2018 Building Societies Digital Census: How digitally mature are UK building societies? About this report Contents

Digital disruption has transformed the financial services sector. Introduction 04 Fintech companies have turned the industry on its head and Digital Maturity Ranking 06 changed the way Britain manages its finances. Traditional brands in the sector must wake up. Every financial services business must Digital Maturity Explained 08 re-evaluate their digital transformation roadmap. Mobile Optimisation 10 After working within the sector, we identified several digital challenges that building societies are facing. We’ve conducted in-depth research into the top 40 UK building Website Speed 12 societies to evaluate how they are performing digitally. Content 16 Our research reviewed each building societies’ digital maturity based on Utility 18 eight key aspects. Using leading digital industry tools, we allocated each business eight individual scores, which are combined to provide their overall digital Call to Action 20 maturity ranking. Search Marketing 22 We’ve produced this report to share our findings with the financial services sector. As experts in the field of digital marketing for building societies, we’ve included Email Marketing 26 guidance on how organisations can overcome these challenges. Social Media 28

Who is it for? About Kagool 30

The findings and commentary in this report are for financial services industry professionals. Decision makers for marketing, digital innovation or IT can use these insights to help inform their digital strategy and find out how their sector is performing as a benchmark.

02 03 1 // Introduction

In recent years the financial sector has taken steps to invest in digital. Our research into the Millennials are one of the biggest influencers for“ Over 60% of the top building top 40 UK building societies discovered a wide spectrum of how innovative and digitally digital strategy. They are the digital natives that are mature UK building societies are. clients, employees and potential future recruits. 41% societies are missing out on of millennials prefer to communicate through digital targeted and measurable traffic The majority of businesses we reviewed are engaged on social media channels, predominantly LinkedIn. However, channels over face-to-face or phone conversation. It building societies are still struggling to win new customers, develop existing relationships and to recruit talent is paramount that building societies are considering from paid search advertising.” from digital marketing. this in their digital marketing strategies. Tweet this The financial sector is making an effort to change and embrace new digital trends, but how well are they able to The 2018 Office of National Statistics reported that compete for the business of younger generations? 4 billion internet users globally and 90% of adults Our study highlighted that only 17 of the top 40 in the UK use the internet. It’s crucial for building building societies invest in paid search advertising to societies to be visible online. Their websites need to drive traffic to their websites. The few organisations “We found a clear relationship 40% of millennial users are happy to consider Google be appropriately optimised for search engines, so they that have embraced channels like Google Ads are or Amazon for banking. In addition, nearly 50% of the can be found easily. between building societies’ generating low cost leads from new customers. By same generation are most likely to use search engines putting their brand at the forefront of online search, social media scores and their like Google to find investment advice, savings solutions they’re capturing website traffic that could have been or plans. This important segment of 24-38 searching for their competitors’ websites. overall digital maturity.” year olds also are looking to social platforms to engage

Tweet this with wealth planners; signalling that building societies To get ahead and stay ahead of their competitors, need to be active on these channels and have a building societies need to successfully implement website that’s optimised across devices. digital tactics that are disrupting the sector. This report highlights the current state of the top UK building societies’ digital maturity, identifying strengths, weaknesses and how they perform and compare in the digital arena.

All data and information in this report remains the copyright of Fusion Workshop Limited and its partners. No reproduction in whole or part, including photocopying, is permitted without the written consent and license of Fusion Workshop Limited. While every effort has been made to ensure the quality of the information provided, Fusion Workshop Limited and its partners will not be held responsible for any errors or omissions. No warranty (expressed or implied) is given as to the accuracy or completeness of the document.

04 05 2 // Digital Maturity Ranking

Assets Assets Assets Assets Position Score % Organisation Rank Position Score % Organisation Rank Position Score % Organisation Rank Position Score % Organisation Rank

1 72 Cumberland 10 11 60 13 21 56 33 31 44 29

2 69 4 12 59 Monmouthshire Building Society 15 22 53 Tipton & Coseley Building Society 28 32 43 Bath Investment & Building Society 34

3 68 Nottingham Building Society 9 13 58 Principality Building Society 6 23 52 Darlington Building Society 21 33 42 Building Society 36

4 68 16 13 58 Hinckley & Rugby Building Society 19 24 51 Stafford Railway Building Society 35 34 41 Loughborough Building Society 32

5 66 Nationwide Building Society 1 13 58 Building Society 20 25 50 Market Harborough Building Society 23 35 41 Buckinghamshire Building Society 38

6 65 Teachers Building Society 37 13 58 Hanley Economic Building Society 27 25 50 Scottish Building Society 25 36 36 Harpenden Building Society 31

