Tag: marketing

Customer acquisition strategies are constantly evolving toward more precise targeting. From a marketing lens, you can track every step, optimize communication channels and still miss the person most likely to convert. Attribution can tell us which channels work and automation can make marketing spend more efficient. But both assume we know who is actually on the other end. Financial institutions are learning that finding audiences and targeting them is no longer the biggest challenge. As acquisition optimization marketing becomes more sophisticated, teams can measure and act on more signals than before. What they can't always know is whether the person on the receiving end is real. Customer acquisition has evolved into an identity problem. The challenge is not that every questionable signal represents malicious activity. It's that acquisition systems must make increasingly intelligent decisions with an imperfect understanding of who they're actually engaging. When identities are fragmented, duplicated, temporary or synthetic, optimization becomes a question of trust as much as targeting. When your signals don't reliably identify customers The customer journey often includes searching, filling out a form, creating an account, requesting a quote and subscribing. All of these signals work well when identity is relatively stable.  However, financial institutions are finding that these signals are becoming less reliable. A single person can operate across multiple personas, devices, browsers, aliases, accounts and intermediaries while several apparent “people” may actually represent one underlying actor. Financial instituions are finding: Fragmented customer signals Difficulty distinguishing an old account from a new one Different digital pathways associated with the same individual Signals that are generated by automation Real customers getting flagged because signals are too thin to evaluate confidently Legacy signals continue to be challenged Marketing has historically treated intent as a valuable signal because intent was relatively difficult to produce. A search required human intent. A form required someone to fill it out. An inquiry implied a meaningful amount of human effort. Financial institutions are already combating AI-enabled fraud, and now marketing teams are starting to face it on a massive scale. AI can mimic human behavior by researching products, comparing prices, filling out forms, creating accounts and signing up for services. A valid email address is no longer enough. Marketers need to know: How long has it existed? How recently has it been active? Does its activity appear consistent or suddenly anomalous? Has it gone dormant and returned? Is it associated with patterns that suggest stability or unusual behavior? How to build on your strongest signal Email remains one of the most persistent identifiers in digital commerce, following people across devices, platforms, transactions, subscriptions, accounts and years of activity. For over two decades, this has shaped how AtData thinks about identity. Now, as part of Experian, it’s shaping how an entire platform and team approach identity. A marketer doesn’t need every prospect to have existed online for twenty years. But understanding whether a newly acquired prospect has meaningful identity context can dramatically improve the quality of the decision being made around it. Better identity intelligence can help organizations reduce unnecessary friction by improving their ability to recognize legitimate customers. With a strong identity foundation, marketing teams can better address: Which audiences are more likely to convert? Which leads are high quality? Which channels are driving incremental growth? What do the best prospects look like? The value isn't simply having an email address. It's understanding the history and behavioral context associated with it. That context can provide a stronger digital identity signal, helping marketers understand how long they have been active, whether its behavior is consistent with that of a real person and whether current activity aligns with past patterns. It continues to be one of the most persistent identifiers in digital commerce. An infrastructure built for what's coming The acquisition of AtData by Experian reflects a fundamental shift in how identity infrastructure needs to work. Experian's scale and decisioning capabilities, combined with AtData's real-time email intelligence, create a strong platform. Read more about the why behind the acquisition and see how email works as an identity anchor for fraud prevention. Contact us to learn about our customer acquisition solutions

