Programmatic Advertising in Financial Services Marketing

20 June 2023

By: James Gray, Head of Experience Marketing

Category: Sitecore

In today’s digital age, programmatic advertising has emerged as a powerful tool for marketers to reach their target audience effectively. According to recent industry reports, programmatic advertising spending in the financial services sector is projected to reach new heights, highlighting its increasing importance. By utilising advanced algorithms and real-time data, programmatic advertising enables digital marketers to deliver tailored messages to potential clients at the precise moment when they are actively seeking information about financial services or products.

This blog post will delve into the key insights from a recent webinar on ”Harnessing Programmatic to Drive Profitability for Financial Brands by Sagittarius’ programmatic partner, StackAdapt, a programmatic advertising platform that enables real-time and data-driven audience targeting. We will explore how financial service marketers can leverage programmatic advertising to connect with potential clients during their research process.

What is Programmatic Digital Advertising?

Programmatic advertising has revolutionised the way digital ad space is bought and sold. It eliminates manual negotiations and leverages automated systems and algorithms to streamline the process. With programmatic advertising, marketers can efficiently reach their target audience with relevant messages at the right time, maximising the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Marketers utilise vast amounts of data to gain insights into their target audience’s demographics, behaviours, and preferences. This data-driven approach allows for precise audience targeting, ensuring that ads are delivered to the most relevant individuals likely to be interested in the financial services being promoted.

The automated nature of programmatic advertising offers significant benefits to marketers. It allows for real-time optimising of campaigns based on performance indicators such as click-through rates, conversions, and other vital metrics. Marketers can quickly adjust their targeting parameters, creative elements, and messaging to maximise the impact of their ads. This dynamic optimisation ensures that campaigns are continuously refined to deliver the best results and improve return on investment.

Furthermore, programmatic advertising is crucial in building brand awareness and trust. According to Statista’s 2023 research, 81% of consumers reported that a positive online experience, which includes interactions with multiple digital touchpoints, made them think more highly of the brand. This statistic highlights the power of programmatic advertising in reaching the right audience and cultivating trust and credibility. Financial services marketers can leverage this insight to strategically shape their creative elements. They can lead with social proof reviews or develop a strapline focused on trust and security, creating a strong foundation for engaging potential clients and establishing their brand as trustworthy.

81% of consumers say that a positive online experience makes people think more highly of a brand.

 

Video source: https://pages.launch.stackadapt.com/emea-financial-webinar

What Critical Insights should Financial Services Marketers be focussing on?

Leveraging Data Intelligence:

Programmatic advertising empowers financial services marketers to access vast data and insights. This data allows marketers to understand better their target audience’s preferences, behaviours, and intent. For example, they can analyse demographic information, browsing behaviour, and previous interactions to create comprehensive customer personas. This knowledge allows them to craft highly targeted campaigns and deliver personalised messages that resonate with potential clients.

Dynamic Creative Optimisation (DCO):

DCO is a crucial aspect of programmatic advertising that enables marketers to adjust ad creatives based on real-time data dynamically. Financial services marketers can utilise DCO to present potential clients with tailored ad experiences that align with their needs and interests. By testing different variations of creatives and optimising based on performance insights, marketers can ensure that the right message is delivered to the right person at the right moment, enhancing the chances of conversion.

Contextual Targeting:

Programmatic advertising allows financial services marketers to reach potential clients in the context of their research process. By leveraging contextual targeting, marketers can identify and target individuals actively seeking information related to financial services or products. For instance, they can serve ads on websites or within content that aligns with specific keywords or topics related to finance. This approach ensures that marketers can engage with potential clients when they are most receptive to their messages, increasing the likelihood of driving conversions.

Brand Safety and Fraud Prevention:

Programmatic advertising platforms employ advanced technology and algorithms to ensure brand safety and prevent ad fraud. Marketers in the financial services industry can benefit from these features by maintaining the integrity of their brand and protecting their investments. With programmatic advertising, they can have confidence that their ads are being served on reputable platforms to genuine users. This helps maintain a positive brand image and safeguards their ad spending from fraudulent activities that negatively impact campaign performance.

Measurement and Optimisation:

Programmatic advertising provides robust measurement and optimisation capabilities. Marketers can track the performance of their campaigns in real time, gaining valuable insights into key metrics such as impressions, click-through rates, and conversions. With this data, financial services marketers can make data-driven decisions, optimise their campaigns, and allocate their ad spending more effectively. They can identify which channels, creatives, or audience segments deliver the best results and adjust their strategies accordingly, ultimately improving their return on investment (ROI).

Conclusion:

Programmatic advertising offers tremendous opportunities for financial service marketers to connect effectively with potential clients during their research process at scale. By leveraging data intelligence, dynamic creative optimisation, contextual targeting, brand safety measures, and measurement capabilities, financial services marketers can deliver highly targeted and personalised messages to their audience at the right moment. Embracing programmatic advertising can enable digital marketers to maximise their impact, improve ROI, and drive meaningful business outcomes.

To further explore the future of finance and gain valuable insights on challenges faced by the financial sector, we invite you to download our latest whitepaper, “Increasing Innovation, Agility, and Customer-Centricity: Insights for Financial Services Brands in the UK, DACH, and GCC.

This comprehensive whitepaper delves into critical trends shaping the financial services industry in the UK, GCC, and DACH regions. Discover composable banking, upcoming marketing changes, digital transformation, and measuring customer satisfaction. By downloading this whitepaper, you can gain the knowledge and insights needed to boost innovation, agility, and customer-centricity in the financial services industry.

Download our whitepaper now to stay ahead of the curve and navigate the ever-changing landscape of the financial services industry. Click here to access the whitepaper and unlock the potential for growth and success in your organisation.

The future of finance is evolving rapidly, and programmatic advertising is a crucial tool to help financial services marketers thrive in this dynamic environment.

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