Mass personalization – An oxymoron or an expectation?

90% of leading marketers say personalization significantly contributes to business profitability.

In today’s digital age, clients expect convenient, personalized experiences at their fingertips. Clients demand tailored communication across all social platforms regularly. Low client satisfaction leads to higher churn rates, risking low-loyalty and high-turnover environments.

Wealth Management firms are being leapfrogged in the new economy around personalization despite the amount of customer data and constantly evolving technologies available. Clients who are open to change admit that, if the opportunity presented itself, they would consider banking with a technology company. A recent report by Refinitiv found that only only 37% of investors gave their providers a top score for digital experience.

Providing customized services to individuals might be a challenge as it requires a sharp pivot putting the client’s needs before product sales. However, Wealth Management firms that successfully tread the path will yield enhanced customer loyalty and future growth.

So, how should Wealth Management providers address this concern?

Wealth Management executives acknowledge the importance of mass-personalization to meet customer expectations and data’s critical role in providing these personalized services. Therefore, firms are looking to leverage their data in better ways to realize their customer experience goals – starting by recognizing that data is merely an enabler to improve customer value and get the foundation right first.

Data done right: Consolidating and customizing the right type of data

Data consolidation and customization play a crucial role in tailoring customer personas. By aggregating and adapting any type of data, firms can craft in-depth client profiles, enabling predictive analytics and gaining valuable business insights into various customer segments. This approach allows them to curate personalized investment ideas while facilitating the bundling of tailored offerings.

Ultimately, the integration of algorithmic analytics empowers real-time investment decision-making processes.

With a solid foundation built, organizations can leverage their data more effectively for mass personalization. Data becomes an enabler that drives the organization’s customer experience as follows:

• Client segmentation: personalizing wealth management for diverse needs

Segmenting clients involves grouping them based on common factors, enabling wealth managers to customize their services accordingly. By tailoring communication to each segment’s preferences, wealth managers can offer specific, relevant experiences to their clients through better messaging. Banks build customer profiles, focusing on interaction to strengthen their relationship and solve problems rather than selling a singular product. For banks to truly target these “segments of one” and build long-lasting relationships, they must have the ability to predict needs and provide solutions using real-time, individualized data.

• Data-driven transformation: adapting Wealth Management to shifting customer expectations

Amidst the rapid digital transformation reshaping industries worldwide, wealth management firms must adapt to the changing landscape to stay competitive. As customers’ expectations evolve, inspired by seamless experiences around them, firms must proactively enhance their services and capabilities. To effectively engage prospects and existing clients, digital tools must be embraced to leverage data-driven insights. Better products such as real-time dashboards, one-stop-shop mobile portals, and self-service chatbots must be integrated with the existing technological offerings. Social media platforms become crucial touchpoints for reaching investors, especially the millennial and Generation Z segments, which represent significant opportunities for growth.

• Rethinking customer engagement: empathy in modern banking

Banks house a plethora of marketing data yet face challenges in effectively managing and integrating it. To truly realize the value of customer engagement, it is essential to understand data derived from the different touchpoints that clients and agents engage with. Enhanced back-office systems easily allow this necessary data ingestion and usage to then manifest into personalized messages, tailored investment advice, and much more. This transformation enables tailored and scalable interventions that cater to customers’ real-time needs across multiple channels. This departure from traditional marketing strategies emphasizes the importance of seamless and authentic connections with customers –prioritizing customer financial well-being over product sales.

Conclusion

Mass personalization at scale is crucial for banks to maintain customer relationships and stay ahead in the market. Customers expect institutions to know them and provide content based on who they are and what they want. However, the longer banks wait to embrace the change, the riskier their stake in the market becomes. Where to start will be different for every organization. Firstly, it is important to understand the potential gaps in your organization when it comes to personalization, allowing you to prioritize the effort needed to offer a more personalized experience across the client life cycle.