Quality content is what distinguishes brands from sellers: Moneycontrol COO

The challenges for marketers in the financial industry are analogous to those being encountered in other industries. The industry is changing rapidly, with fads becoming obsolete at a fast pace. The challenge for everyone is to innovate incessantly as customers are becoming indifferent to traditional approaches.

Rubeena Singh, Chief Operating Officer at moneycontrol, sheds light on how to successfully market in the financial industry.

1. Yes, Customer is still the king

We research a lot and most importantly, place our customer at the centre. Yes, selling is important, but then understanding customers’ needs and putting them in the middle is the key.

What I have observed is that other marketers try to sell the content/ offering rather than concentrating on their customers. Quality content, backed by research and customers’ needs, gives you an edge over others.

It is simple – quality content is what distinguishes brands from sellers.

2. You can keep shouting, but engaging them is the key

It is very essential that your content engages audiences. The purpose of content is to build relationships and is much beyond CPAs.

If end result is just about CPAs, then content is the root. But if it is to establish a brand, then content engaging customer is a crucial factor.

3. Think-out-of-the-box. Not just catchphrase. Implement it

The main challenge for moneycontrol is that our core target audiences are 25-35 years old. How to become more relevant to the youth in their 20’s was a test for us. So, the point here is barriers in reaching out to them as they are someone who are not fascinated by financial topics.

So, we created an application and launched a music video to reach out to this age group. Also if you see, we tried to communicate in their language. This was a big risk for a brand in the financial industry. We also effectively use Facebook and Twitter to reach out to new audiences.

So you have to continuously look for newer and innovative ways to reach out to new and even existing audiences.

4. Never overlook ‘Personalisation’

Customers are bombarded with information. Marketers need to be careful and be aware of the needs and requirements of their customers.What I have seen is there is an overdose of content on digital platforms.

So at moneycontrol, we have a message board. How it works is that customers send in their queries about which stocks they are interested in and which experts they want to consult with. Our in-house team takes cues from those suggestions and does a story revolving those suggestions.

Also, your content should be in sync with the platforms through which you are delivering the message. So, our content for social media platform is quite disparate to the information in mobile application.

Just because marketers have an offering, they cannot offer it to all their customers. Customers do not respond to one-size-fits-all strategies. Users expect personalisation.

Personalisation is not a choice, it is a necessity.

The way ahead

As far as digital measurement is concerned, there is need to be more robust.

I hope the system becomes more robust. Right now the focus is more on CPAs and CTRs. There are other brand metrics which also need to be measured. YouTube has already taken one step towards that.

Content consumption: People are getting choosier and clearer about their needs and requirements. Native advertising will also change as users get smarter.

About the author:

Rubeena Singh, Chief Operating Officer, moneycontrol

Rubeena Singh is the Chief Operating Officer of moneycontrol. With over 14 years of rich experience in Business & Product Development, Relationship management and Advertising sales, she has been part of brands like Network18, Forbes India, CNBC-TV18, CNBC Awaaz, IBN Network and STAR Group

Rubeena has done her Master in Statistics from Mumbai University.