High Demand For Financial Services Marketing Professionals To Make A Big Impact On Millennials
Marketing to millennials was a big ticket item at the Financial Services Council’s 2017 Leaders’ Summit held early August in Sydney. The discussion on millennials closely correlates with our work in the recruitment market. We are increasingly having conversations and receiving requests to find marketing professionals who know how to make a big impact upon this highly valuable group.
The days of marketing roles that solely focus on regulatory communications, fund updates and annual member statements are all but over. The leading Summit panel discussed millennials and the future, and asked the question what are young people investing in? Panellists noted that this demographic is now the largest on the planet, and consequently their representation as consumers, investors and policy makers will only increase. They have better access to information than any previous generation, and are the most educated.
A strategy we are seeing from some in the industry is hiring marketing professionals from outside the financial services industry – to avoid lapsing into jargon when engaging customers and to stand out when communicating with millennials on social media. Financial service providers are moving to communicate with (not speak to) millennials in language they understand, via channels they use and are comfortable with. The core aim is to remove complexity and confusion, and lift engagement.
For millennials, experience is paramount. They are digital first. For example, the idea of printing, signing, and posting a form to a provider as counter-intuitive and archaic (me too, now that I come to think about it). Their trust in a provider is often personal and experiential, not based around a brand (or just as likely the brand may be Instagram, or Snapchat), and developed by reaching out to networks to help navigate complex rules and jargon. This concept is ’peer to peer trust’.
This is driving demand for marketing professionals with the ability to manage, design and implement a range of concurrent on-line, off-line, and cross-channel communication strategies. The focus is firmly on engaging the customer – through direct plain language, personalised information, and via their channel of choice.
Fundamental communications are essential, and many existing customers are traditional, not millennial. To respond to this, communications will increasingly be delivered via broader multi-channel, multi demographic strategies. Candidates comfortable and capable of operating in this environment will be most in demand.
If you are looking to hire a star financial services marketing professional or you are a fianancial services marketing professional we should be talking!
Kaizen Recruitment specialises financial services recruitment across funds management, wealth management, superannuation, investment consulting and insurance. We are based in Melbourne and Sydney. For assistance or further information please telephone our office at +61 3 9095 7157 or submit an online form.
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