In BDO’s 2021 digital transformation survey 40% of finance brands have digitised their customer service or customer experience. The top US finance content marketing examples are embracing digitisation. From incorporating AR into their social media strategy to building a digital innovation hub, content marketing in the USA is favouring technology as its backbone. So, what can your finance brand learn?
Mastercard: utilising emerging technologies in their content marketing
In November 2021, Mastercard strengthened its commitment to inclusion by launching an AR campaign across Snapchat. The AR feature enabled users to virtually walk down Acceptance Street in New York. This is the site of a sign Mastercard created in 2019 that has flags saying ‘lesbian’, ‘bisexual’, ‘queer’ and so on, to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and showcase Mastercard’s commitment to inclusion. This sign was also a winning move by Mastercard in 2019, resulting in a 3000% increase in positive sentiment on Mastercard’s channels.
“ 40% of finance brands have digitised their customer service or customer experience.”
When the pandemic hit in 2021, Mastercard took a new approach and launched the Snapchat AR Lens so anyone can experience the sign, anywhere in the USA with equally great success. This content marketing strategy garnered over 50 million impressions and it exceeded Snapchat’s playtime average of 7-12 seconds to have an average use of 14.75 seconds.
What can we learn?
Mastercard’s unique content marketing approach was a hit. By providing content that’s interactive, engaging and customer-centric, Mastercard gained a reach of over 1.6 million people nation-wide. AR technology that’s part of social media is a great opportunity for your finance brand to improve brand awareness and build connections, by offering fun content consumers want.
Mastercard’s message of equality and inclusion is another indicator that marketing your ESG commitments can help you gain brand loyalty, with 71% of consumers saying they prefer to buy from companies that align with their values.
SoFi content calculation hub
SoFi describes itself as a ‘one-stop shop for your finances offering banking, investing, insurance, loans and crypto in the one place. As it’s solely digital, SoFi relies heavily on its content to provide consumers with answers quickly and easily. Owing to this, their resource centre relies heavily on calculators which enable users to understand their finances better.
Calculators are a great way of providing educational and interactive content that can help consumers understand their finances better. As they are easily accessible, they cater for SoFi’s current consumer base and potential clients simultaneously. With 55% of adults agreeing they would trust a bank more if it produced helpful content, SoFi’s calculators are a great method of generating leads and funneling them through the acquisition channel.
What can we learn?
Consumers want educational content that’s easy to understand and useful. SoFi has taken the usual loan calculator one step further by adding calculators for almost anything from investment calculators to loan calculators to savings calculators. At the heart of it, financial math can be confusing. SoFi does it for consumers, helping to build strong relationships and trust amongst users.
Morgan Stanley’s big ideas
While most financial content marketing is tailored to the general public or consumers looking to build their financially literacy, Morgan Stanley’s Ideas blog caters to those with extensive knowledge in technology, finance, politics and media. This blog is data driven and handles larges topics such as ‘Mapping Geopolitical Uncertainty’, helping to cement Morgan Stanley as an industry authority.
Each day a new piece of content is released in varying formats, like audio, visual or written, helping to make the content fresh, interesting, engaging and digestible.
What can we learn?
While creating content tailored to financial education remains a critical element of content marketing, the success of this blog highlights the importance of tailoring your content to specific audiences. By offering different ways to consume the information (audio, visual, written), their engaging content marketing approach makes the information interesting and digestible.
As each article is written by an expert, it helps to build trust amongst consumers, as Morgan Stanley centres themselves as an industry authority. In fact, 62.96% of readers consider blogs with multiple authors trustworthy.
Lessons from the best USA content marketing examples
Overall, Mastercard, SoFi, and Morgan Stanley highlight the importance in providing fun, interactive and engaging content to generate leads and acquire new customers.
