As the seasons change, so do our financial priorities. Throughout the year, different financial trends emerge, reflecting the diverse ways people manage their money. Understanding these trends is key for finance companies because it ensures the content they produce is relevant; which overall can lead to greater engagement rates and conversions.
- Starting with the Winter months as Christmas is very much around the corner, the common search trends according to Google are credit cards. With a significant rise in searches during November and peaking in early January it is clear that people are attempting to account for the increased spending during the festive season. Alongside credit cards, December sees a rise in gift cards and store credit cards, further emphasising this behavioural trend.
- Moving into the New Year, January sees a significant rise in terms relating to retirement, savings, travel, and mortgages. This trend can be attributed to several factors associated with the beginning of the new year; such as New Year resolutions, and Blue Monday. As people consider their future and reflect on where they want to be over the next year and in the future, financial planning becomes an even more common concern.
- February and March see a heavy focus on taxes with tax-related terms reaching their peak.
- Come July, there are no surprises here with a peak in travel-related searches. This spike in searches is a testament to the widespread excitement of the school summer holidays. Trends throughout social platforms accompany this with content on dream vacations, travel hacks, and must-visit spots are also common throughout these summer months.
- By August, the financial focus pivots to education-related expenses. With the upcoming school year, parents and students navigate the costs associated with tuition, books, and other educational essentials.
Understanding what customers are talking about, searching for and engaging with throughout the year allows financial institutions to target the topics most important to their customers and drives users to engage on their chosen channels. The more customers these institutions can drive to their site, the more potential they have for conversion and to grow the top-of-funnel prospect pool which is all-important in an industry as sticky as financial services.
Developing a year long content calendar
For us, the journey begins with a strategic orientation that takes into account brand vision, and competitor analysis. Then armed with these audience insights we can start content planning, guiding the creation of a meticulously designed content calendar that spans up to a year. This calendar is not just a collection of dates; it’s a canvas where relevant events from the wider world, industry, brand, and audience’s lives converge.
But it’s the magic of editorial planning that truly elevates our content approach. Through collaborative editorial boards, comprised of minds from both client and agency sides, a tapestry of creativity is woven. The result? An editorial synopsis that meticulously details each piece’s essence, execution, and call to action. This vision is translated into an editorial calendar that provides a year-long roadmap for content creation.
With over 36 years of developing creative content with financial clients, take a moment to watch some of our recent work as well as our content showreel, so you can see what we’re all about.
Some of the financial clients we have helped recently
