As a copy editor at image.works, I get to proofread a lot of creative, engaging marketing materials on a daily basis, and some of my favorites are the financial newsletters for kids. These materials are usually written in a lighthearted, easy-to-read manner, and I imagine the families who receive them enjoy reading them as much as I do.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways financial marketing can be tailored to youth. And I’m not talking about trying to put a positive spin on something that parents may prefer to avoid, like sugary cereal or the latest toy. I’m referring to genuinely helpful, informative materials, products and services that teach children about healthy savings habits and wise money management.
Here are some ways you can reach out to your younger members and customers:
- Give a small piggy bank with the name of your financial institution on it to younger children who open a savings account.
- Provide a slightly higher interest rate for youth savings accounts.
- Reward youth who make a savings deposit during their birthday month (saving their birthday money, instead of spending it) by entering their names in a monthly drawing for a prize, such as a $10 deposit into their account, or by giving younger children a small gift, like a bouncy ball, balloon or pencil with the name of your financial institution on it.
- Promote a student checking account or credit card with special guidelines and limitations to older teens, so they can begin practicing management of such an account within certain safety parameters.
- Create and distribute quarterly newsletters filled with financial tips, trivia and articles specifically tailored to youth.
- Offer financial education workshops for older teens to attend with their parents. Potential topics include educational savings accounts, buying your first car and understanding credit.
- Offer to visit the local high school and provide juniors and seniors with helpful, relevant financial tips.
Invest in the future
Keep in mind that by offering products and services tailored to the next generation, you’re investing in the future of your financial institution. Within the next decade, many of these younger members and customers will be looking for an auto loan for their first vehicle purchase and researching ways to finance their college education. Now is your opportunity to connect with the next generation of working, earning, purchasing, borrowing, investing adults, before they establish a relationship with another financial institution.
Be socially responsible
Child and Youth Finance International (CYFI) is a non-profit organization that focuses on “increasing financial inclusion and education for children and youth.” Its “Banking a New Generation” guide states, “Leading banks and financial institutions have a key role to play in the financial inclusion of children and youth around the globe. Investing in this segment makes business sense as they are tomorrow’s homeowners, consumers and entrepreneurs. It also makes sense as an integral part of a broader social responsibility investment in children” (childfinanceinternational.org). The vice president of the European Central Bank, Vitor Manuel Ribeiro Constâncio, says, “Our children have enormous potential; we need to help them fulfill it.”
Strengthen relationships
When you educate your younger accountholders, not only are you investing in tomorrow’s adults, you’re strengthening your relationship with today’s adults, the parents who do business with you. Your parent members or customers will likely appreciate your efforts to help them educate their children in the area of finances.
But be careful
In your efforts to align yourself with the young, be careful not to unintentionally alienate them. Before you go full speed ahead with a new marketing campaign focused on youth, take a look at these mistakes to avoid, according to The Financial Brand, “a digital publication focused on marketing and strategy issues affecting retail banks and credit unions”:
- Don’t talk down to them. “If you offer a youth section on your website, don’t lump the kids club with the teen club. Teens don’t want to be associated with kids and will be turned off by this” (thefinancialbrand.com). The differences between ages six and 16 are astronomical.
- Don’t neglect transitions. Make sure you put a process in place for transitioning your accountholders from your kids program to your teen program to whatever you offer young adults. Don’t assume they’ll stay with you; earn their business. Keep in mind the strategies you use for reboarding your adult customers or members. “Banks and [other] financial institutions need to manage these relationships intimately, particularly at these milestone transition points. They need to proactively support children and youth with product enhancements and value-added benefits and services that answer their changing needs, even before they are aware of their new needs” (childfinanceinternational.org).
- Don’t develop materials that are too childish for their audience. “The youth market is age aspirational, and even though they may be 14 years old, they’re already thinking about what life will be like when they’re 16” (thefinancialbrand.com).
Providing financial products and services to youth can be a tricky thing but so rewarding. Although you may not see a return on your investment by the end of the year, there’s a good chance you’ll get to see the same smiling faces coming through your doors—or the same familiar names logging on to your website—for years to come.