One of the most common questions prospective clients ask us when we’re discussing their financial services content is:
“What’s the likely return on investment?”
It’s a difficult question to answer. There are too many moving parts and lots interdependencies. The best answer we can give is:
“No customer ever complained because you made it easier for them to understand you.”
But thankfully, we can now cite a relatively robust content design ROI case study, thanks to Monzo.
Speaking at Money 20/20 Europe in Amsterdam, Harry Ashbridge, former head of writing and customer experience at Monzo Bank, highlighted how overcomplicated business communications can hurt performance.
Harry Ashbridge, the former head of writing and customer experience for Monzo says that a 30-minute tweak to a sign-up flow page generated an annual revenue uplift of £2 million.
Speaking at the Money 20/20 Europe conference earlier this year, he explained that Monzo’s analytics were pointing to a degree of friction in the business banking sign-up journey. Harry and his team realised that the team was overcomplicated, and set about fixing it.
In total, they changed:
- Wording on one sign up page, to make terminology simpler
- Wording on three ‘help pages
Ashbridge said: “What other change can the business make that quickly? It took about half an hour and is cheap, reversible and easy to implement,
“If you think about opportunities throughout the business and all the different touch points where you communicate with customers, this isn’t just about improving experience with customers. It’s about improving the bottom line for business too.”
The results speak for themselves:
57% drop in customer service enquiries
A £2 MILLION increase in annual revenue
Ashbridge urged brands to aim for simplicity above else in their communications:
“No one has a preference for things to be more complicated than they need to be. That’s the case with the importance of writing. Writing is your customer experience. It is the only thing that is there every single touch point that you’ve got.”
He also emphasised the habit of financial services brands to favour overly serious and formal language because they assume (wrongly) that their customers prefer it.
If you’ve been thinking about simplifying how you speak to customers, let this mini case study be an inspiration to you.
We’re not promising you’ll see the sort financial performance spike that Monzo enjoyed, but you will see benefits, which in our experience of helping financial services brands, may include:
- Fewer customer service enquiries
- Improved customer satisfaction
- Improved search engine performance
- Increase clarity and understanding around your products and services
Why is Monzo so good at copywriting?
Monzo is undoubtedly an industry leader when it comes to communicating. They do things differently and due to being a new company built from the ground up with a ‘tech startup’ mindset, they are not constrained by legacy issues that hamper larger financial services brands like banks and wealth managers.
Here’s why we think Monzo is a leader worth admiring:
- Easy-to-use writing system
- Commitment to simplicity
- Avoidance of jargon and ‘industry speak’
- Focus on user outcomes
- Willingness to make big changes
- Willingness to do the extraordinary and challenge sector norms
To learn more about how Monzo leads the way in financial services copywriting, check out these posts:
How to write terms and conditions that are accessible and user friendly
Financial services copywriting – why are bank terms and conditions longer than some novels?
And if you’re looking for an experienced team of financial services copywriting and content experts to help you improve how you speak to customers, discover if Essential Content might be a good fit.
