So you’ve got a client in finance. Maybe you’re working with a bank, a mortgage broker, a new fintech startup, or even a publication that writes about personal finance.
No matter what type of financial product, service or information your client is offering, their audience is likely willing to meet them on the open web.
You know that native advertising is a good solution for this, but native for the finance industry works differently than it might for other types of businesses.
Our latest report, “Global Trends in Native Advertising for Finance 2018,” explores the full native advertising landscape for finance marketers—the market opportunity for finance content in 12 countries, tools to help build the best performing campaigns, and behavioral insights you can use to meet open web surfers when and where they want to be met.
We’re diving into ten insights to help you run a campaign for your finance clients that will outperform their expectations.
1. Global campaigns should consider Germany, Israel and the US.
Consumers on the open web interact with finance content differently depending on where they are in the world.
We took a look at the supply and demand for finance content in twelve different countries, and found that Germany, Israel and the US had particularly high opportunity in comparison with other markets.
2. Optimize your campaign for mobile devices.
It’s common for some agencies to run campaigns that target all three devices at the start, and let fate take its course. From there, they look at the top performer and assume that’s the best platform for them in the future.
The problem—you’re likely not optimizing your content for the mobile experience if you’re doing this. Optimizing for the mobile experience has big payoffs. Across the world, we’re seeing mobile and tablet devices as top performers for native campaigns.
Download the full report for a full breakdown of market opportunity and device performance by country.
3. Don’t use pictures of animals in your finance marketing campaigns.
When it comes to actually building the creatives for your campaign, images matter. Global trends indicate an increase in engagement when people and animals are pictured in the creative—the finance industry actually sees the opposite.
4. Image trends change by country, check out preferences in your targeted geos.
While some image trends are universal to the finance industry, other preferences tend to change pretty quickly depending on what’s caught the attention of internet users that week. They’ll also differ as you cross geos, so diving into specific country trends is key for success.
5. English speakers trend towards certain topics in finance.
If you’re targeting countries where the English is native, there are a couple of topics that tend to perform better in the finance industry than others.
In the US, home ownership and purchase is huge. Keywords like ‘drivers,’ ‘homeowners,’ ‘own,’ and ‘debt,’ perform well in headlines.
In the UK, discussion of finance policy is trending. Keywords like ‘Brexit,’ ‘policy,’ ‘pension,’ perform well in headlines.
In Australia, insurance is a hot topic. Keywords like ‘claim,’ ‘drivers,’ ‘reward,’ and surprisingly, ‘lotto,’ perform really well in headlines.
Download the full report for a full breakdown of image and keyword trends in nine more countries.
6. For the most part, everyone prefers finance content during the middle of the day.
A combination of insights regarding impressions and clicks truly show how and when consumers want to interact with branded content on the open web,
The first of which—impressions—is important for knowing when you can reach the consumers you’re targeting. Worldwide, finance consumers are the most reachable between 9AM and 5PM.
7. Clicks and engagement range between morning and afternoon.
When you break down when consumers of finance content are actually clicking, the trends change a bit depending on geo. While clicks are generally hot at all times during the day, in some countries, morning and late afternoon, around commuting time, is more effective.
8. People are most interested in finance content during the week.
Turns out, consumers of finance content aren’t really into digging into their finances on the weekends. The best time to reach them is during the work week, but depending on where you are in the world, the specific day could change.
Download the full report for a full breakdown of impressions, clicks and CTR trends in 12 countries.
9. Combine recommendations for an optimal campaign.
While some of these trends are sure to fluctuate from campaign to campaign, you’ll likely see the best results using a combination of these recommendations.
Your perfect device, image, keywords and targeting times will change based on your goals, location and content. Combine these trends to see the best results.
10. Use your own data to see what works for you.
There’s no data that can outperform your own tests. Every audience is different, but starting with these recommendations and learning as you go is the best way to be successful when targeting an audience on the open web.
Download the full report for a full visualization and breakdown of all trends globally, and by country.