A recent study by JP Morgan found that despite the financial effects of COVID-19, people continued to contribute to their retirement funds. Yet, concern about retirement plans has grown making consumers want access to more automation services and educational resources. In fact, the number of people wanting help and education in planning their retirement rose from 52% to 62% in 2021. This suggests there’s a growing demand from consumers for finance brands to offer better educational material, more automation, and greater support systems. By filling this market gap and providing better customer service your finance brand can help build greater brand loyalty and generate meaningful leads.
Retirement stress grows
“ The number of people wanting help and education in planning their retirement rose from 52% to 62% in 2021 ”
Finance company, Retirement Living spoke to its customers and found that because of COVID-19 many of them are feeling significantly unprepared, with 49.8% saying the pandemic affected their plans and savings. To help ease concerns many customers requested better automation services to accompany their retirement planning. In fact, JP Morgan found 89% of people were in favour of automation and 97% of people who were part of an automatic program were satisfied.
This reflects a need from consumers for ways to make reaching their goals easier and stress-free. To build authentic relationships your finance brand should give consumers what they want in the form of improved customer service and products.
More importantly, this study found 47.4% of people will re-evaluate their retirement plans post-pandemic. This reveals a prime opportunity for your finance brand to capture new customers and improve lead generation. Your finance brand can acquire new customers by recognising what consumers want and altering both marketing content and products accordingly.
Retirement concerns aren’t just reserved for older generations
Post-pandemic it’s no longer just Baby Boomers or Gen X who are worried about their plans but in fact Gen Z are also concerned. In fact, only 33% of Gen X believe their retirement funds will last the entirety of their lives and only 35% of Gen Z believe so too. This widespread concern indicates financial marketing content shouldn’t be solely targeting older generations.
Finance brands can begin to build authentic relationships and generate loyalty with young people now through retirement content. By easing concerns and helping younger generations build a plan and educate them on retirement, your finance brands can create stronger personal connections that will benefit you long into the future.
Three ways finance brands can improve their content
According to a study by Deloitte, there are three areas finance brands are failing in their marketing strategy. These include:
- Failing to communicate – Many finance brands don’t reach those who need financial advice and if they do, they fail to integrate retirement plans within a customer’s broader life goals. Therefore, finance brands should look to produce more relatable and educational finance content that considers broader goals.
- Lack of product awareness – Many consumers aren’t aware of finance brands’ retirement products and services. A greater amount of marketing that explores what finance brands have to offer can improve customer acquisition.
- Distrust in finance organisations – There is considerable distrust within the general population regarding finance brands’ services. Easing concerns through user generated content that helps to build authentic relationships will help bridge this approachability gap.
Brands nailing it
In the UK, Aviva has created a content hub that supplies high-quality educational material. This helps to make them a valuable resource for consumers helping to generate leads and build meaningful connections with consumers wanting to plan for retirement. While they predominantly target older generations, they provide visual content and blog posts targeting younger generations, helping to address young people’s concerns about the future.
In America, Fidelity offers valuable tools on their website to help consumers determine which product they require. Their easy-to-understand comparative tools makes it simple to understand what type of plan each consumer needs and wants. They further offer a free digital planning tool and a way to compare where customers stand in their retirement by asking 6 simple questions.
In Australia, AMP offers a complementary retirement health check in which consumers can talk to an experienced retirement specialist about their plans. This offers a higher level of customer service and helps to build strong authentic connections, through in-person interactions. They further offer a retirement needs calculator that helps individuals understand their savings goals, which is particularly beneficial for younger generations.
Finance brands generally are providing quality retirement content on their websites. However, on social platforms, this content is few and far between. While retirement may not seem like a glamorous topic for social media, recent studies highlight general concern regarding it. This indicates a greater opportunity for finance brands to create content on social media to help remain competitive in a saturated industry.
As a result of COVID-19, retirement anxiety has increased across the generations. To acquire new customers and generate leads, your finance brand should look to market their services to address this concern and help ease anxieties. This can ultimately help you to improve brand awareness, build loyalty and create authentic customer relationships.
