UK finance content marketing has become more relevant for audiences than traditional advertising, particularly since the pandemic has pushed consumers online. This shift in focus has seen finance brands across the UK increase their digital marketing spending by 9.6% between 2020 and 2021. As the appetite for content moves into the digital sphere and social media continues to become more important for finance brands, UK finance brands like Lloyds Bank, Monzo and Scottish Widows have risen to the occasion. Here we take a deep dive into the top UK finance content marketing examples to see what your finance brand can learn.
Lloyd’s Bank: ESG commitments galore
A growing portion of UK finance content marketing is focused on sharing finance brands’ ESG commitments and charitable activities. Lloyd’s Bank is doing this well by using it as an opportunity to not only promote the brand but also connect with consumers by addressing their desire for greater transparency. In fact, 86% of consumers say a lack of transparency with a brand is likely to drive their business to a competitor.
By centering their campaigns around video content on topics like mental health, LGBTQIA+ rights, and climate change, they are directly addressing audiences’ interests while showcasing it in a way consumers want, with 54% of consumers wanting brands to produce more videos.
Most recently, Lloyd’s Bank has had a campaign where they celebrate employees who helped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Showcasing a variety of different stories and people, Lloyd’s Bank is centering themselves as an approachable, charitable and welcoming bank provider for consumers.
What can we learn?
“ 54% of consumers want brands to produce more videos.”
Lloyd’s Bank’s social media presence highlights the importance and effectiveness of creating an inclusive and relatable marketing strategy. By showcasing content that audiences can relate to, like the pandemic, consumers can create connections with the brand. Building authentic customer relationships not only promotes loyalty and trust, but companies that provide an emotional connection outperform the sales growth of their competitors by 85%.
By marketing their ESG commitments, Lloyd’s Bank is catering to the demands of their audience, with more individuals valuing a brand’s social commitments when making a purchasing decision. In fact, research by PwC has noted that 76% of consumers will “discontinue their relationship with companies that treat the environment, employees, or the community poorly”.
Monzo: Creating a tight-knit community
Monzo Bank has done a great job across their digital platforms to help create a tight-knit community through fun, quirky and educational content. They have a very specific tone of voice, in fact they even have a webpage dedicated to it, which is focused on easy explanations and educational content. This is partly due to them not having any physical stores, so to reduce customer inquiries their content has to be as easy to understand as possible.
In addition to this, they have also created a digital community forum that enables consumers to directly contact them and communicate new ideas and feedback. This promotes a greater connection between brand and customer and also helps consumers get involved with the brand helping to form stronger, more authentic relationships.
What can we learn?
Monzo highlights the importance of connection and community in the UK finance content marketing space. By strictly adhering to a certain tone of voice across all digital platforms and content, Monzo is easily recognisable to consumers. Additionally, their community forum enables consumers to feel a part of a brand beyond just simply being a client, helping to foster more love and trust from consumers. The community forum also promotes greater transparency between Monzo and their clients helping to build loyalty, with a study finding 94% of people are more likely to be loyal to a brand with complete transparency.
Scottish Widows: Creating great social media campaigns
The Scottish Widows highlights just how big an impact video can play within the UK finance content marketing arena. Their recent media campaign centred on gender inequality regarding women’s pension garnered 28 million impressions and reached a quarter of the population in 48 hours. Shared across their social media platforms as well as on television as a traditional advert, this campaign scored an engagement rate double the financial services engagement benchmark.
Apart from the success of this campaign, Scottish Widows has a solid social media presence and regularly shares their ESG commitments and educational content. The educational content is particularly effective as research has found educational content makes consumers 131% more likely to purchase your product.
What can we learn?
Scottish Widows highlights how effective a video campaign can be for finance brands when it’s about a relevant and important issue. This campaign showcases how social media can work in tandem with traditional advertising strategies to help raise greater brand awareness and engagement. In the end, this campaign garnered a 94% positive sentiment, something unheard of in the banking and financial space.
UK finance content marketing: Learning lessons
Overall, the top UK finance content marketing examples all had certain things in common. These included:
- Sharing ESG commitments and making them a core part of their brand
- Utilising social media and digital platforms to extend content reach
- Inclusive marketing
- Creating relatable content that connects with consumers
As the UK finance content marketing examples showcase, it’s critical your finance brand’s marketing strategy is tailored to your specific audience. By creating content that’s engaging and tailored to your target audience, your finance brand can foster authentic customer relationships.
