We are saturated daily with information from all kinds of different sources. Whether we see, hear, read, open, or click, consumers face an overload of information and demands. Cutting through the noise is a huge challenge for organizations just to present their message to consumers. There’s no shortage of ways to communicate, but being strategic in how and when communication occurs can have enormous impact on effectively sending a clear message and prompting consumer action.
Consumers are seeking communication routes that are fast, personalized, and convenient. When it comes to communication strategy, the rapid adoption of mobile channels has had significant impact in shaping new service workflows and processes for financial institutions.
A strong and robust communication strategy is critical as part of the customer experience, and an important component to financial institutions’ workflows in order to connect to consumers at the right time and with the right message. Implementing a strong digital communication strategy can help increase the success rate for consumer action.
Some examples of digital communication tactics include:
- Real-time alerts for account activity
- Bill and loan payment reminders
- Branch updates
- Marketing offers
- Online application with e-signature capability
- Operation automations
A strategic digital communication strategy can have a large impact on both the experience of the consumer, and for financial institutions, can help with operation efficiencies and deflect call volumes with more self-service options in place.
Read Related Article: The Future is (Already) Here: What FIs Need to Know About Artificial Intelligence
4 Ways to Have a Digital Impact on Consumers
- Think mobile: Mobile usage and adoption continues to increase with texting becoming a very powerful communication tool for businesses and increasingly popular channel of choice for consumers. Texting as a communication tool has consistently high open rates with similarly high engagement rates. According to LiveVox, the average time to view and respond to a text message is 90 seconds, with the overall response rate 5x more effective than an email notification.
In leveraging texting tools, financial institutions have an opportunity to strategically target their messages. Texting is increasingly being utilized for account notifications and prompting certain actions that need to be taken. Some examples include, insurance verification, upcoming due dates, or appointment confirmations. - Invest in personalization: There’s a lot of information overload and noise, especially in inboxes. However, personalization enhancements can go a long way to help increase user engagement and set clear next steps. As digital tools emerge and more consumers leverage online resources for services and purchases, the expectation for personalization is growing.
Consumers are used to targeted advertising, personalized messaging, and sharing their private data with third parties as an access requirement. Implementing video, chat functionality, or online self-service tools can all help meet individual consumer needs. With personalization, financial institutions can address individual account needs, share reminders on upcoming due dates, or can market specific products based on personalized consumer needs.
Read Related Resource: Digital Transformation Checklist for FIs - Embrace the rise of artificial intelligence tools: Artificial intelligence is making inroads within the financial services industry as the adoption of chatbots, call center service enhancements, and data management allows for reallocation of resources. AI tools help gather, sift, and direct this data to help identify consumers’ needs and wants, and then communicate appropriate information. For financial institutions, this could mean specific information related to current loans, future business opportunities, and tracking ongoing behaviors.
- Optimize web experiences: By meeting consumers on their device of choice, providing helpful and real-time content in a digestible format, and using data to personalize communications, financial institutions can continue to stay in front of their consumers with the right communication at the right time. Optimizing the online, web experience is a great way to encourage self-service action that is available with 24/7 access. Video is an increasingly powerful tool that can share complex information in digestible pieces that can help lead to increased traffic and provide help customer service resources. Software integrations are another way financial institutions can help connect different service channels and link data help make tools easy to use.
A proactive digital plan allows financial institutions to communicate with borrowers through multiple channels ahead of time with messages that remind them of payments, share information to answer questions, or facilitate necessary action. Digital innovation will never stop, so it’s important financial institutions strategically think which digital tools can have the highest impact. Consumer expectations are always changing, but investing in digital spaces is a proactive way to foster a positive consumer experience.
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