Here’s how BFSI brands are getting creative on TikTok and reaping results

• BFSI brands are getting creative on new-age platforms like TikTok, to stay connected with the younger audience.
• Brands like Khatabook, Angel Broking and Money View have been using the platform smartly, to ensure they are present where their young consumers are.

Millennials and Gen Z are some of the most sought after consumers for most brands today and they are not an easy set of audience to crack. These young consumers are going to be big future spenders and therefore it is imperative for brands to try and become a part of their lives.

The Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) has slowly been upping its spend in advertising. A recent report titled ‘The era of consumer A.R.T.’ by FICCI-EY stated that BFSI accounted for 4% of the total advertising pie in 2019. A lot of brands are putting a lot of their monies on various digital platforms, and understandably, because that’s where the consumer is.

A lot of BFSI brands have therefore left no stone unturned to make sure they endear themselves to this younger set of audience, and the easiest way of doing it is by expanding their presence on new-age platforms that are used by them. We recently noticed a few BFSI brands think out of the box and get innovative on TikTok.

For Bangalore-based startup, Khatabook, the aim of utilizing a platform like TikTok was to reach out to and engage with a relevant target audience and ensure that there’s a surge in its app downloads. Ved Prakash Yadav, Vice-President, Khatabook said that’s exactly what its campaign on TikTok helped them do.

“Our focus has been to build financial solutions for a billion Indians. In order to achieve that, we have been investing in credible partners to help us build that capacity in our journey to fulfill this goal. TikTok has been an excellent growth partner, who has helped us reach our relevant target audience and scale our app downloads in a very short period. By using lookalike audience and experimenting with campaign bidding strategies, we have been able to acquire users effectively at a low CPI. We hope to implement for our learning for continued growth on TikTok,” he said.

With the advent of social media, it has been increasingly difficult for brands to hold the audience’s attention. However, a story told on a platform in a language that the younger audience understands is a clever way of ensuring that people listen to you.

Speaking about why TikTok as a platform worked for the brand, Prabhakar Tiwari, CMO, Angel Broking said, “The millennials are on rise and are looking for their financial independence. More and more urban and rural audiences, now equipped with the power of mobile data are getting themselves accustomed to new ways of the world. Video viewing is preferred more than any other form of medium by users on the internet. With TikTok we found that their diverse user base, both geographically and linguistically, helps us reach our audience across cities. Creator-led content during our Smart Sauda campaign on TikTok helped us scale-up our campaigns with an approach to reach out to a wider audience quickly. Being amongst the first Stock Broking companies, we benefit from the first mover advantage. The Jhoom Utho and Smart Sauda Campaign on the platform gave us positive results and lots of learning about genres, formats and influencer led content for these platforms.”

Another Bengaluru-based financial services company that used TikTok and witnessed a growth in its customer base was Money View. Throwing light on how investing on the platform helped the company, Nikhil Arora, Head of Marketing, Money View said, “We have received an incredible response from the TikTok community in a short span. Our focus was to highlight the convenience and benefits of using the Money View Loans app. Our partnership has significantly contributed to our customer growth and has created a healthier lead generation ecosystem. Using lookalike audiences has helped us broaden our scales with lower acquisition cost.”

Speaking about why BFSI brands are finding value in using TikTok for their brand campaigns, Sameer Singh, Vice-President, Monetization, TikTok India said, “TikTok’s diverse demographics are attracting a slew of brands from across categories, including BFSI. Apart from the opportunity to engage with 200 million users on the platform, TikTok offers a whole new way to engage with Gen-Z and millennial consumers as BFSI brands look to embrace newer digital touchpoints. In the last few months, we have successfully partnered with brands ranging from banks, financial service providers, fintech to digital banking platforms - enabling them to implement creative content marketing campaigns with our tailor-made and unique ad solutions."