Customer Insight Archives - Page 4 of 5

Three reasons why wealth & asset managers need young investors

Posted on: 14 April 2023

While wealth and asset managers may have developed a sophisticated and loyal base of investors, it is no secret that their client base is ageing and shifting. There have been noticeable changes in both the types of customers and their behaviours, whereby moving away from traditional investment styles and seeking out alternative areas of wealth to gain market share have become commonplace.

So, why would wealth and asset management firms benefit from having younger investors in their client base?

Their trajectory to wealth has high earning potential for wealth management businesses

Reaching the broader and untapped market of high-earning young investors has become critical for wealth and asset managers to continue to be successful. Supporting potential investors who are en route to wealth inheritance, who may find themselves in a position to sell off a thriving business in the near or distant future, or whose career path suggests high earning potential, are all inviting factors to drive wealth and asset management firms to acquire younger clients.

According to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), a High Net Worth Individual (HNWI) is someone who either earns more than £300,000 per annum or has net assets of more than £3,000,000. Firms with a client base that is more likely to pass down their wealth generationally are left to wonder the amount that might one day be re-invested into the firm, while young investors are more likely to distribute their wealth differently as a result of their current life stage and emerging alternatives, such as Crypto currencies. While the average new and younger potential investor may, for example, only bring ~£100k in assets to the table, potential exists for this investor to be on the trajectory towards becoming a high-net-worth individual.

Their financial industry knowledge is superior

Young investors building or inheriting their own wealth are often more knowledgeable (and environmentally conscious) about their financial options than previous generations.

With 80% of 18-24-year-olds having reportedly invested in ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) stocks according to the Saltus Wealth Index 2022, their expectations on the importance of sustainable or green investments may likely differ, and they may be inclined to ensure that ESG factors such as how the businesses they invest in respond to climate change, water management, health and safety policies are likely to be considered. These investors may also be more likely to consider whether investments meet global standards for sustainability reporting (GRI) in transparency and accountability.

They are not afraid to take their services digital

The investor arena has increasingly filled with entry-level investors who have lofty expectations for customer service, especially with digital services. They are aware of the capabilities of self-sufficient online investing; therefore, they expect the same level of speed and ease of use in all their financial affairs.

How can wealth management businesses identify and secure young investors?

Without a comprehensive understanding of the behaviours and traits of potential younger investors, firms may struggle to target the right investors through their own initiatives, or target young investors at scale through digital channels. CACI is equipped with robust data that can provide valuable insight into potential investors at scale across the UK, garnering information on who the potential clients are, what they like, and what they do. CACI can also track existing clients’ signals and triggers to model with future investors in mind.

Throughout this blog series for the wealth management industry, we break down the opportunities for businesses to attract and retain high-net-worth individuals. Continue reading at the links below:

Blog 1 – Four barriers wealth managers face when attracting & retaining customers

Blog 2 – How to identify, attract & retain high net worth individuals

Blog 4 – How CACI supports the wealth management customer journey

Whitepaper – Acquiring new high net worth clients – What wealth managers need to know

Is your firm looking to attract younger investors? Get in touch with us by clicking the link below to find out how you can achieve this.

How to identify, attract & retain high net worth individuals

Posted on: 23 March 2023

The distinction between attracting and retaining high-net-worth individuals (HNWI) within the existing investment landscape can feel like a blurred line for many wealth and asset management firms.

With new rules released by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in 2022, which demanded increased consumer protection for financial services consumers, it is now more important than ever for firms to leverage data to improve customer experiences and outcomes.

As a result, firms may now be experiencing the impact of lacking the necessary customer-centric data to effectively and compliantly deliver positive experiences and outcomes. Understanding the steps that must be taken to ensure that wealth management firms are digitally safeguarded, while adopting customer-first practices and identifying the HNWI they would like to attract, will be critical.

How do wealth & asset management businesses know who to attract?

It is through enhancing customer data that is backed by demographic, lifestage, lifestyle and attitudinal insight that will enable wealth & asset management firms to better understand, reach, and serve customers. Without having the right data available, they will risk lacking an integral understanding of who to attract.

Wealth products were historically sold by independent advisors who knew the local area and could identify the ultra-wealthy with ease, including where they were likely to be, often by word-of-mouth. This is no longer the business model for many wealth management firms looking to identify potential business at scale and deliver direct sales to new investors who expect a different type of engagement.