We are squarely in the holiday shopping season. From the flurry of promotional emails to the endless shopping lists, there are many to-dos and even more opportunities for financial institutions at this time of year. The holiday shopping season is not just a peak period for consumer spending; it’s also a critical time for financial institutions to strategize, innovate, and drive value. According to the National Retail Federation, U.S. holiday retail sales are projected to approach $1 trillion in 2024, , and with an ever-evolving consumer behavior landscape, financial institutions need actionable strategies to stand out, secure loyalty, and drive growth during this period of heightened spending. Download our playbook: "How to prepare for the Holiday Shopping Season" Here’s how financial institutions can capitalize on the holiday shopping season, including key insights, actionable strategies, and data-backed trends. 1. Understand the holiday shopping landscape Key stats to consider: U.S. consumers spent $210 billion online during the 2022 holiday season, according to Adobe Analytics, marking a 3.5% increase from 2021. Experian data reveals that 31% of all holiday purchases in 2022 occurred in October, highlighting the extended shopping season. Cyber Week accounted for just 8% of total holiday spending, according to Experian’s Holiday Spending Trends and Insights Report, emphasizing the importance of a broad, season-long strategy. What this means for financial institutions: Timing is crucial. Your campaigns are already underway if you get an early start, and it’s critical to sustain them through December. Focus beyond Cyber Week. Develop long-term engagement strategies to capture spending throughout the season. 2. Leverage Gen Z’s growing spending power With an estimated $360 billion in disposable income, according to Bloomberg, Gen Z is a powerful force in the holiday market​. This generation values personalized, seamless experiences and is highly active online. Strategies to capture Gen Z: Offer digital-first solutions that enhance the holiday shopping journey, such as interactive portals or AI-powered customer support. Provide loyalty incentives tailored to this demographic, like cash-back rewards or exclusive access to services. Learn more about Gen Z in our State of Gen Z Report. To learn more about all generations' projected consumer spending, read new insights from Experian here, including 45% of Gen X and 52% of Boomers expect their spending to remain consistent with last year. 3. Optimize pre-holiday strategies Portfolio Review: Assess consumer behavior trends and adjust risk models to align with changing economic conditions. Identify opportunities to engage dormant accounts or offer tailored credit lines to existing customers. Actionable tactics: Expand offerings. Position your products and services with promotional campaigns targeting high-value segments. Personalize experiences. Use advanced analytics to segment clients and craft offers that resonate with their holiday needs or anticipate their possible post-holiday needs. 4. Ensure top-of-mind awareness During the holiday shopping season, competition to be the “top of wallet” is fierce. Experian’s data shows that 58% of high spenders shop evenly across the season, while 31% of average spenders do most of their shopping in December​. Strategies for success: Early engagement: Launch educational campaigns to empower credit education and identity protection during this period of increased transactions. Loyalty programs: Offer incentives, such as discounts or rewards, that encourage repeat engagement during the season. Omnichannel presence: Utilize digital, email, and event marketing to maintain visibility across platforms. 5. Combat fraud with multi-layered strategies The holiday shopping season sees an increase in fraud, with card testing being the number one attack vector in the U.S. according to Experian’s 2024 Identity and Fraud Study. Fraudulent activity such as identity theft and synthetic IDs can also escalate​. Fight tomorrow’s fraud today: Identity verification: Use advanced fraud detection tools, like Experian’s Ascend Fraud Sandbox, to validate accounts in real-time. Monitor dormant accounts: Watch these accounts with caution and assess for potential fraud risk. Strengthen cybersecurity: Implement multi-layered strategies, including behavioral analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), to reduce vulnerabilities. 6. Post-holiday follow-up: retain and manage risk Once the holiday rush is over, the focus shifts to managing potential payment stress and fostering long-term relationships. Post-holiday strategies: Debt monitoring: Keep an eye on debt-to-income and debt-to-limit ratios to identify clients at risk of defaulting. Customer support: Offer tailored assistance programs for clients showing signs of financial stress, preserving goodwill and loyalty. Fraud checks: Watch for first-party fraud and unusual return patterns, which can spike in January. 7. Anticipate consumer trends in the New Year The aftermath of the holidays often reveals deeper insights into consumer health: Rising credit balances: January often sees an uptick in outstanding balances, highlighting the need for proactive credit management. Shifts in spending behavior: According to McKinsey, consumers are increasingly cautious post-holiday, favoring savings and value-based spending. What this means for financial institutions: Align with clients’ needs for financial flexibility. The holiday shopping season is a time that demands precise planning and execution. Financial institutions can maximize their impact during this critical period by starting early, leveraging advanced analytics, and maintaining a strong focus on fraud prevention. And remember, success in the holiday season extends beyond December. Building strong relationships and managing risk ensures a smooth transition into the new year, setting the stage for continued growth. Ready to optimize your strategy? Contact us for tailored recommendations during the holiday season and beyond. Download the Holiday Shopping Season Playbook

