Cultivating an appealing digital office space for clients and investors
Matt Ryan
Matt Ryan, Chief Transformation Officer at Reef
When it comes to branding for financial businesses, there is so much more than just the logo, tagline and social media handle. Experience is fundamental part of connecting with clients and customers – this can be enhanced by creating an engaging digital environment.
Although many prominent financial organizations have invested in commodious office facilities to entice clients and investors during meetings, their digital environments don’t usually hold up to this level of prestige. For example, when businesses hold an investor meeting or an annual general meeting (AGM), they’re defaulting to generic virtual platforms or online conferencing tools that may seem more convenient. However, there’s no doubt that they’re not getting enough out of it compared to the carefully cultivated physical office spaces and experiences.
So, how can improved digital office spaces improve this area of their relationship with clients and investors?
The emergence of the digital office experience
If we think back to pandemic times briefly, in order to cope with social distancing measures holding meetings in the digital space became crucial. Many companies used it as an opportunity to improve their virtual tools so meetings ran as smoothly as possible with minimal disruption. Much of the innovation during this period significantly impacted the way we worked and collaborated with each other. I firmly believe these tools are still fit for purpose in today’s world.
Brands are held to an increasingly high expectation since more and more users want a seamless digital experience across all digital touchpoints. Brands that seize on this opportunity can create experiences that are personalized, frictionless and engaging. It can also lead to greater customer satisfaction, differentiation from competitors, and enhanced brand loyalty.
Despite the benefits of digital experiences, businesses must be cautious that they don’t fall into the trap of being scattered and inconsistent. Sometimes multiple platforms and channels don’t always integrate with each other which can limit an organization’s control over branding, analytics and, ultimately, experience.
Many organizations usually operate in silos, with different departments using disparate platforms, such as one tool for webinars, another for a survey, etc. Meanwhile, an audience engagement platform can actually add value all across the business: training, onboarding, sales demos, thought leadership content and communications. If financial businesses take a holistic approach to audience engagement, creating unique experiences for both internal and external audiences, they’re able to gain access to valuable insights and make better data-driven decisions.
Shaping the right digital experience
Firstly, it’s essential to create a single online destination for all content, whether it’s live, gated or on demand. Allowing users to sign on to a single solution removes the need to fill in a new form for every piece of content. That way, institutions can reduce friction at every stage of the journey to build a smoother, richer experience.
Audiences then need to have access to content on their own terms so they can watch what they want and when they want with ease. Removing the rigid, predefined marketing funnels, puts users at the center of the experience and can build a deeper relationship with the business’ brand.
Furthermore, as the media landscape has evolved over the years, people can enjoy a diverse range of content and consume news in a multitude of ways. This also applies to financial services. Customer, partners, prospects, investors must be engaged with in different way, so we should develop a diverse multimedia library, including videos, webinars, podcasts, courses, live streams and interactive workshops. It doesn’t necessarily have to be new as content can be worked and reworked in multiple ways to engage audiences – a video can be turned into a blog, for example. Tracking user behavior across all these different digital touchpoints helps companies keep on top of rich intent data and personalized services going forward.
Having a competitive edge
Financial organization’s that build a strong digital workplace will certainly be able to stay ahead of competition and become influential market leaders. Otherwise, companies that don’t invest in the digital experience may fall behind their competitors which seize on these advantages.
Creating a better digital experience can boost a brand for audiences and adds more value to an entire organization.