7 64 5 17 58 18 25 50 Mansfield Building Society 30 37 34 Beverley Building Society 40

8 63 West Bromwich Building Society 7 18 57 24 28 49 The Melton Building Society 22 38 30 Manchester Building Society 26

8 63 Newcastle Building Society 8 19 56 Progressive Building Society 12 29 49 Leek United Building Society 17 39 29 Chorley and District Building Society 39

10 61 Yorkshire Building Society 2 19 56 The Cambridge Building Society 14 30 48 Coventry Building Society 3 40 26 National Counties Building Society 11

06 07 2 // Digital Maturity Explained

What is digital maturity? Assets and maturity

Digital maturity is the term used to describe how Although the sector has had some reservations with There’s an undeniable trend between assets under innovative and effective an organisation is based adopting cloud computing, there’s been a significant management and a building society’s digital maturity. on their use of digital marketing and technology. shift towards this technology more recently. Over Our research highlighted that not all building societies Maturity can be demonstrated in many ways, such 85% of the world’s financial institutions now use are investing effectively in digital technology and as implementing new operational techniques, cloud solutions from Microsoft Azure because of its marketing. security methods or even prioritising digital training. scalability potential. Effective digital investment translates into new Digital maturity is also about keeping up to date with business leads, increased revenue, new recruitment “Over 85% of the world’s digital trends and how they can benefit an organisation. opportunities, enhanced brand perception and great This is a broad subject and difficult to measure. customer service. Building societies that are digitally financial institutions now mature are in a strong position to grow and thrive as Our in-depth research into the top 40 UK building the sector innovates through digital transformation. use cloud solutions.” societies focusses on eight core aspects of digital marketing. After carrying out a series of tests, we were Tweet this able to calculate an overall score for each organisation’s digital maturity. Relationship between assets and digital maturity

80

60

What 40 Mobile optimisation Calls to action (CTA)

20

has been (%) Score Digital Maturity Website speed Search marketing 0

Nationwide Building Society Sa fron Building Society Scottish Building Society Teachers Building Society measured? Website Content Email marketing For each building society we’ve analysed their Building Societies in order of assets Utility Social Media performance, activity and presence in:

08 09 3 //

Globally, 98% of smartphone owners say they use their Despite embracing some level of mobile presence, Mobile Optimisation mobile to search for information. 94% of this segment website speed seems to have been overlooked by use their mobiles for reading articles and blogs. In the 37% of the top UK building societies that we reviewed. current digital landscape, which is still evolving, building These all showed a loading time in excess of eight Optimising a company website for mobile can help to increase societies without a mobile-first approach may have seconds, which is below average for the finance sector. conversion rates by 5% or more. This, amongst a long list of already fallen behind. According to Ofcom, UK web browsing speed averages other benefits, shows that it’s imperative for building societies at 0.32 seconds, indicating that traffic to mobile sites will Our research found that the majority of the top 40 UK quickly drop-off. These impatient audiences are likely to to have an effective mobile presence that can engage with building societies are switched on when it comes to continue their customer journey on a competitor’s site. target audiences around the clock. Organisations without a being mobile-ready. Only 20% of the organisations we mobile-optimised website risk losing business opportunities to tested don’t have mobile optimised websites. Mobile optimisation testing took into account a their competitors. number of errors. The impact of these is lost audience “98% of smartphone owners opportunities: worldwide say they use their - Text size - Clickable features Score mobile to search for information.” - Plugin compatibility - View port (screen size) 10/10 Tweet this

Nationwide Building Society If building societies want to keep mobile visitors Scottish Building Society Yorkshire Building Society engaged on their website, then there is no room for Manchester Building Society Coventry Building Society errors. If something doesn’t work or isn’t easy to use, Hanley Economic Building visitors will leave the site and choose an alternative that Skipton Building Society Society is fully optimised for mobile, giving them the best user Leeds Building Society Tipton & Coseley Building experience. If a website has errors on mobile devices, West Bromwich Building Society there are plenty of alternative options for visitors. Most Society of the organisations in our research are taking steps Mansfield Building Society Nottingham Building Society to tackle mobile, with 80% of the top 40 UK building Harpenden Building Society societies scoring full marks for mobile optimisation. The Cumberland Building Society Loughborough Building considerations are how this aspect is supported by Progressive Building Society Society other core areas of digital, i.e. website speed, which can Saffron Building Society Vernon Building Society impact the building societies’ overall online visibility.

