Whether you’re targeting advisors, investors, businesses, or personal banking clients, financial tools are a great way of providing interactivity and generating engagement to help your users better understand what you have to offer. Don’t just tell customers to save for retirement with an RRSP, show them what monthly contributions could get them by the time they reach retirement age. Instead of simply providing mortgage product information, create a tool that compares options using real numbers to help your customers find the best fit for them. Showing your customers a glimpse of the real-life benefits they could gain makes them much more likely to follow through with seeking additional product information and becoming a new client.
So, what exactly makes a great tool?
Personalization
Personalization has been proven to leave a strong impression on users, especially in highly data-driven tools. Take advantage of opportunities to include things like names, customizable savings goals and targeted recommendations, and consider including user-tailored results with graphs and live data. This is the type of personalization that tells a story – your user’s story – and allows them to see that their goals are in fact within their reach.
Here at Rich Media, we have worked extensively with financial institutions for over 20 years, so we know exactly what kinds of products you offer and how to market them effectively. Whether it’s a mortgage calculator, a credit card selector, or an investment portfolio builder, we know how to take data-driven content and turn it into something fun, informative, and tangible that helps your customers with their unique financial goals.
Branding And Usability
Visuals and ease-of-use play a key role in successful financial tools. Using your branding as a base for your tools’ design creates visual appeal and ensures that users associate their experience with your institution. But branding goes beyond aesthetics: your brand message and values should also be communicated through the tools you build. In short, make sure to always incorporate language, images and icons that align with your brand in every tool you build.
Something else to keep in mind is that your tools’ designs should enhance their usability and make them more intuitive to use. Get creative with inputs by adding sliders, drop downs, and checkboxes instead of regular text fields. This also provides opportunities for micro-interactions, which make your tool more dynamic and elevate users’ experience.
As one of the leading digital marketing agencies for North America’s major financial institutions, Rich Media likely already knows your brand inside and out and can optimize its use in digital tools.
Accessibility And Adaptability
Adaptability and accessibility may not be the first thing most users notice, but they have a large impact on who your tools can reach. Staying on top of technological advances – think devices, browsers and accessibility requirements – ensures that your tools retain their functionality over a number of years and can reach the widest possible customer base.
Site Integration
The tools we create at Rich Media seamlessly integrate into any content management system. For instance, a growing number of our clients are using Adobe Experience Manager (AEM), which has seen a surge in popularity as a result of platform updates and upgraded content management capabilities. We’re able to adapt and integrate your tools into AEM for easier testing, monitoring, and maintenance.
There are other important factors to keep in mind when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of your tools. Are you incorporating search engine optimization (SEO) strategies to better reach customers searching for financial resources? Are you exercising caution when it comes to the security of your customers and your institution? And is your tool performing and accomplishing what it was created for? These behind-the-scenes details, although maybe not as exciting as the front-end function of your tools, are major players in their overall success. Working with a company that not only understands the importance of these elements, but also has expertise in using and applying them, is an asset when it comes to meeting your digital goals.
Next Steps
Remember, your tools are only your customers’ first stop when establishing their financial needs and goals, and you’ll need to guide their next steps by including a call to action along with information on how to contact an advisor to encourage follow-through. You should also include a PDF download option so that your customers have access to a report of their results, which they can refer to at a later time or share with an advisor for additional guidance. At Rich Media, we have the in-house code capabilities to create accessible PDFs to ensure that your PDF reports meet the same standards as the rest of your tools.
You should also consider creating advisor versions of your client-facing tools so that your customers' discussions with advisors are more engaging and interactive. These versions should have the same basic features as the client-facing tools, but include additional ones that allow your advisors to offer further insights and explanations.
No matter the type of tools you wish to build, you should always strive to provide your audience with an appealing experience that makes financial planning more comprehensive and exciting. At Rich Media, we specialize in building memorable and engaging interactive tools and calculators for virtually every kind of financial product. We know your audience. Let us help you tell your story. And don’t worry, we’ll make it easy!