What major challenges do wealth & asset management businesses face in attracting & retaining high net worth individuals?

Competition for investment

The everchanging investment landscape has caused wealth and asset management firms to re-evaluate existing investor experience approaches. To keep up with the changes in client demands, firms that lack integrated insight and digital engagement capabilities will find themselves at a disadvantage against competitors, and unable to provide the tailored experiences investors now expect.

Cost of living

With no definitive end in sight for the cost of living crisis, there is increased interest in targeting affluent individuals from across sectors, many of which are mature in their data and digital capabilities. Wealth Management firms will experience increased competition and pressure for those available assets. Firms are tasked with reassessing their customers’ journey end-to-end to determine how to effectively safeguard against these unpredictable times.

What techniques should wealth & asset management businesses use to retain investors?

Effectively identifying and catering for the right customers

No two customers are the same, and firms that may have opted for a traditional approach that meets the needs of all customers will quickly realise that personalised and customised experiences for each unique customer is the best way forward. It is integral for firms to understand what their clients want and where they are seeking out financial products that meet their unique needs, to help them access the right products. This approach will allow customers to gain the most use of their tailored solution and will encourage them to remain with the firm for future support in their financial endeavours.

Utilising consolidated data to retain customers

Firms that effectively utilise consolidated data will notice long-term growth and can leverage this to outcompete their competition. Firms have client data, but without an understanding of how to enrich it, decipher it and make use of it to improve their customers’ experiences, they will not determine how to retain customers effectively. Customising solutions for clients that are built on demographic, attitudinal and behavioural insight will be paramount for this.

Acting upon customers’ short and long-term needs

Firms need to better understand the current and future needs of investors to appeal to a wider investor audience. Those that acknowledge the need for enhanced client understanding can introduce insight into their business that will drive improved customer-first experiences and outcomes.

How can CACI help?

Consumer Duty is an authoritative intention that will guarantee trust between financial institutions and consumers. Firms must innately understand their customers to adapt their products and drive messaging that effectively engages them and improves results, whilst also ensuring compliance with the directive.

CACI is uniquely positioned to support businesses through agency, consultancy, data provider and system integration capabilities, all of which work in conjunction to drive value for your business. Our services and data products work in conjunction with our strategies and values to continue to connect firms with their customers.

Blog 1 – Four barriers wealth managers face when attracting & retaining customers

Blog 3 – Three reasons why wealth & asset managers need young investors

Blog 4 – How CACI supports the wealth management customer journey

Whitepaper – Acquiring new high net worth clients – What wealth managers need to know

To find out more about how CACI can support you, contact our team of data experts today.

Understanding whether a loyalty programme is right for you

Posted on: 14 March 2023

How do you decide when to create a loyalty programme?

All businesses will eventually face the existential question of whether they should implement a loyalty programme or not. Understanding the value in doing so is paramount— customer loyalty is a big question for a lot of brands, and few know where to begin to devise a promising loyalty scheme, with many brands lacking an understanding of the potential return on investment. It is also integral for brands to have a business case prepared prior to formulating the loyalty programme’s design, as this knowledge will sway the development entirely.

Why brands might be thinking of this now

There are several factors that may prompt the creation of a loyalty programme– increasing share of wallet, encouraging customers to buy directly from a brand versus through a third-party retailer, or enhancing direct customer relationships to drive repeat purchase behaviours. No matter what the driving forces, businesses have become increasingly aware of the impact that customer insight has on informing an effective loyalty programme and the potential cost and risk of not introducing one into your own business.

What risks are associated with creating a loyalty programme?

Improperly planned and executed loyalty programmes can result in hefty costs for businesses, plummeting bottom line profit figures and an inability for revenues to bounce back.

Additional elements you must consider when implementing a loyalty programme include:

Getting the value exchange right

If customers do not understand the point or see the value behind your business’ programme, it will not be successful. Getting the value exchange wrong can erode your brand’s impression on customers. If the programme appears worthless as opposed to rewarding, it will fail to increase customers’ sentiment or engagement with your brand.

Getting the level of innovation right

Loyalty programmes must be innovative and uniquely tailored to a diverse customer base. Your business must meet customers’ expectations in one cohesive programme versus through multiple solutions, which demonstrates the importance of value exchange– meeting the wants of customers without sacrificing your business’ value.

