ve all experienced this year.
The full recording is available below, along with Nasser’s top four takeaways.
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Chaos is not a pit—it’s a ladder
This idea, somewhat inspired by Game of Thrones, pertains to finding opportunities within the chaos, and navigating that territory with efficiency and impact using well-informed and strategized marketing investments.
Among six key drivers of change are the explosion of bandwidth and how technological access to real-time data has driven the acceleration of expectations across multiple industries, demanding greater rich media and digital capabilities.
Brands that are distributed across large geographic footprints must acknowledge those drivers and account for changes in our current pandemic situation; in short, businesses need to pivot their marketing approach from a country-wide communication strategy to more localized experiences. With neighboring communities being affected differently, being able to communicate in a targeted fashion down to the hyper-local level is more important than ever.
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Now is the time to pursue a generational advantage
Research has shown that businesses that invested during times of crisis in the past have emerged with generational advantages in their respective industries.
By exploring the elements of value people look for during these times of crisis—and, in this case, during COVID-19—there are three values that consumers look for to enhance their sense of well-being: affiliation and belonging, reducing anxiety, and reducing risk.
So, how do businesses decide on where best to invest? It’s utilizing the ways your business can highlight these elements in your marketing strategies and communications in an overwhelmingly local way. Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an explosion of traffic towards local information. In a very literal sense, digital local channels have become the gateway to brand discovery.
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Digital transformation is at the heart of these investments
Knowing that digital banking is the future, how do we go well beyond the standard information that we see in today’s online local listings (telephone number, address, URL, etc.)?
Being able to communicate more relevant information entirely digitally—such as in-store health and safety practices, online booking, and content that educates consumers on how to interact and transact—all links back to why it’s so important to enrich that local information hub environment so that your business can serve its customers effectively.
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Connectivity of online/offline actions is the top priority
A deep and detailed understanding of your hyper-local communication should be the core consideration of all your online and offline channels.
By investing in resilient systems to back the technological requirements needed for digital fulfillment, brands can set themselves apart through digital experiences—and advance their businesses far faster than those who don’t.
The webinar in full
Want to know more about our financial service expertise? How we advise handling the ongoing pandemic? Or do you simply want to connect and know more about what we do? Then let’s talk. We’re always happy to share insights, make bold predictions, and explain how we drive transformative growth for our clients.