Spends & Trends: The know-how of BFSI marketing in 2022

BFSI marketing in 2022 needs reoriented tactics. With increased financial products and offerings, consumers have ample choices from the clutter that brands need to stand out in. Here is the know-how of the industry, with experts aligning insights on the spends and trends.

Two years of the pandemic observed some of the highest unemployment rates, decreased dispensable income, a downward trend in financial markets, and growing uncertainty, refabricating the significance of management of finance.

This scenario has had a deep impact on consumer behavior and external elements such as new slates of financial instruments, web-based platforms, app-based tools, and more, have created the need for modern-day marketing strategies. Here are insights from the experts that can aid brands and agencies who want to ace marketing in the BFSI industry.

The Experts

• Kuldeep Pawar, Head of Marketing at Spice Money
• Lalatendu Das, CEO, Performics India
• Vinit Kapahi, Head of Marketing, Aviva Life Insurance
• Anisha Iyer, CEO, OMD India
• Boniface Noronha, SVP & Head – Marketing, Digital & Direct Sales, Axis Mutual Fund
• Shefali Khalsa, Head – Brand, Corporate Communications & CSR, SBI General Insurance
• Subhasis Ghosh, Joint President & Head – Marketing, Institutional Business, and Alliances, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance

BFSI Marketing - The Spends

Boniface Noronha, SVP & Head – Marketing, Digital & Direct Sales, Axis Mutual Fund shares that BFSI spends accounts for 70% Digital, out of which over 50% is spent on Search, and the remaining half is divided between social media and other platforms.

He also adds that before the pandemic, it was a 60:40 ratio.

Before the pandemic, many brands were on digital, but post the pandemic all brands have been forced to join the platform. Performance and brand building have been two main pillars of marketing on digital platforms.

Experts share that content marketing is something the industry is actively looking at to create easy communication through content that people are able to comprehend. Although, it is hard to justify spends on branding, an attribution model that calculates the spends and impact and concludes RoI, can help make informed decisions. Metrics on brand building differ as the brand would not specifically be making business, the objective of the campaign defines the metrics and the measure would be views, etc.

Also Read: How to create a FinTech Marketing blueprint for new-age brands & consumers

BFSI Marketing - The Trends

Experts share that alike most industries Gen-Z and millennials have been integral in the shifting trends; Gen-Z is a responsible lot, financial literacy comes at an early stage, and Insurance is an important part of their portfolio.

Marketers need to do away with the idea of one size fits all and look at hyper-personalization for the Gen-Z audience. Products can't change too much, but personalized propositions can be built for each of them, and the products can solve their needs.

While there are several marketing trends that brands can imbibe to increase the engagement rate of their campaigns, brands communications in the BFSI industry is more stringent and prone to legal concerns, in terms of providing clarity of offerings and risks associated.

Subhasis Ghosh, Joint President & Head – Marketing, Institutional Business, and Alliances, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance mentions moment Marketing is difficult in the Banking industry, there are various loops and regulations to go through, and compliance plays a heavy hand. "We can't be nimble on that".

Omni-channel marketing, heavy investment in education, integrated digital IPs, branding, webinars, and content play backed with performance, are a few other trends in the BFSI industry.

All experts agree that education is a significant part of brand communication, educated customers will purchase multiple times.

Organic acquisition, focus on content and SEO, paid media, video, social, and search should also be followed by efficient measurement solutions as experts believe there is an overhang of digital outreach, and the customer is bombarded. Here measuring your outcomes helps planning and spends become optimized.

Short video apps, publisher affiliates with Google and Facebook, IPL, OTT platforms, regional and local media, channels serving a specific audience in regions that have huge localized following and consumption, are a few platforms where the cost of impressions may go down if the quality of content remains high.

Podcasts, e-commerce, and metaverse are the new up & coming avenues in the BFSI marketing space.