Getting the loyalty mechanic right

You must be mindful of what customers are looking for from a loyalty programme, but this understanding must be backed by a data-driven approach that allows you to understand the unique selling point for your customers. There are a few approaches you can take:

Tiered loyalty programme: This splits benefits into tiers or levels that customers spending certain amounts of money can achieve. The higher the tier a customer reaches, the greater the benefits will be.
Points-based loyalty programme: Customers are given points with every purchase they make, and when they reach a certain number of points, the points can be used towards a discount or reward.
Subscription-based loyalty programme: Customers that sign up for subscription-based loyalty programmes will pay for their subscription upfront or in monthly or yearly instalments to receive exclusive discounts or rewards.

A lack of access to customer-centric data and an understanding of your customers’ wishes, however, will hinder a loyalty programme’s capabilities.

What should you consider before creating a loyalty programme?

Is your business bought in, engaged and set up to support a loyalty programme? Do you have the right technology and CRM in place, an existing loyal customer base and the ability to continue to sign up new customers?
Is a loyalty programme worthwhile for your customers and for you? Have you listened to your customers’ value mindset in terms of the product or offering to conclude the best potential ROI from your loyalty programme?
Is your business clear on how to enter the market in a way that will demonstrate ROI? Does it have the necessary mechanics or programme in place to pilot in the market to provide a successful ROI? Are you aware of the potential opportunity it can bring?

If you can answer these three questions, you can conclude whether now is the time to create a loyalty programme.

What steps should your business take to implement a successful loyalty programme?

Ensure your business is equipped with the necessary data to determine a loyalty programme’s value and discern what a good outcome for your business would be. This can be done through data analysis, best practices and benchmarking that will help you effectively align internally to understand existing capabilities and how best to proceed.
Confirm that your customers want a loyalty programme. If they do, what does a valuable loyalty programme look like for them, and what is the opportunity for your business? Identifying the value to the customer as well as to your business through data enrichment and data science will be a key next step.
Determine the ROI that your loyalty programme can deliver and understand what type of mechanic should be used in the pilot market to achieve this. An assessment of the scenarios of mechanics should be carried out to determine this. Once the opportunity from a viable mechanic is understood, determining how to effectively enter that market in a way that will deliver ROI will be crucial.

How can CACI support you with implementing a loyalty programme?

CACI’s data science capabilities and Customer Engagement consulting team can determine the actual costs that your business will face in running a successful loyalty programme and support your business through an innate understanding of loyalty across enterprises.

We do this by using our own proprietary data, data science, and expertise to understand the headroom in the market and help determine KPIs, understand which of your customers want a loyalty programme and how they want it to look to inform what potential opportunity exists. Areas that we assess to inform this include demographic richness, compliance for use, permissions, and our own products to fill any gaps around customer segmentation to determine who customers are and ask the right questions.

Our teams of data scientists and consultants will scenario plan with your business to comprehend the mechanics and experiences that must served and managed to your customer groups to build the pilot. Once this business case is understood, and a feasible pilot market has been identified, we can design a sophisticated end-to-end offering to help you deploy a successful loyalty programme.

Could your business benefit from a loyalty programme? To learn more about how CACI can help you, contact us here.

Four barriers wealth managers face when attracting & retaining customers

Posted on: 10 March 2023

Navigating everchanging expectations from customers, as well as new rules from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure that increased consumer protection is in place, has led wealth managers to not only find new ways to better understand their existing clients, but innovate ways to identify and attract new high net worth individuals (HNWI). This has caused many wealth management firms to scramble to increase their digitisation and customer-first policies quickly and effectively.

The ability to define these HNWI and UHNWI can be cumbersome, especially when the HMRC, FCA and individual banks and wealth managers all use varying criteria to measure this. Wealth and asset management firms looking to grow their business through the acquisition of these individuals will have to consider the importance of overarching data and scalable transformation to do so.

While you may recognise the need to better understand your clients, legacy practices and technology can often hold you back. Currently, we have noticed four major barriers in attracting and retaining customers:

1. Sparse investor data to inform decision making

Building a high-net-worth portfolio of investors requires the right financial products. Financial and consumer data products that identify people with incomes above £100k are far and few. This makes differentiating between an investor earning £100k and an individual with a £500k annual salary complicated, and identifying and targeting high-net-worth groups a challenge.

