By Dr Rebecca Swift, Global Head of Creative Insights for iStock

Due to the uncertainty of the last year and the economic fall-out from the pandemic, financial service providers need to rely on impactful marketing like never before. At a time when consumers are having to make tough choices related to their finances, selecting empathetic and relatable visuals for your marketing materials goes a long way to inspiring trust and making your customers feel understood.

Choosing between the wealth of stock images, illustrations, vectors and videos on offer can seem overwhelming, particularly when it comes to knowing which type of visuals to use to drive optimum engagement among your customers. Over the last two years as part of our Visual GPS research, we’ve surveyed over 10,000 consumers and professionals in 13 languages across 26 countries to understand what is driving their purchasing decision making and how that impacts their visual preferences. Taking these insights and pairing them with our search and download data, we were able to identify five key trends when it comes to financial service marketing.

Humanise technology

A recent study by Deloitte showed that the pandemic has encouraged many banks to implement new digital features, such as remote identification and verification. Whilst the financial service industry is increasingly embracing technology, it still faces certain challenges. Technology has exacerbated the gap between consumers and their financial providers – with branches closing and in-person customer service replaced by mobile apps and chatbots, most people can never put the proverbial face on their financial service institutions.

At the same time, our Visual GPS data shows consumers’ concerns about AI and cybersecurity are growing: 4 out of 10 respondents said AI makes them nervous.

On the one hand, technology offers the convenience many consumers crave but often at the expense of human contact. Choose images which are personable in order to foster a sense of connection. Visuals which show how technology benefits people’s everyday lives – such as doing mobile banking over breakfast or messaging customer support whilst walking the dog – will be instantly relatable and help consumers engage more easily with their financial service providers.

Don’t fake real

Realness and authenticity are topics constantly discussed in the media and, increasingly, in the business world too. It would be a miscalculation to call this simply a trend though—it’s an ongoing story about long-overdue acceptance of our differences and a sense of empathy for how others experience the world. Particularly for consumers, it has become a fundamental principle; according to Visual GPS data, 68 percent of respondents say it’s important to them that the businesses they work with celebrate diversity of all kinds. This includes financial service providers. When it comes to choosing content, select visuals which authentically reflect your customer base and consider intersecting factors such as age, ability, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, body shape and religion.

Individual togetherness

For too long, financial service providers have used visuals of powerful business executives – think the classic, blue-toned images of the middle-aged man with his arms crossed – to inspire trust. Yet those images didn’t resonate with customers and simply put, are not the type of content people engage with anymore.

At iStock, we are seeing an increase in searches for the term “belonging” as the industry looks to create a sense of humanity through its visual communications. Striking the right balance between representation of consumers both as individuals and as part of a collective is key for financial services businesses looking to engage consumers.

Use relatable, everyday objects

“Non-people” visual content was first widely used by financial services brands in 2005 and is a mainstay today. This type of content allows businesses to convey concepts that are tricky to visualise such as risk, strategy, ownership, and law. However, it’s important that “non-people” visual content retains the human element by using everyday objects which people can easily identify with and recognise.

Get back to nature

Gen-Z and millennials who are new to the financial world are bringing intense savviness when deciding which providers to choose. Younger generations are placing far more emphasis on the importance of social change and as a result we’re seeing increases in searches for themes related to sustainability. According to our Visual GPS data, only 41 percent of respondents believe that convenience is more important than the environment, a telling statistic about the motivations of consumers.

To engage with the younger generation, ensure you are visualising your sustainable practices. Perhaps you have moved to paperless statements or have put a new recycling policy in place. Think about how you can visualise these new initiatives in your marketing. This will go a long way to creating a greater connection with your younger customers.