As you might expect, financial services companies currently do not rank well among trusted industries, with reputations on par with those of the tobacco industry. However, within the current landscape comes an opportunity to use digital marketing and social media to engage consumers and foster the rebuilding and growth of brands, according to Lawrence Flanagan, CMO of MasterCard Worldwide.
He noted three elements that are currently revolutionizing consumers' lives and reshaping the economic landscape:
- The global economic collapse over the past 18 months
- The resulting intensified desire for security and control among consumers
- The digital and social revolution
The convergence of these three elements has fundamentally transformed consumer power, as well as the relationship consumers hold with the companies that serve them, Flanagan said in a keynote presentation at the iMedia Financial Marketing Summit in New York. "The transformation has presented us with the greatest communications challenge and opportunity in a generation," he said.
Among the opportunities is the chance to listen and communicate with customers in authentic ways. "You have to engage with consumers honestly and sincerely because consumers can smell a commercial pitch or a company minimizing an issue," Flanagan remarked in an interview with iMedia. "Acknowledging consumers' problems and responding honestly, even if it there isn't a remedy for the problem, can go a long way to rebuild trust," he said.
Global consumer behavior has changed in the current economic environment, and people are looking for tools to help control their finances, such as advanced budgeting and security mobile application tools. Other changes include a shift toward frugality, with consumers choosing to spend less on discretionary items and more on purchases they perceive to have greater value. Flanagan believes that this trend is likely to outlast the economic recession.
A more challenging change is that social media has shifted the balance of power to consumers, and some people are using that power to express frustrations. "Consumers are speaking to us in a new way and offering us a chance to rebuild trust," Mr. Flanagan said. While some customers are angry, underlying this anger is a demand for control over their lives and economic security. He suggested that companies' social media programs should allow marketers to listen to consumers and give customers tools to make their lives better. Most importantly, customers should be given space to voice their opinions. "You can step in to help, but don't get in the way. If you handle it right, it is not really your company's social media program, it belongs to your customers," Flanagan said.
Just how do financial services companies let consumers own these social media sites? "Provide a framework that is going to have enough flexibility to allow consumers to own it but that still has guard rails," Flanagan told iMedia. He used Mastercard's Priceless Picks mobile application as an example of a successful social media program. This application uses GPS technology and allows users to post and view user-recommended priceless experiences, shops, and restaurants. The content on the site is exclusively consumer generated. "Will people try to put some misinformation or inappropriate content [on the site]? Yes, that is always going to happen, but you have to be diligent, put filters on the site, and watch it to make sure it is not going to create any brand damage," he said. "Mastercard's role is to facilitate the conversation."
Marketers can use the advances in digital technology to understand what their brand means to customers. While marketers may have traditionally thought, "Here is what I want my brand to stand for," listening to customers engage on social media allows them to understand the truth about a brand's reputation, Flanagan noted.
"At Mastercard we are learning that our role is to listen and engage with our consumers and give them what they truly need to make their lives better." Remembering who owns the conversation, he advised, will go a long way to earn and build the trust of consumers on an every day basis.
Kristin Della Volpe is a freelance writer who covers diverse industries including healthcare, business, and science.
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