Of course I’m being overly dramatic, but in the increasingly multichannel world in which consumers are faced with far more choice than ever before in how they communicate with brands and how they receive marketing information, your company needs to be producing original messaging worth hearing.

In the financial services industry this is just as true as it is anywhere else, and although the perception is that it’s easier to create an innovative piece of video content for a sneaker brand or an energy drink, that doesn’t mean it’s not worth doing

Financial services need to find out who their audience is and create content based on what they want to see, hear or read.

Here I’m going to take a look at Barclays, a company that has managed to differentiate itself from its competitors by creating content that’s not only interesting and original, but that genuinely helps its customers.

Code Playground

Barclays’ Code Playground is a website devoted to teaching kids how to code. It’s a fantastic experience and frankly I not only could have done with this when I was a kid, but also when I began learning HTML just a few years ago.

Here you just click on an element on screen and start coding within the highlighted areas in the pop-out and watch those elements change instantly.

Barclays has been promoting this service via its Twitter account with incredibly charming videos such as this…

Digital Eagles

The Code Playground is all part of Barclays commitment to providing support and knowledge to customers who need help with digital technology. 

The Digital Eagles programme runs community sessions around the country and downloadable guides are available via its website whether you’re a customer or not. Also note the plethora of accessibility options here too.

Barclay’s Digital Eagles and Code Playground goes far beyond content marketing. These are genuinely helpful services that positions Barclay’s as a banking brand that you can not only trust but that’s making people’s lives better. 

If one of the positives of content marketing is to create better brand reputation, then Barclay’s has nailed this.

Mumsnet partnership

Barclays has also increased its audience by partnering with Mumsnet, one of the UKs largest websites for parents with 5,000 registered bloggers. 

By providing a positive experience for the Mumsnet users and their children, Barclay’s can hopefully rely on a very influential segment of the country to spread the good word, through social and the Mumsnet site.

Video tutorials

Realising that video content is a much faster, clearer way of relaying technical information than printed word, Barclays produces video tutorials to show off the functionality of particular apps and platforms.

Here’s one produced to highlight the refresh of its mobile app….

Barclays Business

The bank has created a separate section of its site to provide advice for business owners and start-ups looking for information and guidance on where to start.

Within this site there are separate landing pages for developing business ideas, plans and finding funding.

The key element of each of these landing pages is the fact that anyone can download the free start-up guide.

This link is given prominence above the links to contact Barclays to set up business banking, thereby ensuring the focus is on helping visitors above acquisition.

Further reading…

For more on content marketing from the blog check out the following articles…