You cannot rely on your clients’ intergenerational wealth either as, once it is passed down, it is often the case that inherited wealth will be spent or not reinvested. However, if it is reinvested, it is often done with other brands, as different investor groups have different needs. This can leave you questioning how much wealth will actually remain with your client.

2. Lack of understanding of current and future investors’ needs

Once you acquire a new HNWI investor, utilising your cross-sell and upsell capabilities to extract the most benefit from their available wealth will be crucial. The ability to understand your clients is paramount, including both present and future needs in order to establish a long-term relationship.

Consumer Duty has been introduced to make firms more accountable over the suitability of their products and services, to meet the needs of those they are sold to. You will need to review the entire investor lifecycle and journey, revisit how and what to include in your marketing strategies, and establish new ways to measure all these areas to remain compliant and trusted.

Outreach to younger target investors

Younger investors are not as likely to behave as their older counterparts. For example, they may not necessarily attend the same in-person industry events, and often need to be targeted and communicated with via digital channels or social media. They will also want to manage their assets via digital platforms to be more self-serving. This means you need to work harder to intrigue and engage with younger investor audiences.

3. Maintaining GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) compliance

By attempting to reach your target investors via additional or new channels, you must consider data protection and GDPR. Substantial penalties can come with breaches; therefore, you must ensure that any data handling is done carefully and correctly. Plus, you need to provide clarity to your audience as to where you have sourced their data from and why you are legitimately contacting them.

4. Delayed response towards technology-first approaches

The last five to 10 years have seen a significant move towards digital transformation and customer-first policies, particularly with banks and building societies. While this ongoing transformation has been relatively steady for some sectors, the wealth and asset management sector has struggled to adapt.

To appeal to investors, brands must now adopt and embrace digital practices by implementing business models that will facilitate customer-led and technology-first transformation.

How can CACI help?

CACI is already a trusted partner to leading wealth and asset management firms, supporting investor acquisition and retention through predictive analytics and data solutions.

Throughout this blog series for the wealth management industry, we break down the opportunities for businesses to attract and retain high-net-worth individuals. Continue reading at the links below:

Blog 2 – How to identify, attract & retain high net worth individuals

Blog 3 – Three reasons why wealth & asset managers need young investors

Blog 4 – How CACI supports the wealth management customer journey

Whitepaper – Acquiring new high net worth clients – What wealth managers need to know

Or to learn more about how CACI can help your firm overcome barriers in this area, explore our services or get in touch.

DataHub: High Quality Data Unlocked

Using machine learning techniques to increase revenue, conversions and engagement for DFS

Posted on: 20 February 2023

About DFS

DFS, the UK’s largest sofa retailer and manufacturer, aims to lead furniture retailing in the digital age. Most famous for sofas, DFS also partners with leading lifestyle brands, such as Dwell, French Connection and Joules, to provide a wider range of furniture products.

CACI has worked with DFS for over 20 years and hosts its customer database, providing insight from CACI’s proprietary datasets to support customer understanding and location strategy. Outputs include segmentation, machine learning models, communications strategy, store catchments and digital targeting algorithms.

The challenge: targeting relevant engagement between major purchases

DFS sells to a market where customers traditionally make infrequent, high value purchases, as Mike Aspinall, Data Activation Manager at DFS, explains: “The main thing we sell is sofas, with a repeat purchase average of seven years. This can be challenging for CRM, which is all about nurturing ongoing relationships.

Our challenge was to deliver a CRM strategy that would enable us to maintain relevant engagement in a targeted way. We wanted to understand the opportunity to encourage repeat purchase through a data lens – which customers might be open to further purchases, when they might be likely to make them, and what kind of products they might want.

The solution: an actionable scoring algorithm that updates continually

Mike asked CACI to work with a large sample of DFS’ previous purchase data. “We have a rich customer database. CACI analysed two years’ data to find people who had bought two items from us consecutively within that period, looking at their purchase patterns and pathways.

CACI mapped out the attributes of people who had made the two qualifying purchases using Ocean demographic and lifestyle data blended with DFS behavioural data. The analysis looked at the identified customers’ over and under-indexing attributes, comparing them to people who bought the first item but not the second.

