Many financial services are beginning to prioritize DE&I marketing. Are you one of them?
DE&I stands for “diversity, equity and inclusion.” Sometimes it’s also called DEI. And sometimes it’s even called DEIA (if you include accessibility.)
From a business standpoint, it’s a fantastic way to amplify your brand’s voice and bring in clients from all walks of life. From a moral standpoint, it’s just the right thing to do.
Honing in on just one facet of inclusion: Forty-four percent of millennials and just under half of all Gen-Z’ers are minorities. And now more than ever, they’re demanding representation. If your firm doesn’t offer it, they’ll find one that does.
Effective DE&I marketing allows your firm to tap into diverse viewpoints, connect with a wider audience, increase consumer trust and loyalty, engage with marginalized community members, and enhance your brand image and reputation.
If all of this sounds good to you, here are some key DE&I strategies to consider.
5 Key DE&I Marketing Tactics for Financial Services Firms
1. Promote Financial Inclusion
The financial services industry can often be exclusionary. There’s a high bar for entry, and marginalized groups find themselves on the outside looking in. For instance, while only 16% of white consumers are credit invisible or unscoreable, those percentages are 27% and 26%, respectively, for Black and Hispanic/Latino consumers.
Financial inclusion involves finding ways to meet the needs of the underserved, whether that’s through promoting financial education and literacy, expanding the products and services you currently offer, or using non-traditional data scoring or alternative credit data.
2. Create Focus Groups and Surveys
Two heads are better than one — and 12 are better than two. By creating small focus groups made up of people from varying races, ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, and so forth, you’re getting the conversation started and giving everyone a voice.
Surveys are another way to get consumer insights, and people might feel more comfortable with this method than speaking up in a group setting. But no matter how you get the information, hearing it directly from the source is invaluable.
3. Recruit Diverse Talent
People want to do business with people they can identify with. By actively recruiting diverse employees to support your business and soliciting their perspectives and opinions, you’ll be better positioned to meet the needs of a wider pool of clients.
That won’t just help you attract and retain customers. It will have a positive impact on your team, leading to better employee satisfaction and retention!
4. Look Beyond Your Business
You’re only as good as the company you keep. You could have the best DE&I marketing strategy in all of finance, but if your business is associated in any way with “problematic” vendors, suppliers, partners or organizations, it will reflect poorly on you. Vet accordingly.
While you have your sights set on the world outside your office doors, look for inspiration, too. Who’s on top of their DE&I game? What are they doing that you could repurpose for yourself?
5. Make DE&I Marketing an Ongoing Commitment
DE&I isn’t a box you check on your marketing to-do list; it’s an ongoing process that needs regular attention and tweaks. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, and what works today won’t necessarily work tomorrow. As the world changes, your business needs to be willing to change with it.
Are You Ready to Help Change the World?
Today’s landscape looks a lot different than it did even a few years ago. And in many cases, it has changed for the better. As people begin to take steps to right history’s wrongs, financial service businesses need to go all in on diversity, equity and inclusion.
Mischa Communications is one of only a few financial marketing agencies nationwide offering DE&I services. Let’s work together to make your brand stand up and stand out.