Here’s a question for you: When was the last time you read a post or watched a video from your bank? Let’s pretend that you do remember – what did you think of it?
The answer is likely to be on a scale from “it was ok” to “I don’t remember”. And perhaps you don’t expect more – after all, it’s content from a bank and not The Economist, right?
Based on our experience planning and implementing various content creation and distribution initiatives for banks, we believe that talking about financial topics in simple terms and educating investors is key. Banks should aim to compete with top content creators and news outlets.
Why do banks struggle with that?
In Switzerland, having worked with most leading financial institutions, we see three main obstacles in retail banks, asset and wealth managers:
Issue number 1: Most content is created by economists – not marketers
Banking content is often created by economists or financial experts and contains jargon that is hard for the average reader to understand. Videos start with disclaimers instead of teasing information. This is understandable from a bank’s perspective: compliance requirements are important. But they also reduce the effectiveness of the original message and cause readers and viewers to lose interest. “The hook”, the initial moment that grabs audience attention, is crucial. For videos, this means the title, thumbnail picture and the first 3 to 5 seconds. If this precious space is used for redundant information, then audience engagement is doomed. So, why not start with a catchy hook and show the disclaimer at the very end of the video? It’s simple and effective.
What does good look like?
A lot can be learned from banks that are already successfully winning new clients using online channels. Their key success factor is that they have found a clever and systematic way to sell online by tailoring content to the specific requirements of different channels. They attract clients’ attention with interesting taglines on social and advertising channels and lead interested prospects to their website to continue the sales journey. We have put together a matrix showing how to create digital content across the sales journey so that you can get started right away.
Issue number 2: Lack of experience in creating digital content
From printing brochures to recording 30 second explainer videos on TikTok, banks nowadays must consider a broad range of channels and formats. While there is a great depth of knowledge on analogue means of communication, many banks have not fully embraced digital content and fail to use it to its fullest potential.
We often notice 1:1 copy and pasting of content across channels, ignoring different trends and expectations in specific channels and audiences. As with investing, a one-size-fits-all approach to digital content is not good enough. Embedding a 30-page research report on LinkedIn is not going to persuade investors to buy a financial product.
What does good look like?
A lot can be learned from banks that are already successfully winning new clients using online channels. Their key success factor is that they have found a clever and systematic way to sell online by tailoring content to the specific requirements of different channels. They attract clients’ attention with interesting taglines on social and advertising channels and lead interested prospects to their website to continue the sales journey. We have put together a matrix showing how to create digital content across the sales journey so that you can get started right away.
Issue number 3: Content production not optimised for speed
When market-moving news breaks, clients expect analysis of what this means for them and their portfolios. For example: What is the impact of a surprising election result on the local stock market? Or: A hot, new crypto currency gained massively – is this the next big thing? Maybe the Fed just hiked interest rates for the first time in a decade and the chief investment officer wants to give a quick statement.Unfortunately, cumbersome internal processes are often obstacles to providing clients with a swift and meaningful response. Teams are not set up in a way to quickly create and approve market commentary – let alone package it in an engaging format. At present only very few banks interact with their clients over social media on an ad-hoc basis, largely because they lack appropriate processes, tools and a culture that tolerates fast responses.
What does good look like?
To create exciting digital content fast and tailor it to a different range of channels, a next generation content creation model is required. Based on our experience with Swiss banks, we have briefly outlined how the new process works and what tools are required to bring it into being.
How does it work? To identify the next blockbuster story, insights are systematically collected from within the firm or directly from the market, by leveraging Social Listening or SEO Analysis tools. The most promising topics are grouped into an editorial plan and content will then be produced by topic in various forms: taglines, infographics, videos, full articles, paragraphs, soundbites, etc. These assets, best managed and stored within a Digital Asset Management platform, make up the content hub, from which different parts can be published flexibly by CMS or publishing tools, in channels like the blog on the website, newsletter and various social media platforms.
Understand your audience...
Understand your audience...
... and what they care about.
Start with user research based on a problem statement: Who is your target audience – what moves them? Where can you reach them?
Define Content Strategy...
Define Content Strategy...
... and plan your content calendar.
Define the strategic, mid-term and ad-hoc topics where you can demonstrate expertise. How do you schedule the topics and what content do you need for each?
Produce raw content first...
Produce raw content first...
...and customise it based on your audience/customers.
The economists and other financial experts work together with editors, content marketing specialists and creative designers. Based on the previous user research, each piece of content is tailored to a specific persona.
Distribute and engage...
Distribute and engage...
... with your community.
Each channel requires a different approach. Digital asset management and community engagement tools should be considered to make content distribution for non-experts as easy as possible. Dedicated resources engage with the community and steer the public dialogue. We will deep-dive more into the topic Audience/customer Engagement in the next blog post in our five-part series, “Five strategic imperatives for marketing executives in banking”.
Optimise, measure & learn...
Optimise, measure & learn...
... from your data.
Every single data point on interaction and engagement is helpful to continuously refine the content universe. How many people read the full article? How many shared? Commented? Social listening tools play an important part in providing guidance about trending topics.
Get in touch with us, and see how we can help you give your own clients the experience they really want – at every stage of their journey.
We acknowledge that changing the way content is created, packaged, and distributed across channels and touchpoints often means changing the way marketing organisations are set up today – and this can seem daunting. The first step is to define the target state, i.e., the full strategy including content, channels, ways of working and technology. Next, think about the trajectory towards that target state. How can you package elements of the target state into implementable sub-projects and execute step by step.
We have supported several Swiss financial institutions in reimagining how they produce and distribute content that impacts business growth. Reach out to us if you want to learn more.
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Cyrill Kiefer
Cyrill is Partner in the Banking Transformation Practice. He has successfully led various «end-to-end» transformation projects from strategy to go-live in the area of trading, regulatory, sales excellence, digitalisation and organisational change management. He has more than 18 years of consulting experience in serving retail- and private banks as well as market operators. Cyrill focuses on optimising the interaction between banks and clients by using digital solutions and develops agile front-end solutions for the Fintech industry.
Benjamin Schmitt
Benjamin is a Director at Deloitte Digital, leading large-scale customer experience and AI-driven transformation programmes for banks and wealth managers. His work spans operating model design, agentic and generative AI, and the delivery of scalable client-facing platforms. He regularly advises C-level executives and contributes to industry thought leadership, including the Digital Banking Maturity Study.