Tag: Fair Lending Act

With the long-term effects to the economy unknown, many consumers are feeling the financial impact, while others are looking for opportunities, resulting in a transformational shift in spending. Some brands are experiencing decreased or paused marketing budgets, and you may be trepidatious about making the right decisions in your efforts to grow share of wallet. Recent events have been an impetus for change and we’re seeing brands make modifications to traditional marketing strategies. Some are developing innovative technologies and utilizing new sources of data and analytics. As we look at how these changes impact marketing results, we see the gap grow between those brands who are equipped to pivot and implement new strategies quickly, versus those who are not. So what steps can your organization implement now to make the smartest choices for both your customers and your business to secure more share of wallet? Here are four ideas to accelerate the success of your next financial marketing campaign: 1. Meet your customers wherever they are: Digital-first strategies have never been more relevant than they are right now. While consumers have fully embraced online engagement, marketers are even more focused on reaching high-value segments in the channels they utilize. By using an informed, data-driven strategy that includes preferred marketing communication channels and decision-making styles, engagement increases across those channels your target audience frequents the most. For example, are they heavy social media users? Do they prefer streaming TV? Or do they tend to rely on financial advice vs. performing their own research? To drive take rates, your audience must be exposed to a tailored message, in the right channel, and possibly multiple times. 2. Use messaging that resonates: As consumers refocus priorities, their expectations of brands with whom they do business are ever-increasing. Reflecting an understanding of the current needs and interests of your customers and prospects is an undertone that can only help strengthen their view of your brand. Consumer behavior has changed and is unlikely to revert to what was, so you want to be relevant, but you also do not want to be seen as ‘tone deaf’. As a result, consider revising your segmentation strategy to leverage predictive insights, such as household economic indicators, financial behaviors, lifestyle propensities and interests to help shape your message into one that truly makes an impact. 3. Prove the worth of your campaign: New consumer journeys are being formulated and showing ROI is imperative as your marketing budget is scrutinized. Having the right industry-relevant metrics and reports to analyze and share with leadership are key. Demonstrate that your campaigns are contributing to bottom-line success—and justify future campaigns—by using data-driven measurement insights collected across multiple reads and countless touchpoints. Marketing budgets are being scrutinized now more than ever, so showing ROI is critical. Having the right metrics and reports to analyze and share with leadership are key. 4. Follow government regulations—leverage Fair Lending-friendly audiences: Whether you’re cross-selling or prospecting, now is the time to identify the right audiences with rich data insights to not only execute impactful campaigns but adhere to government regulations that protect consumers and your organization. Trusting that the data you are activating follows Fair Lending Laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (“ECOA”) and the Fair Housing Act (“FHA”) is crucial. The Federal ECOA prohibits creditors from discriminating against credit applicants on the basis of several prohibited factors. Developing people-based segments that are not derived using these factors positions you to follow these regulations. Check out our previous blog post about Fair Lending-friendly audiences here. As you transition to new operating models, access to current and accurate consumer data can provide confidence in campaign potential, help you avoid business risk, enable you to respond to market changes and make better decisions. Experian can help you implement these strategies and put your brand unique position for growth. From start to finish, we provide the marketing solutions you need to plan, build and execute successful, Fair Lending-friendly campaigns to cross-sell to existing customers and acquire new customers. Learn more about Experian’s financial services marketing solutions here. *Experian Fair Lending-friendly audiences do not constitute legal advice or otherwise assure compliance with the FHA, ECOA, or any other applicable laws. It’s recommended to seek legal advice with respect to the use of data in connection with lending decisions or application and compliance with applicable laws.

It’s no longer an option for brands to understand their audiences. Given the advances in ad tech over the past few years, any brand who wants to thrive in today’s economy understands that there is an expectation among consumers that all communications they receive are relevant and customized to them. This holds true for all advertisers, including financial institutions. Sending irrelevant loan offers or other products can cause frustration and detachment. Financial marketers, like all marketers, have to be able reach the right customers, at the right time, on the right device, with the right messaging. The challenge facing the financial industry today is how can they continue to provide customized advertising to potential clients while also respecting anti-discriminatory regulations? There are a number of government regulations, including the Fair Housing Act (FHA) and The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA), which are designed to protect consumers from discriminatory marketing practices. As a result, financial marketers need to ensure the demographic information they use to better understand their target audiences and inform their campaigns is not seen, abused or used in an unfair manner. For most third-party data companies, building audiences that exclude regulatory definitions of discriminatory can be challenging. These audiences tend to be so broad and thus ineffective in targeting the right future customer. Experian has the solution with our Fair Lending Act (FLA) friendly audiences. Given our expertise in both financial regulations and consumer data, putting together highly effective FLA friendly audiences was a no-brainer. To help you reach the right audience, Experian leverages its full ConsumerViewSM file that has information on over 300 million consumers in the US. With information on who they are, how to reach them, and what they do, the ConsumerView file goes beyond basic demographic information, enabling Experian to help financial marketers send customized advertising that is also FLA friendly. As a leader in the financial space for more than 100 years, Experian understands the importance of compliance and that clients want to feel confident that the audiences they have access to are not created through a biased or inappropriate process. Experian will work with both its data partners and its clients to provide transparency on what goes into Fair Lending Act friendly audiences.* Marketers can feel confident knowing that our FLA friendly audience data was built with regulatory compliance in mind. Getting the right audience in place is one of the quickest ways to get the sale and increase lifetime customers. However, there are many variables that need to be considered, including seasons and holidays, brand alignment, and compliance. One of the ways to take some of the pressure off is to work with audience data that is already FLA friendly. Learn more about Experian Audiences here, or contact us today at audiences@experian.com to get started and request FLA friendly audiences for your campaigns.   *Experian FLA audiences do not constitute legal advice or otherwise assure compliance with the FHA, ECOA, or any other applicable laws. It’s recommended to seek legal advice with respect to the use of data in connection with lending decisions or application and compliance with applicable laws.