Financial marketers are increasingly under scrutiny for every penny spent. With a growing list of expectations, how are they adapting to the demand?
I know I’m preaching to a faithful congregation when I say marketers are capable of transforming a brand’s position in any sector.
The capabilities of marketing teams are becoming increasingly recognised within organisations, but as this recognition grows, so does the demand.
Today, marketers are often expected to be social media specialists – masters of TikTok, LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and Facebook – and somehow have the ability to break search engine algorithms, which are notoriously unpredictable.
These teams are also expected to have a firm grip on the ever-growing pile of data, and the ability to scrutinise, analyse, and respond to endless technical questions from the board, to which they are rarely invited to join.
In smaller organisations, there are no branding experts or sponsorship leads. Instead, marketers need to learn new areas of expertise, such as sports, tech, or anything else that might attract and retain customers and conjure up ideas for the refreshed logo with great audience appeal.
Elsewhere, content strategists, event planners, internal culture leads, and customer experience officers-are increasingly becoming responsible for overall satisfaction across the whole customer journey.
A marketer recently told me they were asked to evaluate whether the reception area should be repainted before a large client event.
Let’s add interior designers into that mix, too.
Marketers working in finance arguably have an even harder task: deciphering financial jargon, keeping in touch with external socio-economic influences, and working in a rapidly evolving and often unstable industry.
Having the correct training to keep up with the ever-evolving list of expectations is crucial, but it’s also increasingly rare, especially as financial marketers’ budgets are shrinking.
A report by social media software tool BrandWatch says marketing teams may face a skills gap if they continue to be trained in traditional marketing tools while trying to adapt to the modern world.
The report found a severe lack of skills in mobile marketing, for example, with only 10.3% of organisations believing it to be an important part of their marketing strategy.
We live in a hyperconnected world where mobile phones travel with us wherever we go: phones sleep under our pillows, accompany us into every room, and desperately try to connect to the Wi-Fi between each Tube station so we can refresh our social media feeds.
“Considering two thirds of global search traffic is done on mobile devices, not having mobile marketing skills and tools can set a brand back,” says the BrandWatch report.
But not every brand can afford to train and upskill its marketing department at the same rate technology is advancing and regulations are coming into force.
The rise of artificial intelligence is a particular skills gap among marketers – still in its infancy, the technology is rapidly expanding and little understood.
A lack of bandwidth is also restricting marketers from diversifying and advancing their skills, with the report suggesting 30% of these professionals citing a lack of time as their biggest challenge.
While marketers are being pulled in all directions to be present at key touch points across the customer journey, finding time to train teams is pushed to the bottom of the list.
As the world around us advances, marketers – especially among smaller teams – are bootstrapping their expertise to deliver more than ever.
The answer? Outsourcing, budget increases, and for organisations to put as much into marketing as they do into other departments.
Easier to say than do, I know. But, in 2024, it’s time to give marketers the space to train their teams on the newest channels, regulations, trends, policies, and technologies.
Expectations will continue to rise – let’s get equipped to meet them.
This article is taken from the Winter 2024 print edition of Financial Promoter. Click here to subscribe.