The Cambridge Building Stafford Railway Building Society Society Aggregators, such as Money Supermarket or Compare the Market, are a great lead generator for building Monmouthshire Building societies. They provide qualified leads on a cost per Society Teachers Building Society acquisition basis, with minimal risk. Aggregators are Newbury Building Society Buckinghamshire Building smooth operators, with a great user experience across Leek United Building Society Society multiple devices, honed through constant testing. Furness Building Society 05/10 03/10 Receiving traffic from these sources can pose a risk Hinckley and Rugby Building for building societies that do not have a website that’s Society Principality Building Society Dudley Building Society optimised for mobile. Visitors expect a seamless user Darlington Building Society Newcastle Building Society Bath Investment & Building experience as they move from one site to another and Society The Melton Building Society National Counties Building building societies that invest in media without taking a Society Market Harborough Building 0/10 mobile first approach to their websites are wasting time Society and money if when they land on their site it doesn’t load Chorley and District Building or navigate well. Marsden Building Society Beverley Building Society Society

10 11 4 // Website Speed

Digital performance is directly impacted by website speed. Google states that seconds can attribute to lost website traffic, and in-turn revenue.

Almost 50% of website visitors expect a website The top UK building societies are performing below the “53% of people abandon a website that takes to load in under two seconds according to a recent industry average for website speed. Only 5% of the 40 survey from Akamai and Gomez.com. That’s a very brief organisations we tested registered an excellent site more than 3 seconds to load.” window for building societies to keep their audience speed, whilst 37.5% of the building societies have poor Tweet this engaged. loading speeds of eight seconds or longer.

Score out Score out Score out Score out Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10

1 West Bromwich Building Society 7 11 Swansea Building Society 4.5 21 Vernon Building Society 2.5 31 Skipton Building Society 1

2 Ipswich Building Society 7 12 Cumberland Building Society 4 22 Nationwide Building Society 2 32 Coventry Building Society 0.5

3 Market Harborough Building Society 6 13 Saffron Building Society 4 23 Newbury Building Society 2 33 Leeds Building Society 0

4 Scottish Building Society 6 14 Furness Building Society 4 24 The Melton Building Society 2 34 Nottingham Building Society 0

5 Principality Building Society 5.5 15 Dudley Building Society 4 25 Loughborough Building Society 2 35 National Counties Building Society 0

6 Manchester Building Society 5 16 Tipton & Coseley Building Society 3.5 26 Yorkshire Building Society 1.5 36 Leek United Building Society 0

7 Hanley Economic Building Society 5 17 Hinckley and Rugby Building Society 3 27 Newcastle Building Society 1.5 37 Marsden Building Society 0

8 Stafford Railway Building Society 5 18 Darlington Building Society 3 28 The Cambridge Building Society 1.5 38 Mansfield Building Society 0

9 Chorley and District Building Society 5 19 Bath Investment & Building Society 3 29 Monmouthshire Building Society 1.5 39 Teachers Building Society 0

10 Progressive Building Society 4.5 20 Harpenden Building Society 2.5 30 Buckinghamshire Building Society 1.5 40 Beverley Building Society 0

12 13 4 //

Website Speed (continued)

We tested the speed for each building society’s website home page “Website speed does affect conversion rate, using a standard 3G connection. Google predicts the 70% of mobile network connections worldwide will occur at 3G or slower speeds customer loyalty and revenue.” through 2020. Tweet this Your site Top performers 10s 3s 4s 5s 8s

Excellent Good Fair Poor

Website speed is one of multiple signals that Google An additional one second delay can have serious uses to rank your site in its search results. If your site implications, according to industry research. Just one is performing well in other aspects, website speed second delay can cause a 7% reduction in conversions Perception with won’t heavily impact Google’s search results. However, and an 11% loss of page views. The benefits of website speed does affect conversion rate, customer increasing a website’s speed by just one second has a loyalty and revenue. much more welcomed influence. Improving the loading At a good 500ms delay: speed by one second for sites that generate £100,000 daily, could bring in an additional £7,000. speed: Website speed also influences brand perception. In today’s digital climate we expect professional brands to deliver what we need almost instantly. A study by Radware into how slow web pages undermine brands, asked users to describe a website that loaded at a good speed and then again when the speed was delayed by 500ms. The sudden shift in perception demonstrated • Easy-to-use • Slow how powerful website speed is for organisations that wish to successfully attract or retain audiences. • Mobile-friendly • Boring

• Fast • Basic

• Clean • Clunky

• Simple • Child-like

14 15 5 // Content

The financial services sector doesn’t prioritise content. Its reported that creating compelling content is valued more across other industries, with only 7% of financial services organisations listing content marketing as key to their digital strategy.

