Access to formal financial services is crucial for any country's economic and social development. According to the most recent Quarterly Financial Inclusion Report by Banca de Oportunidades de Colombia, financial inclusion in Colombia grew to 92.1% in the third quarter of 2022. However, it is essential to continue improving this key aspect for the country's economic and social development.
Therefore, seeking alternatives to promote financial inclusion and foster financial education is essential. In this sense, content marketing is crucial to address this challenge and help build a more inclusive and accessible financial system for all citizens.
Barriers to accessing financial services, such as lack of information and financial education, low trust in financial institutions, limited access to technology, and lack of documentation, contribute to financial exclusion in Colombia.
This problem is especially true for people (mostly women) living in rural low-income areas, according to the 2022 Special Financial Inclusion Report. These people are among the population groups with the most significant obstacles to accessing and using financial products. Therefore, it is difficult for them to obtain basic financial services such as loans or credit cards.
To solve this problem, financial institutions can implement strategies such as the following:
Content marketing has become a key element in digital communication strategies in recent years. That is why it is recommended that the country's financial institutions invest time and money in creating relevant content that explains, for example, how credit cards work and how they benefit users who do not have a history with banks.
What content strategies can be applied to achieve financial inclusion in the country?
First, to develop compelling content marketing strategies, it is necessary to understand the needs and motivations of the unbanked and underbanked population.
Market research and audience segmentation can help understand these needs and motivations. For example, a content marketing strategy aimed at young people who want to save for their long-term goals could include content about the importance of saving and the different saving options available.
It is also essential to consider the needs of your audience when creating content. If you are trying to reach those not currently saving, show them how much money they could have saved using your product or service. Suppose your target market has already started saving but needs to be more confident about investing or managing its funds. In that case, they may be interested in receiving tips on better managing their money.
You should also consider if other factors may affect your results. For example, suppose your target market has low levels of literacy. In that case, you may need to offer more visual elements in your content, as they may not be able to read much text-based information effectively.
Therefore, conducting a detailed study of the audience before generating content is essential. In this process, tools such as True Content can be used to build a personalized audience. True Content's intelligence uses data to identify audience interests and, based on this, determines audience content consumption trends. Based on the findings, valuable content can be produced that consolidates the interests and information needs of the audience.
In addition, this tool can help evaluate the readability level of the content, as well as the tone and sentiment of the text. This ensures that the content has a tone and sentiment aligned with the audience and is suitable for the population to understand the content of the text, according to their level of education.
It is a fact that the most common type of content marketing is blogging, as it allows companies to communicate directly with their customers and potential customers through posts. This is why blog content can be crucial in promoting financial education and reducing economic inequality.
Blogging has proven to be a very effective tool for reaching audiences on websites and social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, meaning that companies can reach millions of people simultaneously with a single post.
Therefore, we will explore how to create content that is relevant, accessible, and valuable for audiences interested in finance. There are four main types of content that financial institutions can make to increase financial inclusion and, at the same time, promote their services and products:
In these cases, the content must be easily accessible and understandable, so it must be presented clearly and concisely.
In addition, it is recommended to segment the content according to the audience; for example, dedicate specific sections that directly involve the vulnerable target audience:
As a financial institution, all efforts should be directed toward helping consumers understand how to manage their money and avoid costly mistakes, such as overdraft fees or overspending on credit cards. Educating consumers on these issues will help them make better decisions when managing their finances.
There are some standard metrics used by companies, such as the number of visitors, time spent on site, and how many potential customers are generated. But in addition to this, other parameters can be observed to measure its impact on financial inclusion. Here are some examples:
Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and other tools are excellent for measuring the impact of content marketing on website traffic and social media followers. When creating an infographic or video about financial inclusion, try to set a Google Analytics goal for "new users" or "social shares" so you can see how many people click from social media channels or forward links to their friends.
The last few years have shown that content marketing is an effective strategy to promote financial inclusion in a country like Colombia. This can ensure that anyone can increase their financial knowledge through easy-to-understand articles and videos, even without prior financial knowledge. If implemented correctly, they can be a powerful tool to encourage financial inclusion and help improve the financial situation of millions of people.
