Modern Marketing
SoFi, Elevate and other PFMs are using the holidays to teach budgeting
- Personal finance platforms are using the holiday season as a way to stimulate a consumer conversation about money.
- Timing marketing campaigns for the holidays is a way finance companies can draw attention to customers' money challenges and "nudge" them to consider new products.

This week, newspaper readers in major U.S. cities may stumble upon an unusual Black Friday circular -- one that includes the prices of goods with added credit card interest. It's a way financial services company SoFi is trying to reach consumers who are at risk of falling into debt traps.
SoFi is part of a growing number of finance companies using the holidays to get customers to think about how much they're spending as a way to engage existing customers and possibly gain new ones.
"People really don’t know how much things cost, and they end up in credit card debt -- our goal is to help people get out of debt and realize their ambitions," said Joanne Bradford, SoFi's chief marketing officer. SoFi is running a circular in six major newspapers across the country, a list that includes The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.
The objective of the marketing effort, which is SoFi's first newspaper ad campaign, is to get customers to think twice about how much consumer goods actually cost and consider consolidating their debt through a SoFi loan. As for choice of medium, the company said it's a way to meet customers where they are. The reference to SoFi and its website are in small print -- so rather than an overt product push, it's a nudge to get a consumer to think about getting a handle on their personal finances.
SoFi ad