Content marketing receives three times more leads Relevant, insightful content that is posted regularly It’s not just simply written content that get the best However, only 7 of the 40 organisations used video than paid advertising, costs 41% less and 70% of is a great way to engage audiences, gain their trust results either. Using visual content, like images or video, content. customers say they feel closer to a business after and help to secure their business. The longer that can also help to improve online visibility and increase engaging with their content. The financial services organisations can hold their visitors’ attention, the website visits. The Search Engine Journal 2018 reports In addition to regular, relevant and varied content. sector is missing out on this business opportunity. higher chance of conversion. 85% of marketers in the that traffic volumes can double from having a video The technical aspects of content marketing are also Our findings for the building societies we researched UK say that high quality and more efficient content thumbnail in search results. The top 40 UK building essential drivers of success. support this, with over 42% of organisations scoring creation has contributed to increased success. societies seem to be switched on to the benefits of

poorly for content. Only one building society scored using graphics or photography, with 87.5% including full marks. images on their sites.

Score out Score out Score out Score out Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10

1 Newcastle Building Society 10 11 Teachers Building Society 8 21 Vernon Building Society 6 31 Harpenden Building Society 4

2 Nationwide Building Society 8 12 Yorkshire Building Society 6 22 Bath Investment & Building Society 6 32 Loughborough Building Society 4

3 Leeds Building Society 8 13 Skipton Building Society 6 23 Stafford Railway Building Society 6 33 Swansea Building Society 4

4 Principality Building Society 8 14 Cumberland Building Society 6 24 The Cambridge Building Society 4 34 Buckinghamshire Building Society 4

5 West Bromwich Building Society 8 15 Progressive Building Society 6 25 Leek United Building Society 4 35 Chorley and District Building Society 4

6 Nottingham Building Society 8 16 Monmouthshire Building Society 6 26 Darlington Building Society 4 36 Beverley Building Society 4

7 Saffron Building Society 8 17 Furness Building Society 6 27 Market Harborough Building Society 4 37 Coventry Building Society 2

8 Newbury Building Society 8 18 Marsden Building Society 6 28 Scottish Building Society 4 38 National Counties Building Society 2

9 Hinckley and Rugby Building Society 8 19 Hanley Economic Building Society 6 29 Dudley Building Society 4 39 The Melton Building Society 2

10 Ipswich Building Society 8 20 Tipton & Coseley Building Society 6 30 Mansfield Building Society 4 40 Manchester Building Society 0

16 17 6 // By 2020 its expected that half the world’s population will be digital natives and used to an omni-channel customer experience. It’s up to building societies Utility to ensure that they’re meeting these expectations through their digital estates, including providing self-service utilities such as branch finders, service A great website is more than just a brochure. Successful calculators or apps. brands enable people to complete tasks rather than simply Apps account for nearly 90% of mobile media time, digest content and complete forms. This includes submitting which is a strong opportunity for building societies applications, comparing products and making financial to use that space to build relationships and retain transactions. Gartner predicts that by 2020, 85% of customer business. Our report identified that only 10% of the interactions will be automated. A reasonable forecast when top 40 building societies provide an app. Surprisingly, customers already want to be self-sufficient and are happy 77.5% offer online banking but not the convenience of to rely on digital tools for most of their service needs. an app to access it.

“Apps account for nearly 90% Score of mobile media time” 10/10 Scottish Building Society Tweet this

Nationwide Building Society Hanley Economic Building Society Skipton Building Society Microsoft’s Global State of Multichannel Customer Mansfield Building Society Cumberland Building Society Service Report stated that 90% of customers Vernon Building Society worldwide expect organisations to provide online 08/10 Teachers Building Society self-service portals, with customer support ranking Yorkshire Building Society as a high priority for UK industries. Therefore, building Coventry Building Society societies that offer access to self-service features like apps and calculators stand to benefit when clients Leeds Building Society 06/10 can manage their own documents, access resources Progressive Building Society Principality Building Society or view other informative content remotely. 75% of the West Bromwich Building Leek United Building Society building societies we reviewed offer a calculator to Society Ipswich Building Society assist the user with their financial decisions. Newcastle Building Society Market Harborough Building Nottingham Building Society Society

Saffron Building Society Tipton & Coseley Building “75% of the building societies Society 04/10 The Cambridge Building we reviewed offer a calculator Society Dudley Building Society Darlington Building Society

