Here is a transcript generated by otter.ai of the The Content Mix podcast interview with Miranda Gray, London-based marketing specialist, on marketing finance to new generations:

Carlota Pico 0:13
Hi, everyone, I’m Carlota Pico from The Content Mix. And I’m excited to be here today with Miranda Gray, who is former EMEA marketing director at Donnelly Financial Services and has over 15 years of experience in marketing and communications. Welcome Miranda, thank you so much for joining us today on The Content Mix.

Miranda Gray 0:32
You’re welcome. Thank you for having me.

Carlota Pico 0:34
My pleasure is ours. To get this interview started off, I’d like to ask you a little bit about your background and a bit about your experience in the financial sector.

Miranda Gray 0:44
Right. Yes, so I began over 15 years ago, I actually started my career in the charity sector. And I originally worked for Oxfam. I was one of two graduate trainees and I had the opportunity to work across the marketing mix. And I then moved to Bristol and one of my placements as part of the charity sector was for a telemarketing agency focusing on Barclays telemarketing account. And that’s when my love for it grew. And I came back to London, I managed to get a role within a financial organization and then came my role in Barclays. And I think that’s really where my career took off.

Carlota Pico 1:28
Excellent. And what made you decide to pursue a career in marketing in the first place? What inspired you?

Miranda Gray 1:35
I always love how brands and how things make you feel, you know, the loyalty that it creates. And I think just being able to have that power and that control to kind of make people feel. To love and grow that brand and just create that loyalty but then also follow us. Just kind of makes me just feel, you know, I’m passionate to do that for people.

Carlota Pico 1:58
I’m very similar as well. I’m a very big people’s person. And also I consider myself to be quite creative as well. So I love being able to connect both of my passions, one the creativity side of me and the other, the extrovert and people side of me and then put them together and create these beautiful campaigns, well, hopefully beautiful campaigns, of course. Let’s talk about sector nuances. So challenges and opportunities, could you give us an overview of what it means to work in marketing within the financial sector?

Miranda Gray 2:28
It’s a very competitive role. And for me, I’m really kind of an expert in the B2B side, the wholesale marketing. So you’re not only just targeting the company, you’re talking to the individual, you’re talking to senior leaders, C suite to kind of understand what it is that your organization can offer them, that they’re not getting from their current provider or service provider at the current time or moment.

Carlota Pico 2:53
Okay, what about techniques that you would use to attract new customers or retain existing ones?

Miranda Gray 3:01
It’s about building a funnel and thought leadership is really key. You’ve got to be able to get to the grit of what they actually need, and bringing them the information that they’re not finding elsewhere. So I think thought leadership, via LinkedIn and other sources and kind of creating the insights, is really fundamental to getting that loyalty and that customer on board with you on that journey.

Carlota Pico 3:26
Okay, Miranda so its really about creating value and also providing trust?

Miranda Gray 3:31
Yes, absolutely. I think it’s important to understand what’s missing so that you could create that loyalty and the value. The pillars that match their pillars of trust to come together to make the right relationship.

Carlota Pico 3:49
Okay. According to the Financial Times, a recent study in the UK predicts that over 70% of young people will manage their financial life exclusively via digital channels by 2023. As a finance marketer, what advice would you give to other finance marketers that are just now entering the age of digitalization?

Miranda Gray 4:13
Jump to it, jump on board, follow those trends. And it’s really important to understand what that market is because it evolves so quickly. And you’ve got to understand the Gen Z’s, the Millennials, they’re behind us. They’re so switched on, we have such a short window. They have such a short attention span, you’ve got to be able to grab and hook them to be able to take them on that journey with you. And you’ve got to understand their needs and wants. So research is really really important. Really understanding their needs to talk to them, you know, do that market research to get that understanding.

Carlota Pico 4:52
Okay, what about assets? What assets would they need to create? What channels would you recommend? What foreseeable trends should they get ahead of?

Miranda Gray 5:05
Talking Instagram, you know is about imagery. It’s about getting back that 30 second window. Imagery. When they’re looking at their professional careers, they’re thinking about LinkedIn. Twitter, Tik Tok, all of those things that are quick, but grabs their attention so that they basically respond to you in a really quick way.

Carlota Pico 5:29
Okay, what about videos? Do you think that the future also will depend on video marketing?

Miranda Gray 5:36
Absolutely. But it’s got to be content – you’ve got to be able to use it. You know, YouTube is going to be key in terms of those video links, those 30 second links where you can use them on Google to kind of grab their attention. And I think video and being mobile friendly, because they’re taking their tablets, they’re on 24 times 7. When you walk out that door and you forget something, you’re more likely to remember that you’ve forgotten your phone as opposed to forgotten your purse, because your wallet is actually on your phone. So it’s really important that you remember, digital first always.

