OPINION: Focus on the simplicity of what you solve

By Dominic Walters, B2B marcomms strategist and author of “Cutting Through the Bull – Harnessing the Power at Your Fingertips”

There’s no doubt that the financial services industry faces a unique set of challenges when it comes to developing marketing communications strategies. Any marketer who has worked in the industry knows that they often have to navigate a complex marketing landscape with multiple regulatory, compliance and bureaucracy obstacles.

Despite the digital transformation race and the rise of fintech companies pushing the industry to explore beyond its comfort zone, financial services still lags behind other sectors in creating a powerful marketing narrative which inspires greater trust and deeper loyalty among audiences. So, what’s holding the industry back?

I’d argue that lack of simplicity has a lot to do with it. Financial organisations often focus on communicating the complexities of what they do rather than the simplicity of what they solve and that is one of the main reasons as to why they keep getting it wrong time after time.

There’s a great misconception that simple is stupid when in reality, simplicity can become your company’s biggest asset. We live in a complex world with people constantly being bombarded with information and most of the time they’re consuming it on the go. Most audiences – with very few exceptions – primarily care about the problem your product or service will solve, how it will deliver on their needs and whether it will create value for them. Understanding the technicalities is a long way down their list of priorities, therefore, a brand which cuts through the noise and clearly and consistently communicates its offering and the benefits it brings is already a step ahead of its competition.

Simplicity can be difficult to achieve in practice as embedded processes and disengaged teams can make it difficult to embrace a simpler approach so, the first step would be to challenge the status quo, from your people right down to your vision. Protect nothing when it comes to simplifying the language and the messages. This requires a courageous approach and adopting the mindset that every single line of messaging can be challenged. This doesn’t mean that you can’t communicate complex messages. You can layer your messages with complexities when necessary and always depending on the audience you’re speaking to but the core vision and the key messages used throughout the organisation need to remain simple.

If you don’t know where to start then turn to your clients. Becoming a true student of theirs can help you develop simple, powerful messages. Clients are no longer responding to a ‘one size fits all’ approach so everything that you do should address their needs and concerns and the only way to do this is to know how to speak their language. What do they think of the information about your products and services, do they engage with it and most importantly, do they understand it?

Once, you’ve ‘learnt’ your clients’ language, think about your internal audiences. One of the biggest barriers to simplifying marketing messages is getting different departments in a company to drop old habits and work together to develop a unified voice. Fostering a healthy internal culture is one of the best ways a brand can embrace simplicity and grow. Bring your people along on this new journey and make them feel engaged in your vision by making them an integral part of it.

Can you imagine adopting a new approach but your workforce isn’t feeling excited about it or has lost interest because they feel that they’re not part of it? Internal communications can play a crucial role in exciting your people and sustaining their energy to ensure that they are your best ambassadors, representing the company’s new voice. And don’t forget that in order to be successful, this should be a top-down and bottom-up exercise across the entire organisation. When employees at all levels of the organisational structure are engaged, it’s time to challenge them to strip back the way they communicate and suggest new ways of doing things. Ensure employees understand their individual roles in the business as it will make it easier to cut through complexities.

Don’t forget: simplicity is a long game. It’s not a one-off tactic. Think of simplicity as your organisation’s long-term strategy which can streamline communications both internally and externally, enhance products and services and cut through the competitor noise to help you achieve your goals.

Dominic Walters is an international leading B2B marcomms strategist and author of “Cutting Through the Bull – Harnessing the Power at Your Fingertips. Over the past 20 years, he has advised and held senior roles in a range of international organisations including BAE Systems, Network Rail, Inmarsat PLC, BP, Shell and PizzaExpress Hong Kong.

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