Voya Increases Targeted Communications with Personalized Videos

As the retirement industry sets out to increase participant-targeted communications, Voya Financial has added a new tool to their suite of retirement planning resources: personalized videos.

Available through its myOrangeMoney website, the videos will detail a participant’s own journey towards retirement and link the effects of positive actions towards future financial goals, according to Voya. The tool is relative to the myOrangeMoney experience, which allows individuals to understand personalized balances in the perspective of projected retirement income. Similar to the website, the videos combine monthly income replacement goals, estimated monthly retirement income and possible shortfalls, says Voya.

“When it comes to retirement planning, our customers want information that is easy to digest and accessible when, where and how they want it,” says Christine Lange, senior vice president, Retirement Digital Solutions for Voya Financial. “We also recognize that individuals who are saving in a workplace plan benefit from a higher degree of personalization, and this can lead to better engagement and action. As we look to the future, we believe personalization is the most effective way to communicate with customers. Our videos place participants as the ‘main character’ of their own video-based journey, and this can help us nudge them toward better outcomes.”

Voya adds that according to industry research, “four times as many consumers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it.”

Yet, when it comes to personalization, not as many consumers are on board. A 2017 Willis Towers Watson survey found that 57% of employees do not want an employer to send personalized messages to those facing imperative financial decisions, while 50% believe it is not the role of an employer to send personalized messages to those not participating in retirement savings.

“While employees are eager for their employers to provide support and technology that deliver valuable guidance and suggestions on retirement and financial decisions, employees are very wary of personalized outreach,” said Shane Bartling, senior consultant at Willis Towers Watson.

According to Voya, the added tools mirror continuous research with the Voya Behavioral Finance Institute for Innovation, such as studies of the gap time between information received to when it is applied by a consumer. Voya believes the tool exemplifies this research by reducing the time between education and action, all while helping the consumer select a viable choice.

More information on the resource, including an example of a personalized account video, can be found here.