Financial services online shift drives digital display ads : MediaMind

Display advertising in this sector has proven effective in generating leads and attracting new customers. A further study by Kantar Media estimates that the financial services industry invested US$2.7 billion in online display advertising, marking the highest investment out of any advertising channel. Newspapers rank second with US$1.6 billion, followed by network TV (US$1.1 billion), consumer magazines (US$567 million) and the radio (US$515 million).

The report reveals that the shift has changed the way in which the financial industry is reaching out to its customers and marketing its product. As more of its customers make use of online services, it only makes sense that financial institutions would utilise online advertising to communicate with them.

A primary driver behind the trend is that internet users – particularly young adults - have proved to be very responsive to online financial services such as applying for credit cards.

MediaMind’s study methodology identified that more than 50 per cent of global financial services impressions advertised banking services, followed by homeowner insurance and car insurance. It also indicated that credit card companies are doing the best job of compelling users to respond to their ads, as well as achieving the highest conversion rate and the highest click through rate.

Furthermore, the study revealed that games, music, instant messaging, health and beauty, social network and mail achieve the highest branding performance as places for financial services advertisements.