A 1977 study by Villanova and Temple Universities was the first to identify the ‘illusory truth effect’, the phenomenon where people tend to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure.
As financial services marketers I feel we occasionally fall victim to this effect, a topical example being content engagement over the holiday period.
The logic which many of us – including myself – have frequently applied, is that financial advisors basically shut themselves off to any professional or business-related content from Christmas until the start of February.
Thinking of putting out content in January? Forget it! No one will read it; they are too busy surfing/skiing/hiking/flying/cycling/fishing/ [insert holiday-based verb].
Or something like that.
Basically, if you look at a content calendar for most companies who target financial advisors, I can almost guarantee that January will be a big, blank box.
But is this based on hard evidence? Is it even based on common sense?
As much as I love my family and my leisure time, I can pretty much guarantee I’ll be checking out LinkedIn before New Year’s Eve has even come around. Not because I am addicted to either my mobile device, or my work, but because it’s easy, and I like to stay abreast and connected to what people are saying and doing. It’s where I get ideas and inspiration for the year ahead. And entertained occasionally, too.
And it seems I am not alone.
Various studies have shown how strongly B2B audiences in particular engage with LinkedIn content outside of work hours.
- Business related engagement is higher after hours
According to LinkedIn’s own figures, B2B members are more likely to conduct business related research outside of their normal workday, meaning after hours on weekdays. But even weekends remain strong, with more than half the audience engaging.
- Engagement with LinkedIn content is higher in December
Holiday season obviously means different things in the Northern Hemisphere, where it’s winter, the December holiday season is much shorter, and people tend to return to work early in the new year.Even so, it’s still instructive to view research showing LinkedIn engagement is higher during December, a month which people are typically on holidays for a quarter of (between Christmas Day and New Year), and of which the other three quarters are arguably lost to Christmas shopping and office parties.2018 analysis of advertising engagement for B2B brands on LinkedIn showed December engagement was 18% than the average engagement rate outside of the holiday season (February through October). LinkedIn members were also more likely to volunteer to hear from brands during the holiday season — lead generation form submission increased by 22% in December.
- Technology and financial brands experience the biggest increase in content consumption
Compared to the overall averages, impressions are strongest over this period for content from technology and financial brands, respectively 5 times and 3 times the average of all categories.
- Engagement goes up 45% in summer
In the Southern Hemisphere, we get twice the reason to relax at the end of the year, as the festive season blends into the summer holidays, meaning we tend to head back to work much later than our colleagues in the North.Which is why it’s interesting to learn that LinkedIn usage doesn’t dip significantly during the summer months. Quite opposite in fact.According to LinkedIn’s own data, engagement on the platform experiences a slight increase in the summer.
In fact, 45% of LinkedIn members report spending more time on the platform during the summer months than other times of the year.
All of which means January is actually a fantastic time to publish content designed for financial advisors. I don’t mean advertising, I mean meaningful, valuable, thought-provoking content that can:
- Solve their problems, as advisors and business owners
- Inspire fresh ways of thinking and working
- Share the experiences of their advisor peers
- Showcase new innovations and products
- Keep them abreast of changes to rules
- Help them stay connected.
Just as the new year is when we make personal resolutions about our health, career, and finances, so too this is the time when advisors are eager to set themselves up for a successful year, and if your content can better equip them to meet the challenges that lie ahead, then it will be gobbled up.
Testing and learning
One of the more interesting rabbit holes I ventured down when writing this article was the statistics on the optimum time of day to post on LinkedIn.
It’s a topic where – it’s fair to say – there is glut of data, some it contradictory.
One study by HubSpot for example, advocated posting between 8am and 2pm, Tuesday through Thursday (in contrast to the LinkedIn stats quoted above).
Hootsuite on the other hand found the best time to post on LinkedIn is 7:45 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:45 p.m., and 5:45 p.m. They also found the best day for B2B brands to post on LinkedIn is Wednesday (followed by Tuesday), whereas for B2C brands, the best days were Monday, followed by Wednesday.
Of course, there are many variables that factor into these results and will drive different outcomes, including the nuances of category and target audience. Really the lesson here is to make sure you do your own testing and arrive at your own conclusions.
Ensombl testing never stops
At Ensombl, much of work for corporate partners is in co-creating- with advisors – a wealth of content designed to solve real advisor problems.
From short articles to lengthy digital whitepapers, from podcasts to videos, we are constantly tracking audience response, to ensure advisors are receiving the content they want, at the time they want it.
It’s why for example, one of our flagship channels is our ‘Sunday Session’ email, a convenient digest of all freshly launched content. We know it works because we’ve tested it to within an inch of its life over years.
In marketing speak, it is ‘data-driven’, just as the content we produce is ‘insight driven’.
Avoid ‘banner blindness’ in 2024
Our over-exposure to digital advertising has seen us develop a form of ‘banner blindness’ – we just don’t see them (that’s a topic for an entire other blog). Indeed, focusing too much on top of funnel superficial awareness building activities can actually undermine your overall spend efficiency, which is why we have solutions that can speak to advisors at every stage of the journey.
Advisors want to invest their time, not spend their time, and the way to achieve cut-through and resonance with advisors is to through content that will help them. We know that advisors place far more value on the ideas and experiences of their peers, than on one-way institutional messaging.
At Ensombl, our approach is to ‘co-create’ this content, with advisors for advisors. It’s an approach that has been shown to drive an uplift of 45% in responsiveness.
We call it the ‘co-creation’ dividend, and it’s worth pondering as you consider your plans for 2024.
I hope 2023 was everything you hoped, and may you enjoy a safe and enjoyable holiday season.
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