Decoding consumer connect for financial bodies in a digital world

Second edition of LinkedIn Finance Connect threw light on how leading brands and financial institutions are harnessing the power of social and digital engagement in a changing global economy

Aanchal Kohli | Mumbai | May 29, 2015

In a growing climate of market disruption, financial institutions must find innovative ways to reach new audiences to build and nurture prospects. As social media elevates the importance of relationships, many firms recognise the value of leveraging technology and tapping into the power of networks to achieve that goal.

To discuss how leading brands and financial institutions are harnessing the power of social and digital engagement in a changing global economy and how they can drive their business forward, LinkedIn conducted the second edition of its LinkedIn Finance Connect 2015 in Mumbai on May 28, 2018.

Delivering the welcome address, Ashutosh Gupta, Director, Marketing Solutions, India, LinkedIn, shared key insights on the current situation of brands in the financial sector and how LinkedIn has been evangelising data to provide solutions to its clients.

Gupta said, “We are passionate about data at LinkedIn. Today, with digital creating different and innovative avenues for brands, the top skills in the market are digital marketing, marketing, brand management, team management and CRM. At LinkedIn, we believe in building and nurturing relationships that brands seek to have with their consumers. Another thing that is emerging in the industry is the changing buying behaviour.”

Quoting Bob Dylan, Jennifer Grazel, Global Marketing Director, Financial Services Vertical, LinkedIn, said, “'The times they are a-changin'. This statement stands true with the current state of our industry. The consumers are changing and evolving at a rapid pace. Disruption is equal to innovation and financial service clients are facing huge forms of disruption. Another point that plays an important role is the fact that today consumers expect brands to know them.” She stressed that it was important to start thinking and adopting different approaches as and when required.

Marketing in a social world

Highlighting the marketing trends in the social world, Olivier Legrand, Head of Marketing Solutions, Asia Pacific & Japan, LinkedIn, said, “When I think about marketing in today's world, it emerges as the new normal activity where brand awareness, content knowledge and building trustful connection play a vital role. We at LinkedIn really abide by one quote and saying by our CEO, Jeff Weiner, which is 'all the professionally relevant knowledge resides in the minds of our consumers'.”

According to him, the reason behind LinkedIn becoming one of the largest professional connecting platforms is the way they influence content that is shared by their consumers. “Since January, we have seen one million posts and interestingly people in India from the financial service segment post 10,000 posts every day,” he informed.

He further said, “We believe in disseminating valuable content that helps building engagement and connections. LinkedIn products are designed with an aim to impact every stage of the conversation between the brands and their target audiences.” Legrand also mentioned that as marketers, one needed to be relevant both on and off desktop. Also, it is important to be relevant to known and anonymous audiences wherever they travel online. He also urged the marketers to understand that measuring the relevant conversation is also important.

Selling in a social world

Krishna Zulkarnain, Head of Marketing, Sales Solutions, APAC, LinkedIn, said, “LinkedIn's sales solutions mission is to connect the world's buyers and sellers to build relationships. Today, 75 per cent of the buyers use social media to make purchasing decisions. Social selling is defined by four verticals – firstly, create professional brands; secondly, find the right people; thirdly, engage with insights; and fourthly, build strong relationships.”

Stating the challenges that the BFSI sector is facing today, he said, “Finding enough people to talk to and finding the right people to talk is one of the biggest challenges that clients are facing. The second big challenge is to develop trust.”

Trends and best practices in the financial sector

A roundtable featuring some of the country's leading chief marketing officers also formed part of the evening's proceedings.

Speaking at the roundtable, Sagnik Ghosh, Head - Marketing, Axis Bank, remarked, “Today, consumers are taking majority of the decisions online and the way the payment gateways are evolving is something that I see as the biggest disruption. With this disruption, the entire media mix of a brand changes as digital plays a vital role.”

Balaji Viswanath, Director - Digital Marketing, American Express Banking Corporation, felt that the biggest trend was the adaptation of mobile. India is completely on mobile today. It is important for a marketer to target mobile in today's world. According to him, the challenge is to grab the attention span of the consumers, which is very short on every medium. “For us, the best practice is to target mobile as the entire approach of consumers is changing and evolving day by day and likewise the brands, too, believe in the mobile first approach,” he added.

Manish Jain, Group Marketing Head, Bajaj Finserv, opined, “Today, it is important to understand the intention and interest of the consumers. Earlier, the customers used to search online and the fulfilment used to happen offline, but today the consumers have developed that trust and everything has started happening online. Consumers have started buying BFSI products too online.”

Social networks drive personal financial strategies

Being the first generation to have grown up in a digital world, the millennials are technologically savvy and socially driven. Study reveals that 86 per cent of the affluent millennials use social media for obtaining financial information. This choice of sourcing information further impacts their personal financial strategies and their methods of interacting with financial services brands. Interestingly, 71 per cent of the affluent millennials surveyed said that they are willing to try financial services offered by non-financial service brands. Hence, in order for brands to attract millennials, they need to be present where this audience spends most of its time. In this case, visibility on social networks is the key to engagement.

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