Machine-learning has “turbo-charged our communications plans,” said secure financial messaging provider SWIFT as it prepares for Sibos, its global financial services event in London in September.
SWIFT is employing the latest developments in AI to engage more effectively with its B2B audience – senior decision-makers within the global banking industry – resulting to date in a 1,400% increase in traffic to its website and a corresponding 70% drop in CPC.
SWIFT has been working with illuma, a London-based audience expansion technology, which has allowed it to access advanced contextual AI to build intelligent reach in a niche and crowded marketplace.
Paul Taylor, managing director, marketing communications at SWIFT, said: “Finding new audiences, online and at scale, has always presented a challenge for marketeers, but for the B2B marketeer it can feel like a greater mountain to scale. You are faced with multiple limitations, and a year out from GDPR, your world can feel considerably smaller and often less well served.”
“At SWIFT we have moved beyond the static audience segment that we used to follow – constrained by reach and in spaces with all our competitors – out and into an expansive, fluid, real-time, action-orientated targeting methodology which is intelligent, respectful, and delivers scale.”
Using illuma’s unique mindset targeting, SWIFT has tapped into the thematic content consumption of its audience, working at time-critical moments when they are more likely to engage with its messages.
“We love to work with marketing leading organisations on the cutting edge of advances in AI, using machine learning to turbo charge our communications plans,” he said. “Understanding the content that our audience is engaging with is now the cornerstone of our plans to extend our reach.”
This advanced contextual AI has not only delivered expanded reach and performance in an intelligent, real-time and brand-safe way, it has done so without using personal data or cookies.
“Because illuma is a contextually based system, we don’t have to use any personal data – which is key in a post-GDPR marketplace,” said Taylor. “Additionally, we have been impressed with the incredibly useful insights surfaced from their technology, which allow us a deeper understanding of the content themes and subject areas that are driving our audience engagement.”
As well as leading global brand and product communications for SWIFT, Taylor is also responsible for the communication plans for the financial industry’s leading exhibition, Sibos, being held at ExCel in September. Last year 7,500 global financiers attended the event in Sydney, Australia, and this will be its first year in London.
Taylor is expecting this year’s event to be “the most ambitious Sibos yet” and his task will be to exceed previous reach by using advanced digital marketing to share the content from the event beyond those who are physically present at ExCel.
“At SWIFT we have always innovated to work on the cutting edge, within our highly regulated industry, and working with partners like illuma has allowed us to do exactly that, right through our all communication pieces – in a brand-safe but exciting and innovative way,” he said.
“We are looking forward to Sibos 2019, and to continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible.”