Financial institutions have gone through a whirlwind in the last few years, with the pandemic forcing many to undergo digital transformations. More recently, rising interest rates and economic uncertainty are leading to a pullback, highlighting the need for lenders to level up their marketing strategies to win new customers. To get started, here are a few key trends to look out for in the new year and fresh marketing ideas for lenders. Challenges and consumers expectations in 2023 It might be cliche to mention the impact that the pandemic had on digital transformations — but that doesn't make it any less true. Consumers now expect a straightforward online experience. And while they may be willing to endure a slightly more manual process for certain purchases in their life, that's not always necessary. Lenders are investing in front-end platforms and behind-the-scenes technology to offer borrowers faster and more intuitive services. For example, A McKinsey report from December 2021 highlighted the growth in nonbank mortgage lenders. It suggested nonbank lenders could hold onto and may continue taking market share as these tech-focused lenders create convenient, fast and transparent processes for borrowers.2 Marketers can take these new expectations to heart when discussing their products and services. To the extent you have one in place, highlight the digital experience that you can offer borrowers throughout the application, verifications, closing and loan servicing. You can also try to show rather than tell with interactive online content and videos. Build a data-driven mortgage lending marketing strategy The McKinsey report also highlighted a trend in major bank and nonbank lenders investing in proprietary and third-party technology and data to improve the customer experience.2 Marketers can similarly turn to a data-driven credit marketing strategy to help navigate shifting lending environments. Segment prospects with multidimensional data Successful marketers can incorporate the latest technological and multidimensional data sources to find, track and reach high-value prospects. By combining traditional credit data with marketing data and Fair Credit Report Act-compliant alternative credit data* (or expanded FCRA-regulated data), you can increase the likelihood of connecting with consumers who meet your credit criteria and will likely respond. For example, Experian's mortgage-specific In the Market Models predict a consumer's propensity to open a new mortgage within a one to four-month period based on various inputs, including trended credit data and Premier Attributes. You can use these propensity models as part of your prescreen criteria, to cross-sell current customers and to help retain customers who might be considering a new lender. But propensity models are only part of the equation, especially when you're trying to extend your marketing budget with hyper-segmented campaigns. Incorporating your internal CRM data and non-FCRA data can help you further distinguish look-alike populations and help you customize your messaging. LEARN MORE: Use this checklist to find and fix gaps in your prospecting strategy Maintain a single view of your borrowers An identity management platform can give you a single view of a consumer as they move through the customer journey. The persistent identity can also help you consistently reach consumers in a post-cookie world and contact them using their preferred channel. You can add to the persistent identity as you learn more about your prospects. However, you need to maintain data accuracy and integrity if you want to get a good ROI. Use triggers to guide your outreach You can also use data-backed credit triggers to implement your marketing plan. Experian's Prospect Triggers actively monitors a nationwide database to identify credit-active consumers who have new tradelines, inquiries or a loan nearing term. Lenders using Prospect Triggers can receive real-time or periodic updates and customize the results based on their screening strategy and criteria, such as score ranges and attributes. They can then make firm credit offers to the prospects who are most likely to respond, which can improve cross-selling opportunities along with originations. Benefit from our expertise Forward-thinking lenders should power their marketing strategies with a data-backed approach to incorporate the latest information from internal and external sources and reach the right customer at the right time and place. From list building to identity management and verification, you can turn to Experian to access the latest data and analytics tools. Learn about Experian credit prescreen and marketing solutions. Explore our credit prescreen solutions Learn about our marketing solutions 1Mortgage Bankers Association (October 2022). Mortgage Applications Decrease in Latest MBA Weekly Survey 2McKinsey & Company (2021). Five trends reshaping the US home mortgage industry