CACI trained a machine learning algorithm which is updated daily, incorporating the latest transaction and customer information. It is applied to the data in DFS’ customer experience platform (CEP), appending data points to customer profiles.

The benefits: conversion and revenue uplifts through highly relevant, low-waste, accurately targeted multi-channel campaigns

Mike tells us, “we had fairly low expectations of the first email in a multi-month journey. But against the control group, we saw an 866% uplift in revenue from the email campaign alone, within 14 days. That’s a four-times conversion increase, measured against a control group of people in the same segment who didn’t receive the communication.

This project was a perfect fit for CACI as an expert data science partner. With our DFS mission to lead furniture retailing in the digital age, machine learning is crucial to engaging our customers with truly relevant, timely communications. We have been working with CACI for decades – their team understands our business and data extremely well and we have a strong relationship.

Read the full case study here. For more information on how CACI can support you in delivering targeted, relevant, customer experiences get in touch and one of our data experts will happily arrange a time to talk.

How cost of living is impacting the Elderly Care & Senior Living market

Posted on: 14 February 2023

How does a challenging economy affect consumer choices and priorities that shape the UK market for elderly care?

It’s no surprise that the cost of living squeeze is having an impact on elderly care operators. Private residential and domestic care cost money: consumers are looking for ways to economise. Older people want and need comfort and care as much as ever, but they and their families are tightening their belts. Inevitably, they’re considering the cost of different care settings and options.

What does this mean for residential and domiciliary care providers? It’s early days, but as for every other consumer sector, you need to be prepared for the market to change. A proactive approach to understanding current and future customers and modelling potential demand in your locations can uncover opportunities to maintain occupancy and optimise your services to match evolving priorities and needs.

If you don’t have a crystal ball to hand, that may sound like a tall order. But knowing and anticipating market demand in your locations doesn’t depend on magic or guesswork. Consumer and location data together provide reliable evidence that can help you identify ways to stay relevant, accessible and financially stable.

Not all groups are impacted to the same extent by the rising costs of living. The majority of Acorn Groups still have a sizeable disposable income despite the recent 5% average fall.
Source: CACI Paycheck Disposable Income 2022 v2

Despite the bleak headlines, the economic impact varies considerably for different household types and in different areas. Many older consumers still have savings, disposable income or assets that allow them to choose the care they want. If you can understand the profile of your current and future customers in detail, it’s easier to identify and reach out to local prospects.

Location intelligence data is a well-established source of insight for care home operators and domestic care providers that are considering expansion or new sites. Mapping the age and affluence of the local population in a potential catchment helps to indicate where there’s likely demand for elderly care services.

But alongside age and income, there’s a lot of more subtle data that can help you market your existing services, confirm or reshape your propositions, benchmark your pricing and adjust the range and type of services you offer. This type of insight is extremely useful in a fast-changing market.

CACI data insight can answer crucial questions about your customers and market:

• What are the characteristics of your local and target customers?
Acorn profiling groups UK consumers by affluence, life stage and priorities
• What are your current and potential customers thinking, feeling and intending to do differently?
Quarterly Consumer insight surveys of the UK population
• How has customer spending on different outgoings changed?
Transactional spending data shows the split of spend with different brands and operators
• Whose disposable income is affected?
Postcode model of income in different locations, showing how it’s being spent.
• What’s around the corner?
Dynamic modelling forecasts what could happen to consumer spending if inflation, fuel and other costs rise in a range of different ways

CACI’s current disposable income model reflects the changes we’ve observed in the last few months. Although all households are affected by rising costs, the majority of our Acorn consumer profile groups still have a significant disposable income. It’s groups like Student Life and City Sophisticates that have seen the largest decline, driven by property costs.

There has been major growth in spend on private healthcare, with a wide range of demographics prioritising health over other non-essential spending.
Source: CACI Transactional Spend, June 2022

For elderly care operators, it’s encouraging to note that Comfortable Seniors, Countryside Communities and Successful Suburbs, who are likely to form far more of the target market, have some of the highest levels of disposable income, reflecting smaller or non-existent mortgages, good pensions and comfortable savings accrued over previous years.

