It’s that festive time of year again — no, not the period of pumpkins, turkeys, and gifts, – the time of spreadsheets, revenue forecasts, and data collection.
That’s right. It’s budgeting season.
Companies around the world are preparing to review their portfolios and secure their capital for the coming year. For finance brands and marketers, these rituals should warm the heart as much as hot cocoa and peppermint sticks. Why? Because they point to a major opportunity to reach engaged audiences with finance-related content.
Brand don’t just launch finance marketing campaigns to spread awareness, either. According to Taboola Trends, the top KPIs for finance content are lead generation, page views, and purchases.
Ready to get in on the action? We analyzed our data to see how you can build a more effective finance marketing campaign this budgeting season.
Here’s what we found.
Launch Finance Marketing Campaigns on Mondays
Marketers have the biggest opportunity to reach audiences with finance content on Mondays, when spend is low but clickthrough rate (CTR) is high.
As the work week kicks off, finance readers are likely looking for helpful articles and videos to inform their strategies. So save those weekend budgets and invest in launching finance content at the beginning of the week.
Embrace the beginning of the year
According to our data from 2017-2019, demand is high for finance content as the year begins. Think about it. Finance professionals are revisiting and revamping those budgets after the holidays. And people across the world are making resolutions to improve their financial situations.
This is the time for finance brands and publishers to shine.
TD Bank, for example, launched its big ‘Unexpectedly Human‘ campaign this past January to promote its convenience and customer care values. The campaign included a humorous video series highlighting the ways TD Bank helps people — and adds a little joy to their lives.
Distribute content in the afternoon
People aren’t just reading finance content on their morning commute or lunch break. Taboola data indicates that marketers have the biggest opportunity to reach audiences from 2:00 – 5:00 PM. This is when people are back at their desks, preparing for meetings, and conducting research.
It’s also worth noting that CTR dips from 6:00 – 10:00 PM, when people are getting out of work and winding down for the day.
Invest in video and photo
It’s easy to convey a wealth of complex financial information in text-based articles and blog posts. But marketers who shy away from visual content miss a big opportunity to reach audiences who are hungry for videos and photos. These content types see the highest CTR, but lowest supply of finance campaign spend.
If you’re stumped on where to begin with visual content, try turning your most popular articles into infographics or videos, making them easier for audiences to consume and share.
Create video with movement and action
Speaking of video, there are best practices advertisers can use to keep viewers engaged. Namely, incorporating movement and action into your finance marketing campaigns. Sure, it is tempting to fill your finance videos with charts, numbers, and footage of people sitting at desks, but our data reveals that sports and activities go a long way in bumping up completion rates.
Thinking it’s impossible to incorporate water and dance into a video about finance? Think again. Health insurance brand, Alan, included both in this creative video ad, ‘Life, dance it with the right partner.’ It follows a newlywed couple on a journey to find a lost wedding ring under water.
Reach audiences on mobile and tablets
Something here doesn’t add up — finance pun intended. Mobile devices drive the highest CTR, but spend is pushed to desktops. Meanwhile, tablet spend is minuscule, even though demand is nearly as high as that of mobile.
To stay ahead of the game this budgeting season, marketers should launch finance campaigns across mobile and tablet devices; let competitors keep fighting for attention on desktops.
Use keywords like ‘revised,’ ‘homes,’ and ‘law’
When crafting titles for your ads, it’s important to use keywords that entice people to click. We found that words such as ‘score,’ ‘drivers,’ and ‘day’ have a positive impact on CTR, while words such as ‘release,’ ‘save,’ and ‘card’ can make CTR plummet due to competition. (Apologies if you’ve been betting a title like this: ‘Save Big and Release Yourself from Debt with This Credit Card.’)
There’s also an opportunity to reach audiences with keywords such as ‘revised,’ ‘homes,’ and ‘law.’ Even emotive keywords such as ‘striking,’ ‘surprising,’ and ‘unlock’ top the list. (Good news if you’ve been working on a title like this: ‘Unlock 7 Striking Tips for Home Insurance.’)
Design images with food
Food is probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of finance marketing campaigns, but it evidently entices marketers to click. According to our data, food in images can increase CTR by 115%.
Look at this thumbnail image that Citibank uses for its blog post on money-saving tactics.
Other best practices for images include close-up shots, which can increase CTR by 22% and images without people, which can increase CTR by 15%.
Cash in on finance marketing campaigns
Winter isn’t just an opportune time to reach holiday shoppers; it’s also the best time to reach finance readers as they prepare for budgeting season and the new year ahead. To cut through the noise, keep audiences engaged, and build more efficient campaigns, use these data-backed strategies and keep checking back with Taboola Trends for real-time insights about finance marketing content.