Economy

Fin Glam vs. Fin Spam: Crafting exceptional BFSI emailers that don’t end up in trash folders

Once upon a time, there was a man named Kishan who wanted to buy his dream car. He set out on a hunt to find a bank that could loan him some money.

As soon as he typed ‘Best banks that offer car loans on the internet, he came across numerous banks with tonnes of offers laid out readily on a silver platter for him to devour.

With every offer looking more or less the same as the previous one, confused and disappointed, Kishan moved on to check his emails.

“What on Earth!” astonished Kishan said to himself on viewing 72 emails from several banks offering car loans (some promised a loan in 10 minutes tops!). 71 emails went straight to Kishan’s trash folder with just one being intriguing enough to have a second look from the subject line itself. Well… what did it say?

The amount of research and writing that goes into BFSI emailers is no joke. And it’s definitely heart-breaking to see no conversions, worse- emails ending up in a bottomless pit of the spam section. To rule out these disheartening possibilities, one must understand what constitutes creating emails that leave an impression (Clicks and otherwise). Capturing the essence of financial offerings and turning them into delectable/ click-worthy BFSI emails may seem like a daunting task but let’s put on our reading glasses and identify some golden glams and spams, shall we?

Judging Subject Lines
Spam:
Confession: I trashed BFSI emails left, right and center, minutes before I started writing this article (the source of my inspiration). Primarily for their ultra-longish and utterly boring subject lines. Although we may say, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, an email’s fate is decided by the subject lines itself.

Glam:
The first lesson I learned working as a copywriter at Motley Advertising was- ‘Subject lines are incredibly important!’. Irrespective of what the emailer copyholds, the subject line should be appetizing enough for the reader of the email to click through. One can never go wrong with a maximum of 8 words, making it conversational (‘cause we are speaking to humans) and a pinch of wordplay.

Another quick tip would be to not reveal the climax. BFSI Subject lines are just teasers of an emailer. There’s hardly any room for anticipation if the plot is revealed in the teaser itself, isn’t it? Having said that, subject line space is so underrated. We live in a world of instant messages where most of the time, one doesn’t require words to communicate; just a little emoji/emoticon does the trick. Experimenting with emojis can swiftly spice up a rather dull ‘This stock is trending, invest now’ subject line (Provided one doesn’t go crazy with multiple emojis). Use 2-3, which are contextual to the emailer copy, and you are all set!

Gratitude Confetti
Spam:

Generic is passé. Thousands of traders getting a handful of similar, repetitive emails from their investment service provider end up directly in the bin. Such emails for the masses would have made sense if it was the early 2000s era, but the times have changed drastically, with customization at its peak. A major flaw that I have noticed in hundreds of BFSI emails that I receive daily (I read them all) is definitely the part where the communication lacks in addressing the receiver or acknowledging the amount of time and transactions I have had with the respective brand.

Glam:
A fin-corp that understands its customer’s investment patterns and recommends products that would pique their interest is like swaad-anusar namak to a delicious delicacy. Compiling a targeted copy for people who are interested in your BFSI brand can increase transactions by 5x. It’s as simple as receiving complimentary desserts from our favorite eatery on our birthday that makes us go, “Aww…That’s really sweet!”. Similarly, when loyalist customers receive an email from their bank that greets them with words of affirmation, it instantly establishes a positive connection, and they tend to read on further. For a change, an emailer saying that I have transacted over 5+ times and, therefore, a reward or an offer is presented to me automatically revives the urge to explore more.

Call To Action Game
Spam:

Instance- Remember the time when sales representatives used to knock on our doors with a variety of products ranging from appliances to insurance? Response- A standard answer from most of the potential customers would be a NO or slam shutting of the doors! Getting a reaction or observing if the customers are interested is still pretty much easier in person. But sending an email remains a nerve-racking task in order to lure customers into clicking that damn (pardon) lifeless CTA button! If the emailer CTA fails to ignite the spark or even a little twitch, it’s a lost battle.

Glam:
It’s refreshing to see a CTA button that says, ‘Open A Vault’ or ‘I’m investment ready!’. Unusual CTAs are said to be most effective for conversions. The tonality that suits your BFSI brand or going full throttle on the wackiness, the language of CTA must reflect what you want your customer to do. 78% of customers agree that they like to be told what to do (I know, right?).
And the best part! You don’t have to wait till the end of the email to place the CTA button, as the customers might engage with the communication at any touchpoint. Have a direct and brief call-to-action to avoid giving mixed signals to your customer (confused customer = lost customer).
Less Speaks Volumes Spam:
Another confession: Too many words and no play make the investors drowsy (There, I said it!). Lengthy emails are directly proportional to lost interest in 2.7 microseconds (just kidding, not entirely, though). There’s no proven theory that consolidating all the financial gyaan into one email can get you conversions. It’s high time to spare the excruciating details and leave some room for the customers to imagine what it would feel to own a house of their own with a car through the loan services that your brand has to offer.
Glam:
The mantra of a clean writing job is self-filtration in stage 1 itself. You’re best bet while weaving a finance emailer would be tying the loose ends and making the copy tighter. I get it. BFSI emailers need to communicate the Core Value Propositions (CVPs) and complex information that’s elaborated in detail; it then becomes the job of a copywriter to skim and weed out the extra words. Comes from a personal experience- while redundancy is the key to crafting tighter emailer copy, the essence should remain intact. Fidgeting with shorter synonyms and usage of short forms (where and becomes &), while keeping the story at heart primarily helps in making the emailer clutter-free, so receivers can focus on the gist and make a note of their key takeaways.
(A smart email speaks for itself, preach!)
No, it’s writers who curate it with bite-sized appetizing words and designers who plate it with aesthetic garnishing. Now that we’ve witnessed the BFSI spam-glam teaser, step into the shoes of a reader and pose questions like, ‘How will I react to an emailer as such?’, ‘Will I be intrigued by this line and invest in the plan?’, ‘Does this CTA make me click and download the investment app?’, you get the drift.
The authored article is written by Gauri Raorane and shared with Prittle Prattle News  exclusively.
Must Read –  Women empowerment
Follow Us: Facebook Instagram | Twitter YouTube | LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr

Related Posts

1 of 185