Spending on private healthcare has increased in the past year. The Covid-19 pandemic and concerns about NHS waiting lists are driving this change in priorities for households across most Acorn groups. Despite rising essential costs, many consumers now regard healthcare expenditure as a necessity, not a luxury. This could have a positive impact on perceptions of value in elderly care.

These are just the headlines from our latest national data. Every elderly care provider has a different operating model and works in unique locations. CACI’s health and social care team can select data and build customised reports that directly reflect the opportunities and changes happening in your catchment areas today and tomorrow. For mid-sized operators, it’s vital decision-making information to inform strategy and tactical decisions that will help your business compete and thrive in a challenging economy.

We can help you:
• Continuously analyse, monitor and adapt – stay ahead of policy and new competitors when finding new customers and recruits
• Tailor marketing engagement and recruitment key messages to reflect the requirements of local potential pools of customers and staff
• Understand your staff and customer base and how its segments are impacted by different cost of living challenges, to identify risk and opportunity
• Tailor your offer to changing consumer and staff requirements

CACI’s specialist elderly care and senior living team work with clients in the UK and internationally to help them improve operational and financial performance with access to vital insights into their customers, employees and locations.

To find out more, contact us.

A Customer Personalisation Platform to deliver change for financial services brands

Posted on: 3 January 2023

Change within the financial services sector is complex. There are multiple stakeholders, regulatory needs, and often a base of legacy data and technology to unpick.

From our work with major brands, we know that the change is achievable and worthwhile. Investing in customer centricity will pay dividends in the long-term by reducing competitive threats, winning new customers, and ensuring retention of base customers.

To succeed in an increasingly competitive market, financial services brands need to establish change that encompasses:

A coherent data-driven strategy – where customer data is of a high quality and securely democratised to enable meaningful messaging to the individual
Establishing the right business targets and success measures – moving from short-term outcomes to long-term value for the customer and the organisation
A focus on your customers and the market context – understanding the needs and behaviours of both customers and prospects to better engage them
Maximising data and tech ROI – having the right tools to deliver the outcomes the business needs and then sweating the technology assets to deliver long-term ROI
Measure and optimise what matters – ensuring accurate reporting is fed through the business and that teams are empowered to act on those insights to optimise performance

Our challenge to leaders within financial services is to create a vision and become an agent of change. We want to work with brands who care about their customers and are making changes to show it. Therefore, our catalogue of services is developed to do amazing things with data and connect your brand with the individual.

At CACI, we can improve marketing ROI through detailed attribution modelling. Our customer demographics and bespoke segmentations provide a more accurate profile of customer needs, market size, and even financial vulnerability. Technical decisions around investment in AI, decisioning or identity resolution are made by defining clear use cases for technology and designing future technical architectures.

This work led to CACI developing a framework for customer personalisation at scale. Working with leading vendors Tealium, Braze and Snowflake, we created a technology blueprint that can achieve full integration between enterprise data and the omnichannel experience.

To find out more about the CACI Customer Personalisation Platform or to discuss issues related to customer transformation, please get in touch.

You may also be interested in downloading this report which uncovers a surprising disconnect between what banks think and how customers feel about the customer experience, with statistics and insight gathered from 1,500 marketing leaders and 5,000 consumers.

You can also check out the previous parts of this blog series below:

Blog 1 – How the banking and financial services sector can lean into a changing market

Blog 2 – Creating human banking experiences through data-led marketing

Blog 3 – Three ways to stand out in a crowded insurance market

Blog 4 – Combining data and technology to deliver effective customer journeys in the financial services industry

Combining data and technology to deliver effective customer journeys in the financial services industry

Posted on: 20 December 2022

For many banks and building societies, legacy systems are a barrier for real-time, personalised customer engagement. Migrating experience platforms to a scalable, cloud-based platform, coupled with well-engineered decisioning, will enable banks and building societies to establish trust with consumers and subsequently maintain it.

The need for robust and reliable customer data

Banks and building societies are bound by financial services regulations to know the identity of their customers. Proper customer identification seeks to prevent criminal behaviour such as fraud, money laundering, or tax evasion. It is also a requirement for credit checks.

Having well-managed customer data enables lenders to identify the next best action for the customer, and create a customer strategy and journey tailored to each individual customer.

Inbound and outbound digital channels should be the ideal place to deliver these messages. But the use of digital technology is hampered by unfit processes and operating models that are combined with unscalable technology and batch processing.

