Over a lifetime, the financial needs of consumers vary enormously. Whether it’s a young family looking for a mortgage or an older consumer planning for retirement, the financial needs and wants are varied, and therefore the marketing strategies to target these consumers need to vary as well.
When it comes to finding this kind of fit, one powerful strategy that sometimes gets overlooked is partner marketing. Finance brands get great results when they collaborate with the right partners, at the right time, to target customers during different lifecycle stages.
While partner marketing has been around for some time, its great applicability to life stage marketing is under-reported. So to help with that understanding, this blog will be looking at three key lifecycle stages and how the most relevant financial products can be promoted to these consumers.
Note: as a global company we strive to create posts that speak to opportunities in every region. While this post uses examples from the Australian market, the core concepts can be applied virtually anywhere.
1. Students & Graduates
With an average of 27,000 enrolments into Australian universities each year, the student market is sizable and growing. Further, one of the great things about connecting with young people is that it affords the opportunity to drive new customer relationships that may well last a lifetime. During this lifecycle stage, students often have little savings but lots of expenses, such as paying a bond, buying a car, or at the end of the student cycle, buying clothes for their first job. Therefore, the most relevant financial products to match this lifecycle stage are low-limit personal loans, providing students with the ability to cover their costs, while helping them to gain a strong credit rating for later in life.
So how can the partner channel help to promote a personal loan specifically to students? The ideal way is to work with a student-specific partner, with a large database of students. Two examples from Australia include Unidays or Student EDGE. These types of partners have high numbers of student followers, and ultimately are highly trusted. Promoting a personal loan with a specific student rate could result in higher uptake from a brand that students trust, as opposed to a bank self-promoting.
2. Young Professionals
Also known as Early Accumulators, these young professionals are typified by a demographic like 20-30 with no children. They generally have little debt and lots of disposable income. Although it can often feel like this group is all about spending, many are very passionate about the need to save. Therefore, the most relevant financial product for this lifecycle stage could be a savings account.
One interesting option here is what we call “transformational partnerships.” These sorts of business alliances bring together great brands that you might not immediately think of when it comes to the partner channel.
The most important element to consider with this sort of partnership is how you provide value to your customer using the meaning of the partner brand. More importantly, how that partnership enables you to provide more value to the Young Accumulator than all of the other savings accounts out there. An example might be a bank working with a retailer to offer a voucher or coupon when someone opens a savings account.
3. First-Time Families
In Australia, first time families often fall in the 30-40 age bracket, with at least one child, and can sometimes be dependent on fewer than two full-time incomes. This group’s main focus is predominantly income protection — ensuring their finances are in safe hands, particularly with children in the picture. Therefore, the most relevant financial product for this lifecycle stage might be income protection insurance.
Insurance products are a big category in partner marketing. But beyond the broad range of comparison sites you can partner with, how can we utilize different types of partners to drive results? Large, user communities like Cashrewards or Reward Gateway, may not be the first companies you think of for insurance marketing, but they can be incredibly powerful partners for the sector. With large membership databases, and the ability to finely segment, these partners could target those specifically in this bracket through email campaigns or on-site promotion.
Conclusion
When it comes to finance, finding financial products can be confusing and off-putting. There are so many products and banks. For finance marketers, utilizing the partner channel can open up not only new revenue streams, but new consumers as well. By collaborating with partners who are trusted by your target market, your likelihood of converting customers can be much higher, through this more innovative marketing approach.
If you want to learn more about transformational partnerships in the finance space, and the opportunities your brand could be missing, reach out to the Performance Horizon sales and client success teams today.