Carlota Pico 6:09
That’s a really good point. And what about localization? How important is it for a brand to also localize their content according to cultural nuances?

Miranda Gray 6:19
I think it’s really important to understand language. If you’re not talking the local language, you’re not communicating with those customers, the Gen Z’s or the Millennials, they’re multilingual, they understand those languages but they’re gonna go local first before they think about outsiders speaking English, which I get a lot of the world does, but they want to know that you can talk to me locally, you understand me.

Carlota Pico 6:46
Yeah, definitely. Also really important to think about public holidays. For example, when it comes to localization, if you’re going to be promoting a campaign, across several different markets, it’s important to also think about local calendars because that is going to impact the success of that campaign.

Miranda Gray 7:05
Yeah, and you know, holidays, not just public holidays, school holidays as well and making sure you adapt to that market, that you’re not launching a campaign in the middle of a half term or the summer holidays, because people aren’t gonna respond to it. They’re just not. They’re just not focused. They’ve got other things going on.

Carlota Pico 7:22
Definitely, and local sensitivities as well. Because whatever may be happening in Spain may not necessarily be happening in the UK, for example, and it’s important to adapt the content to local sensitivities as well, local trends and localization, for me is key in everything that I do.

Miranda Gray 7:39
Absolutely. It’s really important that you understand that local market and test that audience. Don’t just do the testing in your home country, you’ve got to go and speak to the people on the ground. They’ve got to understand exactly what it is you’re trying to convey for them to be able to respond to it practically and positively.

Carlota Pico 7:57
Okay, well, let’s move into social media marketing, from your experience. How can financial brands use social media to connect and retain their audience’s attention during these very difficult and unstable times? And what I mean is COVID-19 of course.

Miranda Gray 8:13
I think one of the things I’ve seen just in terms of this period of time, social media has probably grown tenfold. And getting people’s attention while they’re in their homes is fundamental. It’s really key. You’ve got to be able to create really important campaigns, you know, creative campaigns that catch their eye that kind of make them think I’m at home, do I need that as part of my organization? So LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, Twitter are really, really important in terms of getting people’s attention. In a previous role I worked in we were testing and we found that in one of our markets, Facebook wasn’t working, but what we found was that it worked for us in here in the region. So that’s where local nuances are really important to understand what’s happening in the market. But also, if you see something that isn’t reacting well, you can easily switch it up and make those changes quickly. And those changes can happen overnight within hours, minutes. And that’s the really important thing about looking at those markets, those channels that you’re trying to get to, to kind of understand, what can I do differently to create a different reaction?

Carlota Pico 9:27
Yeah. And it’s also important to adapt, right? The world is constantly evolving. So as marketers we need to evolve with the world as well. And that’s why AB testing is so important because we need to do AB testing in order to adapt to world changes. I mean, nobody saw COVID-19 before it actually hit us in the face. And that meant that companies and brands overnight had to quickly adapt all their marketing strategies in order to not only go online, but also to be able to connect with their local audiences and say, “Hey, you know what, we know that you’re going through a really difficult time and we have your back because we care about you.” We not only want to sell our services to you, we understand that right now you might not be able to afford it but maybe in the future you will be able to afford those services. And regardless, we want to make sure that you have all the information within your hands to make educated decisions, either now or in the future.

Miranda Gray 10:25
Absolutely, it’s really important to be able to kind of offer something even if they’re not ready to buy right now, they remember you in the future when they do need you. It’s just creating that loyalty but you know, you take them on that journey, you kind of nurture them be able to be a future customer.

Carlota Pico 10:44
And it also shows a brand’s human side to be able to talk to them on the same level as their friends will talk to them or as their mothers or as their fathers etc. it really humanizes the brand and I think it’s really important for companies to always remember that on the other side of the screen, regardless of what field you’re in, whether you’re in B2C, B2B, anything, you’re always talking to a human being. That final click will come from a human being. And so in order to be able to connect with a human being, you have to be able to talk to them as a human being as well.

Miranda Gray 11:17
Absolutely. And the creative, while people are in their homes is, is fundamental. You’ve got to be able to understand that people are having meetings and settings, in their kitchen, at the dining room table, in their bedrooms, etc, just to kind of be able to do their work. So it’s important that you basically create. You understand the surroundings that they’re working in, and that you know they are going to have kids in the background and like, you know, create that imagery with your creative that makes them really connect and understand that you understand them and what they’re going through right now. That’s important.

Carlota Pico 11:50
And I’d love to put some of this theory into real life examples. Could you walk us through some of the campaigns that you lead or admired and if you’ve led them on how have those campaigns really exceeded your KPIs?

