Finance content marketing trends for 2019

Another revolution

Relevance, usefulness and connection remain at the heart of content marketing. But, with every advancement in technology, the way we consume content changes. Fail to keep up and your customers will too. Here are five content marketing trends to put on your radar in 2019.

Do you hear what I hear?

In an ABC study published in August 2018, 1 in 5 Australians aged 18-75 stated they’d listened to podcasts at least once in the previous week and 1 in 3 at least once in the previous month. Of the former group, 50% had listened to at least five hours’ worth!

Finance companies already drawing on the power of podcast include community bank Umpqua, whose Open Account series explores “why money is so universally thrilling, confusing and powerful through personal stories”, and Fidelity Investments, whose podcast The Future According To Now investigates groundbreaking innovations in technology.

To make a finance podcast that will attract listening ears, follow these 10 tips.

The small but mighty micro-influencer

Move over Kim Kardashian – in 2019, micro influencers are likely to wield more power than ever. These are lesser-known but extremely passionate supporters of your products. You could call them superfans.

Move over Kim Kardashian – in 2019, micro influencers are likely to wield more power than ever.

Unlike your garden variety influencers, micros have no more than 10,000 followers – and, often, far fewer. They’re not glamorous, but they’re human and, therefore, inspire trust.

Founder of mobile app development company, Appetizer Mobile LLC, Jordan Edelson told Forbes, “As influencer-tracking technologies continue to improve, brands are becoming better equipped at fielding and managing large networks of high-engagement, low-following micro-influencers for their campaigns.”

Ready to master the art of influencer marketing? Editor and Founder of Husskie, an influencer-focused lifestyle publication, told The Dubs how to execute and reap the rewards of an influencer campaign.

It’s personal – and robotic

“Personalisation can deliver 5 to 8 times the ROI on marketing spend, and can lift sales by 10% or more,” according to the Harvard Business Review. Thanks to AI’s capacity to analyse large volumes of data, it’s possible to provide highly tailored content – be it via chatbot or distribution of advertisements.

What’s more, consumers have come to expect it. In a 2018 survey by Selligent Marketing Cloud, a B2C marketing automation company, 74% of respondents said they expected companies to “treat [them] as an individual, not as a member of some segment like ‘millennials’ or ‘suburban mothers’.”

74% of respondents said they expected companies to “treat [them] as an individual, not as a member of some segment like ‘millennials’ or ‘suburban mothers.

Several financial institutions in the US are already on top of this trend, including MoneyLion, a mobile personal lending platform, which recommends blog posts, money-saving tips and financial products according to a user’s behaviour.

Like business, like content

According to Peter Gearin, publisher of Brand Tales content marketing magazine, 2019 will be as much about looking backwards and inwards as forwards and outwards.

“[Australian companies] doing it well will continue to prosper,” he says. “They will have a content strategy that aligns with their business goals and will prove its worth well beyond social likes and clicks. They won’t be swayed by the latest ‘hot’ social platform or technology iteration but might look to expand their content activities where it makes sense for them – perhaps podcasting or more video.”

content-marketing-trends

Jasmine Crittenden

Jasmine Crittenden has written extensively for major finance brands including Westpac, BT Financial Group, Suncorp and Aberdeen Standard Investments – across both digital and print. She’s an expert in content that puts the human element in finance marketing, be it connecting with local communities, inspiring millennials to care about super or clarifying the complexities of personal loans.