No, TikTok isn't the best place for advertising... yet.

The financial industry is seeing incredible growth with an increased interest in investing and companies are scrambling to understand where to advertise. Let’s look at my suggestions for how to reach the new age of investors and finance gurus.

With the recent growth of the financial industry, companies are desperately searching for the best way to advertise to new audiences getting in on investing and digital payments to drive brand awareness and stand out among the hundreds of emerging companies in the industry. With the increase in stock investing and cryptocurrency interest during COVID, the industry is?expected?to continue growing just under 10% this year–proving the importance of advertising to the right audiences at the right time.

Before I give you my suggestions, there are a couple of challenges that the financial industry will face today when trying to reach their target audiences that are important to mention:

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Wide-spread audiences

Financial companies are looking to differentiate their brands and products from other, virtually identical, companies. To do so, they must reach new audiences who have not yet used any financial services. Brand loyalty is huge in the financial industry, forcing companies to reach unique audiences early before they sign up with competitors. These audiences are incredibly hard to identify given the wide-spread importance of banking and investing to all demographics.??

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Intense competition for brand awareness

Kantar and Amazon?found that 48% of consumers already know what financial service they will select before they open a new brokerage account or credit card–half of the people build brand loyalty or awareness before even using the platform: that is ridiculous. Hundreds of financial institutions are popping up every month and are fighting for the interest of audiences.

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Finding the right moment

The same Kantar survey found that more than 30% of banking and brokerage customers applied for a new credit card or opened a new account due to a life-changing event. After advertising to the right audience, it is equally important to advertise at the right time. Advertising timing is typically less important in industries like retail and food, whereas in the financial industry advertising timing is one of the most important aspects of the ad.

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Understanding and overcoming these challenges is all about identifying the right audience and advertising to them at the right time. Here are some suggestions to pursue once the challenges are no longer an issue:

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Mainstream Integration

Take a page out of?Crypto.com’s book. The crypto platform has used extensive advertising strategies to reach a massive audience very quickly–all through their mainstream integration with large institutions like Twitch, PSG and the UFC. Because investors are a part of every demographic, integrating your brand into various large audiences will increase your brand awareness on a global stage. The key to Crypto.com’s success is associating themselves with already-established brands that make them a household name associated with relatable American culture.

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Influencer Marketing

Word of mouth and social proof from influencers are critical aspects of any marketing strategy–at the end of the day, influencers are called influencers for a reason. Customers trust their peers and those they admire when making decisions. Financial companies can, and do, use influencers like?Meet Kevin Paffrath and Graham Stephan?to reach and attract new, diverse and young investors and ultimately grow their brand loyalty before they sign up for financial institutions and platforms.

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Experiential Advertising

Web 3.0 is coming. There is no debate about that. And with Web 3.0, comes?new advertising strategies?that are critical to beginning using to stay successful and competitive against your competition. Using tools like AR, VR, 3D and the Internet of Things will allow companies to create brand-centric experiences that will change how audiences view financial companies.

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Nope, not TikTok

Here is a shocker for you. TikTok advertising is not it… yet. That’s right. TikTok users are not using the platform to look make purchases or decisions.?60%?of users are using the platform to find funny or entertaining videos and 45% are using the platform to fill spare time. Entertainment is key. Advertising on TikTok typically ruins this entertainment and can negatively impact your brand image. Rather, a company should create native TikTok content that is on-brand, engaging and entertaining to promote themselves. Create quality, short and humorous videos: it is free and more effective.

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Subscribe to my?newsletter, Mad Men On Wall Street, on LinkedIn and bookmark my?blog?to keep up with 225 subscribers who are reading about the latest news happening in the cross-section between the advertising industry and finance world.

My name is Matthew Rigsbee and I am a senior at the?University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill?majoring in Advertising and Public Relations at the?Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Ever since I invested in my first stock in high school, I fell in love with learning about the economy, stocks and eventually cryptocurrencies.

My goal with this blog is to highlight the intersection of the finance world with the advertising industry. There are so many new advertising techniques that are emerging out of the FinTech and cryptocurrency spaces, and I want to be your guide to understanding how many companies are leveraging these techniques to change the way people, young and old, involve themselves in the markets. I will use real-world examples of how some of the top brands in the FinTech and cryptocurrency spaces are using game-changing advertising and marketing techniques.

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