Monmouthshire Building Loughborough Building Harpenden Building Society to assist the user with their Society Society Stafford Railway Building financial decisions.” Newbury Building Society Bath Investment & Building Society Society Tweet this Furness Building Society Swansea Building Society Buckinghamshire Building Hinckley and Rugby Building Society 02/10 Society Chorley and District Building National Counties Building The Melton Building Society Society Society Marsden Building Society Beverley Building Society Manchester Building Society

18 19 7// “It’s estimated that CTAs that are embedded into your written Call to Action content will increase conversion rate by more than 120%.” Digital goals vary across building societies. Organisations may have different aims Tweet this for their websites to achieve. A constant Calls to action (CTAs) are crucial to generate business objective is to start a dialogue with a target by directing website visitors to the completion of audience that leads to a successful outcome. tasks. This could be something like filling in an enquiry form, using a live chat service, downloading a brochure or making a recruitment application. It’s estimated that Score CTAs that are embedded into your written content will increase conversion rate by more than 120%. Overall, the top 40 UK building societies we researched 10/10 performed well for their use of calls to action. Cumberland Building Society Noticeably, over 67% of these businesses provide an

Saffron Building Society online booking service, which is promising but also an indication that they’re still missing out on a lot of The Cambridge Building opportunities to convert engaged website visitors. Society Hinckley and Rugby Building When visitors land on a website they need to have a Society clear signpost for each outcome. This helps potential clients navigate smoothly and also gives marketers Vernon Building Society 08/10 the opportunity to tailor user journeys towards their Nationwide Building Society Bath Investment & Building CTAs. To achieve this, user experience (UX) should be Society considered in the embryonic stages of every website Yorkshire Building Society Stafford Railway Building build. A recent study found that abandonment rates on Skipton Building Society Society financial websites was higher than average. The 77.8% West Bromwich Building Teachers Building Society abandonment rate could be due to overly complicated Society forms or questioning. User experience should be Beverley Building Society Newcastle Building Society informing CTAs to drive conversions successfully.

Nottingham Building Society 06/10 All of the building societies we researched clearly Progressive Building Society Leeds Building Society display their phone number on either their contact Monmouthshire Building page or homepage, however the lack of live chat Principality Building Society Society Harpenden Building Society opportunities was a lot less promising. National Counties Building Newbury Building Society Loughborough Building Society Live chat is the leading digital content method Society Econsultancy found that live chat has the highest Leek United Building Society Furness Building Society client satisfaction level, beating every other support- Ipswich Building Society Market Harborough Building 04/10 based channel. Only 7 of the top UK building societies Darlington Building Society Society provide their clients with an online live chat facility, Coventry Building Society suggesting most of the top 40 are relying on email or The Melton Building Society Manchester Building Society Swansea Building Society phone for customer contact. This could mean that the Marsden Building Society Hanley Economic Building Buckinghamshire Building 82.5% of building societies that are neglecting to offer Society Scottish Building Society Society % % % live chat risk losing potential business opportunities to Dudley Building Society Tipton & Coseley Building Chorley and District Building 42 23 16 their competitors that are digitally engaging with their Society Mansfield Building Society Society Live chat Email Social media audience.

20 21 8 // “504 million financial services searches took place in 2016. Search Marketing Building societies need to be digitally visible more than ever Search engines drive 93% of all website traffic, making search before if they want to get ahead.” marketing an incredibly powerful technique for organisations to adopt into their overall digital marketing strategy. Tweet this

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is more than eight The financial services search engine results pages We tested each of the 40 top UK building societies times more effective than traditional marketing. (SERPs) are dominated by comparison sites. 504 on their search performance, which focussed on There is a direct relationship between building million financial services searches took place in 2016. referral sources, pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and societies that rank highly for organic search queries Building societies need to be digitally visible more than organic results. We looked at 9 different elements that and their assets value. Our research discovered that ever before if they want to get ahead. demonstrate effective search marketing. the top 10 building societies by assets, also rank in the top 10 for organic traffic.

Score out Score out Score out Score out Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10 Position Organisation of 10

1 Nationwide Building Society 10 11 Monmouthshire Building Society 7 21 Progressive Building Society 4 31 Marsden Building Society 1

2 Yorkshire Building Society 9 12 Furness Building Society 6.5 22 Newbury Building Society 4 32 Beverley Building Society 1

3 Skipton Building Society 9 13 Saffron Building Society 6 23 Hanley Economic Building Society 4 33 Scottish Building Society 0.5

4 Leeds Building Society 9 14 The Cambridge Building Society 6 24 Dudley Building Society 3.5 34 Tipton & Coseley Building Society 0.5