Experian recently announced Experian Identity and published an advertorial in American Banker outlining the integrated approach to identity that recognizes the full breadth of the company’s authoritative data solutions that help businesses better connect with their consumers in more personalized, meaningful and secure ways. The efforts address the rapidly changing definition and landscape of identity and take on the importance and needs for identity which span across the entire customer journey. From marketing to a specific consumer’s needs, to facilitating a friction-right customer experience, to protecting personal information. As such, there’s a gap for single-partner providers to help businesses navigate this change, while also putting the needs of the consumer first. “Identity data sets are constantly growing with inputs from new interactions. Many future sources of data have yet to be even conceived or developed,” said Kathleen Peters, Chief Innovation Officer, Experian Decision Analytics. “Staying ahead of the identity market curve is vital, and it requires building and continually evolving an enterprise-scale identity solution that interconnects with your own unique data and systems to create attribute-rich profiles of your customers that work across any identity application. That’s Experian Identity.” Experian Identity underscores the need businesses have to respond to increasing identity needs with interconnected, scalable technology, products and services that optimize the consumer experience.       While the integrated approach announcement is new, the capability is not. Experian has been trusted for decades to secure individuals’ identity around the most important decisions in their lives – think purchasing a car or home, being identified at the doctor’s office, and more. As such, consumers remain at the center of every action. Experian Identity offers identity resolution, verification, authentication and protection, and fraud management solutions that include first- and third-party fraud, account takeover, credit card verification, identity resolution and restoration, risk-based authentication, synthetic identity protection and more. Additionally, we’ve included a special blog post introducing Experian’s identity capabilities from Kathleen Peters on the Experian Global News Blog and additional coverage. Stay tuned for more updates. Experian Global News Blog - Making Identities Personal: Experian Helps Businesses Build Consumer Trust American Banker – Making Identities Personal: Building Trust and Differentiating Your Brand Experian White Paper - Making Identities Personal For more information about Experian Identity, visit www.experian.com/identity-solutions.

Rewards are among the most appealing features of any credit card. While upfront benefits, like sign-up bonuses and cashback, are most influential in card acquisition, ancillary benefits, like fraud and identity protection, can amplify a card’s overall value.1 Credit card fraud ranked as the second most common form of identity theft in 2021,2 and is expected to become even more frequent as consumers continue to bank and shop online.3 42% of consumers are concerned for the safety of their banking and shopping transactions. With digital identity theft and fraud on the rise, it’s no surprise that safety measures are “very” or “extremely” important to consumers when deciding between different credit cards.4 In response, many card issuers have started to market their security and protection-related benefits more frequently to better capitalize on their cards’ value to consumers. The ways they’ve highlighted these benefits include: A fraud protection campaign From spotlighting their fraud protection benefits in card welcome kits to providing privacy tips on social media, credit card issuers have crafted compelling campaigns to demonstrate their commitment to protecting their customers from fraud and identity theft. In turn, issuers can differentiate their cards from the competition and improve response rates. Reminders about their fraud prevention efforts Issuers have also sent out ongoing reminders outlining the protections their credit cards offer, such as credit monitoring services 5 that notify cardholders of suspicious activity on their credit report. By consistently promoting their efforts to keep their customers’ accounts and data safe, issuers can earn their cardholders’ trust, build loyalty and drive card usage. While benefits like cashback and travel points can help with card acquisition, fraud and identity protection benefits can help drive long-term customer relationships, especially now that card fraud is becoming a growing concern.6 To learn more about how businesses have worked to meet the consumer demand for secure interactions, check out our 2021 Global Identity and Fraud Report. Learn more 1Jonathan O'Connor. "Most Consumers Aren't Aware of Their Credit Cards' Ancillary Benefits. How Does This Impact Card Acquisition and Usage?" TSYS, January 2019 2FTC. "Consumer Sentinel Network" Data Book, 2021 3April Berthene. "Coronavirus pandemic adds $219 billion to US ecommerce sales in 2020-2021" Digital Commerce 360, March 2022 4"Consumers Consider as Many as Six Factors When Choosing Credit Card" PYMTS.com, December 2021 5David McMillin. "Identity theft is a major problem, but these 5 credit card protection programs can help keep you safe" Business Insider, June 2021 6"New FICO Survey Finds Overconfidence Could Put US Consumers at Risk From Scams" Business Wire, February 2022