With the right efforts to unlock the wealth of data held, the promise of real-time personalised messages that cut through the noise is very attainable for lenders.

Covid-19: a catalyst of change

The financial services sector responded quickly and earnestly to the challenges created by Covid-19. Payment holidays were offered, and staff were quickly relocated to home working setups to continue providing a good service.

The catalyst of change we all lived with created new levels of trust and empathy. This needs to be maintained by showing customers that the financial institutions really do care about them as individuals, especially in the current climate.

Mass mailings that push irrelevant products or services will erode that relationship. It shows a lack of care for the customer and a view of them as being a source of revenue and profit.

Making technology change last

To move forward, financial services marketers need to set a vision for the type of relationship they want to have with their customers.

This vision will determine the way that data is used, it will be at the heart of all campaigns and communications, it will alter working processes so that the organisation becomes more empathetic.

Through a clear and uniting vision, marketing technology will really be able to prove its value. Not just in delivering a better campaign, but by shaping the very experience and interaction an individual has with a brand. It will be about two-way interaction.

For useful input from over 200 financial services brands, 1,500 marketing leaders in the financial services industry and 5,000 financial services consumers, on how you should be evolving your customer marketing strategy to meet the needs of a changing consumer, download this recent report from CACI and Braze.

Check out the previous parts of this blog series below:

Blog 1 – How the banking and financial services sector can lean into a changing market

Blog 2 – Creating human banking experiences through data-led marketing

Blog 3 – Three ways to stand out in a crowded insurance market

Three ways to stand out in a crowded insurance market

Posted on: 14 December 2022

With new guidance in the FCA’s Consumer Duty directive, the financial services industry is being asked to get to know their customer better and meet their diverse needs. In a recent report produced by Braze & CACI, providing insight for financial services brands, it was found that 42% of EMEA consumers only use one financial services brand – so how can you retain their loyalty, trust and keep them engaged?

1. Technology Innovation

The general insurance market has always been challenged with engagement, as the frequency of communication with its policy holders is low and concentrated at the point of policy inception, claim or renewal.

However, building trust is still crucial in this market.

Every insurer is now looking for new ways to harness technology for growth and competitive advantage. The use of AI and innovative tools is becoming more prevalent in the underwriting, claims and CRM process.

Harnessing your customer data through modern decisioning tools, and leveraging third-party demographic data to build a more holistic understanding of who your customer is, enables you to interject hyper personalised communications throughout the life of the policy, via the most appropriate channels, and actively give policy holders transparency over potential changes in premium.

2. Building Trust

Whilst insurance may be seen as a “necessary purchase”, the payments aren’t usually greeted with good sentiment or the feeling of value for money.

However, the data and insights that much of this new technology generates creates the opportunity to engage policy holders more during the life of their policy.

For example, in car insurance, the use of telematics data could be used to talk to customers regularly about how they can improve their driving whilst reducing the cost at their next renewal. It’s well understood that people feel a sense of dread when a renewal comes around, fearing a policy price increase without a clear reason. As an insurer, why not reduce this surprise and help your customers maintain or reduce their premium?

If the data used to run the underwriting model changes, meaning that the car insurance policy may go up at renewal, it is better to let the customer know this early and explain why this has happened. This would increase trust and loyalty, reducing the likelihood that they might go to an aggregator when the renewal is due.

Even better, utilise predictive analytics to warn customers early of changes, enabling them to make changes in behaviour to help keep premiums down.

3. Understand your competition

The insurance market is made up of large general insurers through to niche specialists. Whilst brand reputation has a role to play, the heavy use of aggregators to seek out favourable deals is commonplace.

The opportunity is there for the more established brands to innovate and use their capability to invest in and truly leverage marketing technology and data to create a more trustworthy experience. For niche players, they can utilise their positioning to clearly communicate the benefits of their USP to customers.

With restrictions on the use of incentives for new consumers, all insurers need to consider other important elements of their offering and communicate this throughout the experience.

Throughout this blog series for the financial service industry, we break down the opportunities for marketers to build trust, loyalty and a superior customer experience with data and technology. Continue reading at the links below:

Blog 1 – How the banking and financial services sector can lean into a changing market

Blog 2 – Creating human banking experiences through data-led marketing

Report – Banking on the Customer Journey: 2022 Financial Services Insights