Money Talks: Why the Financial Industry Is Investing in Podcasting to Reach and Retain Customers

Not everyone has a personal money manager. Even those that do can feel like they could better speak their language. Investors who are fluent in finance may find themselves tripping over new terminology. Industry professionals must continually broaden their vocabulary to expand their strategies.

No matter your fluency in financial matters, there’s always more to master. In an effort to educate their clients, banks and investment firms are entering the recording studio. While a finance podcast may sound as engaging as a sleep track, the brands that are succeeding in this space are homing in on specific audiences and learning to speak their language, instead of forcing their listeners to translate institutional jargon.

For instance, Chase tapped former Complex and MTV music journalist Nadeska Alexis to host Beginner to Buyer, a show about preparing to become a first-time homebuyer, produced by Magnet Media. Alexis riffs on her personal story of purchasing a house throughout the series, while she interviews guests like Drew and John Scott, also known as the Property Brothers, and Ryan Serhant, CEO of Serhant brokerage firm and host of Bravo's Million Dollar Listing New York.

“It felt nice to help other people not have to go through some of the struggles I did,” Alexis told us. “And another thing I really loved, it spoke to a really diverse audience. We were basically teaching people about financial freedom, this idea of building generational wealth.”

Chase’s goal with the podcast wasn’t to sell its services to customers–as a major lender to first-time homebuyers it doesn’t need obvious advertising. Its objective was to educate existing clients while fostering relationships with future ones.

“A big part of our strategy the last few years has been wanting to pivot from selling to educating,” said Akash Vaswani, Chase’s Head of Digital Marketing and Media. “There are so many people going through the process for the first time or not even sure that they’re ready for the process, we’ve realized that the more and more we educate, the more and more over the long term we’ll get customers coming in because we’ve built up their trust.”

“You can’t google that. So really that’s where authentic, real conversation was helpful, and a podcast is the best way to deliver that.”

With an 82% completion rate per episode, an appearance on U.S. News and World Report’s “10 Best Personal Podcasts of 2022,” and a season two in the works, Beginner to Buyer has been an overwhelming success. From her experience in the field, Keosha Burns, Executive Director of Community and Affordable Lending, knew the podcast was exactly the kind of information people were seeking.

“These were people who were very informed, they had been searching and educating themselves on how to buy a home for years,” Burns said. “But they all still had similar questions like ‘how do I know if I’m ready?’ You can’t google that. So really that’s where authentic, real conversation was helpful, and a podcast is the best way to deliver that.”

Burns mentions that the success of JPMorgan Chase’s other podcast venture, Women on the Move, also produced with Magnet Media, helped the firm pursue more topics and audiences.

Women on the Move is part of JPMorgan Chase’s global diversity mission. Hosted and led by Managing Director Sam Saperstein, the podcast has become something of a listener sensation, winning The Communicator Awards for Branded Podcast Series. Hosting luminaries like Anita Hill and Anne-Marie Slaughter, alongside female entrepreneurs like the founders of Greenery NYC and Three Babes Bakery, the show’s premise is to elevate the standing of women professionally by promoting financial and business literacy.

“Podcasting really gives us such flexibility to take on those topics across the board,” Saperstein said, “and to go deep with our speakers on different things they do and really showcase their accomplishments in a way that doesn’t always come across in an article or a very short social media snippet. We really guide the conversation, and you get to know people very deeply in this medium.”

"We really guide the conversation, and you get to know people very deeply in this medium.”

Women on the Move live

She attributes the success of her show and the Women on the Move movement to finding a dedicated, invested audience. “First of all you have to understand your audience and make sure what you’re talking about is something that they’re looking for. Then it’s a day to day question of who to feature” said Saperstein. “We really rely on relationships first and foremost. We looked at the firm’s very special relationships and asked who we have access to already. The bank has really amazing relationships with business leaders, whether they're on our board or our partners or our clients, and we try to get them in to tell their story.”

If anyone speaks finance like it's his mother tongue–and has an interesting story and perspective to share–it’s Wilmington Trust Chief Investment Officer, Tony Roth. The Bear Stearns and UBS alum has been at the helm of the private banking and investment management firm for seven years. His podcast, Capital Considerations (made in partnership with Magnet Media), is a worldy jaunt through topics of concern for global investors. Roth’s own background in law (from Harvard and the Sorbonne) and philosophy (Brown) makes him an erudite guide through topics like the war in Ukraine, blockchain models, 5G, the metaverse, and the status of our cities under Covid. Especially during these turbulent times, he’s a steady presence in thoughtful interviews with academic, scientific, and financial experts, unpacking their fields with insights for investors and the curious public.

No matter where customers are in their financial education, institutions are finding ways to speak to them with podcasts. The medium is proving to be a great method for relaying complicated information in digestible segments.

Women on the Move at Davos

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