In Experian’s Automotive Market Trends Review: Q2 2021, we looked at the data to better understand EV and internal combustion engine registration trends.

Consumer sentiment can help automotive marketers create a more human connection with consumers.

Experian recently released its Q1 2020 Market Trends report, which provides insights about the vehicles on the road and the most popular vehicle segments. 

Many marketing budgets were already small prior to the global pandemic, so coming out of it, to say every marketing dollar counts is an understatement.

In uncertain times, we need to find ways to adapt to our situation. We want to help you manage through this unprecedented period.

Exploring some of the top trends for the financial services industry going into the new decade from data and decisioning to fraud and customer experience.

The Experian Automotive Intelligence Engine™ enables dealers to find and reach potential customers

Marketing for financial institutions is challenging with limited budgets the need to perform better. Investing in technology can help you optimize ROI.

Auto dealers need to move their dealerships forward through hyper-local advertising that helps them connect with the right audiences at the right time.

In the world of marketing, this can happen to all of us. We think we know how much ad spend we should put towards a PPC campaign or what time a TV ad should air. In this digital realm, dealers are given a lot of data when a campaign finishes. Technology has pushed our boundaries so now, someone looking at a video of a specific automobile on a social media platform like YouTube can be targeted to receive video advertisements for your dealership. With that said, how do you know if you are targeting the right people? When it comes to your campaigns, you want to know your money is going towards the right forms of advertisements as well as the right demographics. If a campaign is doing well, extending out that campaign can be a better decision compared to letting it end. On the other side, if a campaign is doing poorly, pausing or evening stopping the campaign can be more beneficial in the future. The big questions you must ask yourself are: Am I targeting the wrong people? There can be a few reasons why you may be targeting the wrong people. First, the type of campaign can be incorrect. Social media is the newest and hottest form of marketing, but that may not work with your audience. Second, your demographics may be off. Without knowing the key demographics that you are targeting, you could be blindly targeting customers not interested in your vehicles or not in the market. The opposite could be said for that as well. You may be leaving out potential customers in key geological areas around your dealership. Because of this, you could be losing sales. Targeting doesn’t just stop with humans. You must think about your location and what you have in your inventory. If you are in a state like Colorado, you will want to allocate more SUVs and vehicles that have all-wheel-drive. By advertising rear-wheel-drive or sports cars to individuals that exclusively drive SUVs or only research SUVs, that can be a loss of advertising dollars. What can I do about it? A revamped marketing campaign is a good start for a strategy, but it may not be enough. Targeting can be a difficult endeavor, but thankfully there are programs and companies that can help. Experian Automotive’s Dealer Positioning System® can target key ZIP Code™ and display which campaigns are working - as well as which should be cut. Thanks to this type of data-driven targeting, market share and sales can increase even while advertising spend decreases. Another great aspect of using a system like Experian DPS is the ability to create campaigns to target vehicles your customers want. Like the example above of what not to do, you can formulate a plan of attack to focus on SUVs and light-duty trucks in a mountainous area. Conquesting intelligently not only means more people coming through your door but more allocations for vehicles your customers will want. Marketing is important. Whatever kind of advertising you do, remember that building your dealership is important. Having a solid game plan to conquest around you relies on smart targeting and the correct forms of advertising. Experian DPS can help boost market share and increase sales core models which is very helpful. To learn more about how Experian Automotive can assist with your targeting, click here.