5 Nottingham Building Society 9 15 Leek United Building Society 6 25 The Melton Building Society 3 35 Harpenden Building Society 0.5

6 Principality Building Society 8.5 16 Mansfield Building Society 5.5 26 Bath Investment & Building Society 3 36 Stafford Railway Building Society 0.5

7 Newcastle Building Society 8.5 17 Hinckley and Rugby Building Society 5 27 Darlington Building Society 2.5 37 Buckinghamshire Building Society 0.5

8 Cumberland Building Society 8.5 18 Market Harborough Building Society 5 28 National Counties Building Society 2 38 Manchester Building Society 0

9 Coventry Building Society 7. 5 19 Teachers Building Society 5 29 Swansea Building Society 2 39 Vernon Building Society 0

10 West Bromwich Building Society 7 20 Ipswich Building Society 4.5 30 Loughborough Building Society 1.5 40 Chorley and District Building Society 0

22 23 8 //

PPC Ad Slot Universal listing Organic result Search Marketing (continued) achieved through SEO achieved through SEO

PPC advertising is a quick way to increase online visibility. Google reported that PPC ads can increase brand awareness by 80% and on average have an ROI of 200%.

As advertisers only pay when a visitor clicks an ad, PPC is a very economical method of advertising, with huge ROI potential. It can ensure a top spot in Google results, and enables marketers to be strategic with targeting in terms of keywords, locations and devices.

“Google reported that PPC ads can increase brand awareness by 80% and on average have an ROI of 200%.”

Tweet this

Building societies only stand to gain from using Only 37.5% of the building societies we researched search as a part of their strategy. Simply having the are currently utilising PPC. These organisations gain best service, at the best rates, displayed on the most an average of 2200 visits to their websites monthly visually pleasing website is not enough. To raise brand from PPC advertising alone. Interestingly, the building awareness to a targeted audience, to drive business societies that are using and benefiting from traffic or to recruit the next generation of professionals, volumes from PPC are split throughout the 40 building building societies must be digitally visible. Search is societies by asset value. what will achieve this, and in-turn help them achieve their goals. “Only 37.5% of the building societies we researched are currently utilising PPC. These organisations gain an average of 2200 visits to their websites monthly from PPC advertising alone.”

Tweet this

24 25 9 // Email Marketing “72% of people prefer email over Email marketing produces 174% more conversions than social media and 73% of marketers rate email as the best channel overall for ROI. any other communication for Email campaigns are a great tool for generating new business and business. Our research found an easy way to retain clients and keep audiences informed. that 75% of the top UK building societies are ignoring the benefits of email marketing.”

Tweet this Score

07/10 Newsletter subscriptions are a gift to marketers that

Newbury Building Society Saffron Building Society are keen to get to know their audience and share their content to an engaged audience through a Marsden Building Society The Cambridge Building personalised channel. Enterprise level website Society Teachers Building Society platforms often have an integrated email feature, Monmouthshire Building which allows marketers to segment their client lists Society 05/10 to create campaigns that are relevant and are time Leek United Building Society sensitive in delivery. Many email platforms have Skipton Building Society Furness Building Society features to help increase engagement, like automation Leeds Building Society and personalised content that address the recipient Hinckley and Rugby Building Nottingham Building Society Society by name - which can boost open rates by 50%. Ipswich Building Society Darlington Building Society 72% of people prefer email over any other The Melton Building Society Market Harborough Building communication for business. Our research found that Dudley Building Society Society 75% of the top UK building societies are ignoring the

Vernon Building Society Scottish Building Society benefits of email marketing. Only 10 of the top building Manchester Building Society societies are in a position to gain valuable client insights and the opportunity to nurture client relationships by 0/10 Hanley Economic Building having an email subscription service. Building societies Society Nationwide Building Society that don’t have an email subscription service risk losing Tipton & Coseley Building Yorkshire Building Society out on potential revenue and visibility. Although 25% Society of the organisations we focussed on do have an email Coventry Building Society Mansfield Building Society service, we found that only a 30% send a welcome Principality Building Society Harpenden Building Society email within a 24-hour period. West Bromwich Building Loughborough Building Society The benefits of email marketing extend beyond client Society Newcastle Building Society relationships. Using email for distributing the company Bath Investment & Building Buckinghamshire Building newsletter engages staff and demonstrates inclusion, Cumberland Building Society Society Society which according to a recent Forbes study, can improve National Counties Building Stafford Railway Building Chorley and District Building morale and productivity. Society Society Society

Progressive Building Society Swansea Building Society Beverley Building Society

26 27 1 0 // Social Media

We explored how building societies use the most widely used social media platforms. This gave an overall indication on how digitally mature UK building societies are. We reviewed how well the organisations capitalise on free brand exposure, keeping their followers engaged and how they promoted their social channels on their website homepage.

