Independent research finds 20% of digital display budget is spent programmatically by large financial organisations

Key Findings:

• 41% of large financial organisations (over 500 employees) only spend up to 20% of their digital display budget programmatically;
• 53% of large financial organisations receive between 21 – 60% of their overall web traffic on mobile;
• From the day the first credit card ad is seen, it takes the person (on average) 23 days to submit an application.

Quantcast, one of the world leaders in applying the power of Big Data and analytics to digital and mobile advertising, has today released its Real-Time Advertising: Financial Sector report, identifying key trends and opportunities for advertisers to engage customers more effectively within the financial vertical sector.

In the wake of the IAB UK’s findings that the financial sector is to account for 13% of all UK display ad spend in 2015, Quantcast surveyed 321 senior financial sector marketers in the UK, France and Germany to understand how they are currently employing digital and programmatic tactics to execute their marketing campaigns.

“The emergence of the always-on consumer has forced finance marketers to rethink how their customer undertakes the journey to purchase,” said Tina Wild, Head of Global Media Strategy at Quantcast. “This report underpins how critical it is for financial marketers to leverage the real-time changes in consumer behaviour and maximise digital ad spend investments programmatically.”

The independent research found that there is significant room for growth within the financial sector; however, this is accompanied by the need for a mindset shift when it comes to programmatic. According to the research, 41% of large financial organisations (over 500 employees) only spend up to 20% of their digital display budget programmatically and 47% of financial SMEs (under 500 employees) avoid programmatic altogether.

Based on proprietary Quantcast data, an infographic has been developed too. Quantcast was able to delve into what the typical online credit card customer looks like, and the kinds of online media they respond to.

The key trends include:

• Credit card applicants are likely to be young, professional males who live in big cities;
• 2x more likely to have a graduate degree and 2x more likely to be in the top income bracket when compared to the UK average;
• Often research international travel destinations and fine dining;
• These credit card applicants are also making purchases on retails sites, booking travel and searching for homes;
• Credit card applications on tablets are more likely to be submitted on weekend afternoons, whereas desktop is favoured during the week;
• From the day the first credit card ad is seen, it takes a person (on average) 23 days to submit an application.

Additional findings from the report include how data powered customer engagement can help better understand existing customers, and identify those consumers with similar behaviours.

“Businesses have the ability to amass consumer data in vast quantities from these devices but success will be determined by how that data is used to identify prospects, create models of new audiences and deliver personalised messages at scale,” concludes Wild.