Check my pension? No thanks, I’ll have a skinny chai latte 🍵.

In early 2022 we conducted a series of quantitative studies on people's opinions about their pensions and the communications they received from their pension administrators.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the under-35s were the most disengaged demographic. Over half of those surveyed said they'd spent no more than an hour a year assessing their pension plan! 

And to make things worse, 49% said the pension communications they received were unclear or difficult to understand.

Though it’s still just the first week of January 23, we’ve already begun a similar set of quantitative and qualitative studies, with the main focus on the under-35 cohort.

Our initial findings suggest that, despite industry wide incentives to increase engagement, the sector still has a long way to go ☹️.

The following are the key insights from our 2023 under-35s:

• 56% of people said they spend more time waiting in line at Starbucks ☕ or Costa Coffee than they do reviewing their pension.
• 46% described their provider's communications as "not very engaging."
• 76% believe their pension provider should make it "easy to grasp."
• 57% believe that making it "more interactive" will increase their engagement.

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So, what can be done to increase engagement among people under the age of 35?

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Meet your client where they are.‍

I get emails, SMS messages, app notifications, and now WhatsApp messages every day telling me about deliveries, promotions, and social media updates. Under-35s are spending a lot of time waiting for hot drinks, so why not send them a timed text message along the lines of "Hi, don't forget to look at  your pension contributions for this year when you next have a coffee break? It'll only take a few minutes."

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Stay away from the “WTF have you just sent me?" experience.

Our survey shows that many people have no idea what has been emailed or sent to them. We understand that a lot of the material must be given with specific terminology and facts (performance and costs etc.). 

So why not add a visual, for example a post-it note 📒 labelled "TL;DR" ("too lengthy, didn't read”) that explains what the document is and why it should be read!

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Make it more engaging and personalised.

Use Video Canvas. Sorry, this plug was inevitable! But we’ve invested 18 months of R&D and hundreds of thousands of pounds in developing what we think is the industry's best digital experience for interactive and tailored storytelling. 

Our Video Canvas player gives video experiences that are personalised based on the user's data and includes gamification elements to make them more interesting and easy to understand. 

So, does it work?

• 95% of individuals said they’d value a “personalised and interactive digital experience updating them on their pension pot status and performance”. 95%!!!
  
• 78% stated they were inclined to engage with and consider making changes to their pension after viewing a Video Canvas experience tailored to them. 

If you’re curious about our research or our Video Canvas solution, do get in touch to find out more. We agree the smell of fresh coffee is hard to beat and would be happy to share one with you over a virtual meet to show you more.