By sharing great content and website links across Promote: Social media is the gift of free advertising Following: Using social media to build a ready-made Although our research showed that the level of social media channels, building societies can achieve to marketers. There’s huge opportunity across multiple audience for future campaigns is another benefit. By social media presence is widely varied across the the following: platforms to promote great content and campaigns to growing an engaged following, organisations are likely top 40 UK building societies. Within the reviewed a wide audience. to have a more positive response to new content. period of one-month, top performers demonstrated Thought leadership: Commenting on topical articles engagement with all of the main platforms, through or sharing industry news is an effortless way for Engagement: Social media can be used to engage with Increase visibility: Building societies that frequently to poor performers that only have a LinkedIn account organisations to align themselves with authoritative all industry stakeholders. Whether it’s with partners, share content on social media help to increase their page showing little to no activity. LinkedIn was the voices as well as appearing relevant. customers, future recruits or trade press, building website traffic. This sends signals to Google that high most frequently used platform amongst the building societies benefit from their likes and shares through volumes of people are visiting this page, which can societies, with Twitter and Facebook being the next Instant contact: Social media has a reputation for being reaching wider audiences and gaining higher visibility. improve SEO rankings. favoured channels. a fast-moving communications platform. Being active on social platforms gives organisations an opportunity Increase links to website: The more links gained from for a quick and personable contact with potential high authority pages, platforms or accounts signals to clients or recruits. 77% of Twitter users reported that Google that referrals are widely spread, which suggest they felt more positive about a brand after receiving a that the content they link to is important and should be tweeted response. ranked higher for key search terms.

Score out Score out Score out Score out Position Firm of 10 Position Firm of 10 Position Firm of 10 Position Firm of 10

1 Darlington Building Society 10 11 Monmouthshire Building Society 6.5 21 Teachers Building Society 5.5 31 Loughborough Building Society 3.5

2 Newcastle Building Society 9.5 12 Mansfield Building Society 6.5 22 Nationwide Building Society 5 32 Beverley Building Society 3.5

3 Cumberland Building Society 9 13 Buckinghamshire Building Society 6.5 23 Leeds Building Society 5 33 Ipswich Building Society 3

4 Tipton & Coseley Building Society 8.5 14 Yorkshire Building Society 6 24 Leek United Building Society 5 34 Market Harborough Building Society 3

5 Hanley Economic Building Society 7. 5 15 Skipton Building Society 6 25 Vernon Building Society 5 35 West Bromwich Building Society 2.5

6 Newbury Building Society 7 16 Principality Building Society 5.5 26 Swansea Building Society 5 36 Hinckley and Rugby Building Society 2.5

7 Stafford Railway Building Society 7 17 The Cambridge Building Society 5.5 27 Chorley and District Building Society 4 37 Saffron Building Society 2

8 Coventry Building Society 6.5 18 Furness Building Society 5.5 28 National Counties Building Society 3.5 38 Harpenden Building Society 2

9 Nottingham Building Society 6.5 19 Marsden Building Society 5.5 29 Scottish Building Society 3.5 39 The Melton Building Society 1.5

10 Progressive Building Society 6.5 20 Bath Investment & Building Society 5.5 30 Dudley Building Society 3.5 40 Manchester Building Society 1

28 29 11// About Kagool

Kagool is an award-winning digital agency with significant experience in the financial services sector. We’re also a top tier Sitecore Platinum Partner who helps enterprise organisations with digital strategy, website development and all aspects of digital marketing. How to improve your digital maturity

Our team of highly skilled digital specialists include 6 We have worked with a number of leading financial Get in touch with our Head of Digital Marketing internationally recognised Most Valued Professionals services organisations to produce dynamic and Strategy, Craig Johnson, to find out how we can that are ready to find smart answers to your digital bespoke Sitecore websites that deliver fantastic assist your organisation to fulfil its digital potential. challenges in web design, development, UX, SEO, PPC results. We use our expertise to create a platform or digital strategy. that meets and exceeds the everchanging consumer Head of Digital Marketing Strategy, demands in the financial services sector, as the Craig Johnson For almost 20 years we have been partnering with industry embraces digital transformation. companies to successfully deliver innovative projects Craig is a digital strategist with over 20 years’ that drive their businesses forward. Our Microsoft Gold experience, much of it in the financial services sector, Partner accreditation means that our customers can who heads up the digital marketing activity within benefit from a unique set of Sitecore services, from Kagool. Craig’s pragmatic and straight-talking approach web design and development, to 24x7 support and supports clients to easily formulate a digital strategy managed hosting on our private cloud, Amazon Web that encapsulates website optimisation, search Services or MS Azure. marketing, email marketing and content marketing. Craig has devised a digital marketing audit specifically for the financial services sector that provides competitor insights, trends and actionable insights to help customers improve their digital marketing. To arrange a session with Craig call us on: 0161 210 2424 or email: [email protected]