Miranda Gray 12:05
I think one of the things we were testing was like from a localization point of view is selling particular products online and then within particular regions, it was really important for us to understand how that would work. So we created a funnel approach. So we created the enigma of thought leadership and bringing people down that funnel and nurturing them. And it was really impressive to see how people were coming on that journey, creating that brand loyalty with us. And I think what was interesting, just doing some marketing, to kind of bring people’s attention, we were able to kind of increase the numbers of leads coming into the organization by over 36% in the space of a year, which is amazing from having doing nothing to doing something that people are like, what’s going on? We just want to go on this journey to understand exactly why people are doing what they’re doing. And it’s of interest to them. Following us, increasing those numbers in terms of followers on social media, social media channels as well.

Carlota Pico 13:09
Did you focus that campaign according to different personas as well?

Miranda Gray 13:13
Yeah, absolutely. So looking at who we were targeting in terms of bankers, in terms of private equity firms, there were different types of messages. People in the healthcare sector, particularly obviously, they’re heavily targeted, but also not just targeting people in the healthcare sector. Those people that really needed to know the message because everyone out there is targeting you with the same COVID message. But somebody who’s in oncology does not want to know about COVID right now, they want to know that they’re being careful, you know, people are looking after themselves from a healthcare point of view. COVID isn’t necessarily that message they want to know about x to them. So it’s really important that we target the right people and that’s really key to make sure that our targeting is precise. And I think, we were definitely one of the organizations that had a great team who looked through the data and analyzed it, never rushed it. We were really focused in terms of getting the right people to create the right reaction.

Carlota Pico 14:14
You know, marketing sometimes reminds me of acting, because lots of actors undergo these roles before actually going on set to be able to understand and walk in the shoes of the people that they’re going to be acting out, right. And as marketers, it’s really important for us to also walk in the shoes of our potential customers, and to walk in their shoes and understand their journey so that we can understand how they’re going to engage with our content, and how that content is going to lead them to that final click or purchase. And I think it’s always fascinating because at the end of the day, we have to know about so many different roles and so many different ways that people think and engage with content, that it’s constant research every single day and it’s constantly learning about new sectors, but not only new sectors, new personas within one sector, right?

Miranda Gray 15:08
Yeah, absolutely. And it’s interesting when you see those personas and you actually see the real life person, you kind of think, yeah, actually, you’re the typical person that I would buy for. So you have to understand exactly what it is that makes them tick, even on a real life basis. So it’s really important to kind of do the research and talk to those customers to understand why they purchased. What made them click that button that you know, like you said, the human element around them because that’s what’s going to click it. It’s not a bot at the end of the day that purchases your item.

Carlota Pico 15:40
Absolutely. Okay, we are going to be moving into our set of rapid fire questions which are your recommendations to our audience. To get this section started off, I’d like to ask you about your source of inspiration. So an influencer, a professional role model, someone that you admire, and why?

Miranda Gray 16:01
Oh, the woman of the moment, I’d say, definitely Michelle Obama, she’s really a interesting lady to come from the roots that she has, and to encourage young girls. It’s really important given where we are in the world right now. And that education is key. So for me, Michelle Obama.

Carlota Pico 16:22
Yes, definitely. I couldn’t agree more. I’m a big fan of the former First Lady. I also really love her and just love how engaged she is with women worldwide on very many different levels and subjects. And moving into a book or a publication that you’d like to recommend to our audience?

Miranda Gray 16:45
Definitely loving Marketing Week and Campaign. I think they’re really important sources of information in terms of sharing what’s happening in the industry out there. But a personal book, probably The Alchemist. It just helps me reflect on life. And I think I love that book.

Carlota Pico 17:07
Okay, The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho, I hope my pronunciation is okay. Yeah, my Portuguese isn’t as fluent yet. I’ll have to work on it. And last but not least, what’s your favorite app at the moment and why?

Miranda Gray 17:27
My favorite app is Instagram. I suppose I have two, I have Instagram and i’m loving LinkedIn at the moment. Instagram, in the fact that it’s quick, you can do the videos, and you create an emotional reaction just on an image or a video and instantly on Instagram and LinkedIn because I think you can create that thought leadership from a professional point of view. And, you know, there’s so much information out there and you know, it’s kind of really important use of a network and connecting with people.

Carlota Pico 17:59
Yeah. I definitely agree. Okay, Miranda, thank you so much for joining us on The Content Mix, absolutely loved your insights and really enjoyed our conversation.

Miranda Gray 18:08
You’re very welcome. Thank you again for having me.

Carlota Pico 18:10
Yeah, it was our pleasure. And thank you everyone for listening in. For more perspectives on the content marketing industry in Europe, check out The Content Mix. We’ll be releasing interviews just like this one every week. So keep on tuning and thanks again. Have a wonderful day, and I’ll see you next time. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai