Research: Financial marketers are preparing for 2020 — what are they investing in?
- Digital marketers are prepping their spend for 2020 now.
- New data show in which channels they intend to spend those marketing dollars.
It's that time of year again. Marketers at fintech and incumbent financial services firms are setting their budgets for 2020. As a service or technology provider selling into financial brands, it's important to understand what they fell about their current challenges and opportunities.
Dianomi, a native ad platform for business and finance, commissioned a study with Gramercy Institute, an organization of financial marketers. The survey polled 100+ senior marketers who work in finance.
Top goals for financial marketers in 2020
Brand awareness remains the top goal for financial marketers going into next year. Being able to stand out in a field with rapidly growing new options is a challenge, especially as core banking services are becoming commoditized. After branding, financial marketers are charged with bringing in new customers. Acquisition, for fintechs and FIs, will remain a challenge in 2020.
Financial marketers plan to increase certain investments
In addition to setting budgets, marketers need to make allocations to specific channels. The Dianomi survey asked marketers specifically which channels they plan on increasing spend in. Top of the list is paid search, and that makes sense. Bank of America ranks atop the best firms at paid search marketing. Other usual culprits like email marketing and branding are also top of mind for marketers. Interestingly, a good chunk of marketers (26.1 percent) are looking to increase video advertising on channels like YouTube.
In-house versus agency spending in 2020
The trend of bringing more marketing work in-house continues. Nearly half (47.6 percent) of all marketers plan to bring more work inside their firms. Of those firms that do outsource to marketing agencies, nearly a third (29.8 percent) plan on consolidating work to a single agency.
Obstacles to investments in financial marketing in 2020
The marketing day is long and the work great, and marketers still feel very challenged to execute on their mandates. They want more money to do what they do and feel stymied by limited budgets (59 percent). The increasingly competitive landscape is also hampering their work (43.4 percent). 16.9 percent of marketers believe the economic landscape will prove to be an obstacle in 2020.
What do customers value most in relationship with your brand?
The survey asked marketers what attributes they believe resonate with their customers. Experience and trust rank highest (over 60 percent).
Which of the following digital marketing issues will negatively impact your campaigns the most
In spite of all the advances in data and reporting, financial marketers (82.5 percent) complain that they don't get a full view of their campaigns, preventing them from judging the success of their marketing spend.
Biggest marketing challenges in 2020
Financial marketers want agencies to be more proactive in 2020
One of the challenges financial marketers cite is that they (31.7 percent) want their digital agencies to be more proactive in getting campaigns up, running, and optimized. Only a few marketers (11.4%) feel their agencies are keeping up.