30 31 12// 13// References Websites Surveyed

https://www.tisindia.com/blog/how-digital-marketing-leading- Darlington Building Society Beverley Building Society financial-services-vertical/ Newcastle Building Society Ipswich Building Society Cumberland Building Society Market Harborough Building Society https://neilpatel.com/blog/loading-time/ Tipton & Coseley Building Society West Bromwich Building Society Hanley Economic Building Society Hinckley and Rugby Building Society https://www.invespcro.com/blog/importance-of-mobile-website- optimization/ Newbury Building Society Saffron Building Society Stafford Railway Building Society Harpenden Building Society https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-resources/ Coventry Building Society The Melton Building Society experience-design/mobile-page-speed-website-load-time/ Nottingham Building Society Manchester Building Society Progressive Building Society https://blog.radware.com/applicationdelivery/wpo/2013/12/ Monmouthshire Building Society mobile-stress-slow-pages-undermine-your-entire-brand/ Mansfield Building Society https://www.cmo.com/features/articles/2017/3/10/financial- Buckinghamshire Building Society services-marketing-stats-mbs-tlp.html#gs.LSkK4y0 Yorkshire Building Society Skipton Building Society https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics Principality Building Society The Cambridge Building Society https://www.evergage.com/blog/top-financial-services- Furness Building Society customer-experience-trends-2018/ Marsden Building Society https://www.superoffice.com/blog/live-chat-statistics/ Bath Investment & Building Society Teachers Building Society https://blog.salecycle.com/featured/online-financial-services- Nationwide Building Society key-stats-trends/ Leeds Building Society Leek United Building Society https://www.pi-datametrics.com/resources/market-performance- Vernon Building Society reports/financial-services/ Swansea Building Society

https://blog.red-website-design.co.uk/2018/02/15/email- Chorley and District Building Society marketing-stats-2018-infographic/ National Counties Building Society () https://www.information-age.com/banks-cloud-123472507/ Scottish Building Society Dudley Building Society Loughborough Building Society

32 33 14// Scoring Rationale

Aim

Data was collected to calculate the digital maturity of The points for each company’s variables were then UK building societies’ websites. The top 40 building added up to a possible score of 9. The top company societies are chosen based on the value of assets overall was given a score of 10. More details here. under management from the Building Societies Association website. We measured digital metrics Social Media in eight core aspects of the organisations’ digital We looked at how each organisation uses 5 social marketing activity in October 2018. We then totalled up media platforms (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter the results to calculate an overall digital maturity score & YouTube). For each social platform a company points (%). The categories measured are: were given depending on if they had a registered Mobile Optimisation account and how frequently the channel was updated. A maximum of 10 points was available per company. We used Google’s, ‘Mobile-friendly test’ tool to test Full details here. how easily a visitor can use a web page on a mobile device. Each website was given a score based on the Website Speed Google test results. Google’s website speed tool was used to test the Calls to action mobile website speed of each website on a 3G connection. A score was assigned depending on how Each building society was given a score up to a quickly a site loaded with the fastest sites scoring maximum of 10. They were awarded 2 points for each highest. More details here. of the calls to action that were applicable to their site from a list of 5. More details here. Utilities

Content The building societies were given a score out of 10. 2 points were awarded for five digital tools that could The websites were awarded a maximum score of 10 for help their website visitors. More details here. the use of medium, technique and dedicated content areas on the site. More details here. Additional information

Email Marketing Holmesdale Building Society was listed in the top 40 building societies from the data downloaded off the Each company was scored depending on the options BSA, however as of the 1st October 2018 Holmesdale to subscribe to the email, personalise subscriptions had merged with Skipton Building Society. Beverley and the speed of a reply. More details here. Building Society number 41 on the list was selected to replace Holmesdale. Search

We used SEMrush, to analyse 9 different variables which To see the full scoring rationale visit: would affect a building societies’ search marketing. For http://www.bekagool.com/rationale/ each variable, we scored the companies that ranked building-societies in the top 13 positions 1 point. The next 13 companies received 0.5 points, and the bottom 14 companies 0 points.

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