Media is the message

Our approach to member communication

We believe that the success of any communication strategy is based on the interrogation of the members’ data and indeed the behaviour and needs of the members of a Fund.  This is achieved by means of annual member research and data provided by the Fund’s administrator on an annual basis regarding the demographics of the membership — age of members, years to retirement, gender and salary profile. This is linked to LSM bands, preservation behaviour, investment behaviour, annuity product selection at retirement, etc.

Liaising with external service providers and the administration team of the Fund as well as the Trustees and the Communication subcommittee will ensure context, understanding of the institutional legacy around past communication initiatives as well as the needs and behaviour of the members.

The various participating employers (in umbrella funds) have a vital role to play, especially in an umbrella fund environment, to assist with the dissemination of communication to employees.

Making sure these employers are allies to the Funds and will assist in the communication process may be important to the Funds. Due to various challenges regarding cooperation from employers, many umbrella funds opt to create direct communication channels with members — almost cutting out the middle man (HR and payroll) completely. RW is able to work with and liaise with any and all parties linked to the Fund.

Proposing media to be utilised to distribute relevant communication content

At Retirement Wise we believe the ‘media is the message’ and that the two cannot really be separated.  The type of media you select will dictate the message in the length and style of the copy needed.

At Retirement Wise we believe that the messaging and media selection should comply with the following six criteria:

1) It should be easy to understand

2) It should be easy to access (if members cannot access the message your communication has not been effective)

3) It should be repeatable over the various media used

4) It should incorporate a “Call to Action” and should be “good news orientated”

5) It should address the needs and concerns of the various segments of the membership of the Fund

6) It should be underpinned by a theme for the year, i.e Financial Self-care, Planning for Retirement, Financial Fitness, etc.

More on Call to Action

Call to Action is imperative wording that instructs the reader to perform a task. These phrasings are crucial, as once you have explained a concept or product the readers must know what steps  they can take in order to use your product and/or better their circumstances.

Strong call to action phrases:

  • Use words that evoke emotion or enthusiasm
  • Give the audience a reason why they should take the desired action
  • Take advantage of the Fear of Losing Out (FOMO).

As an example, we ran a ‘More is More’ campaign for a Fund and we developed the following messages:

  • Be more investment savvy
  • Make more contributions to the Fund — additional voluntary
  • Save more for the future, outside the Fund
  • Show more interest in your Fund
  • Pay more attention to how your investments are growing
  • Plan more for your retirement
  • Preserve more when you change employment
  • Learn more about your benefits and your Fund
  • Care more about the Fund and your financial future

More on Media selection

We believe in media selection that will address the following components:

  • Face-to-face component – Retirement Planning sessions, Fund presentations
  • Electronic component – E-mailer, sms, video animation, on-line benefit counselling tool
  • Website component – This is the central storage for all Fund communication
  • Social Media component – Facebook posts regarding news, Instagram Reels, LinkedIn and WhatsApp
  • Telephonic component – Call Centre and Benefit Counselling
  • Printed literature – Posters for participating employers, member guides, event flyers (front offices), etc. You need at least one or two printed literature documents for those members who want to pick up a document to take  home to study and file – these are usually your Planners and Decision-makers.

More on segmenting membership

Lastly, we believe that there is value in segmenting your membership and making sure that your messages and media selection cover all segments of members in your Communication Strategy and Action Plan for the year. We believe there are 4 main segments of members in a retirement fund; they are: Joiners — new members Builders — members building a career (who have been members for at least 5 years) Planners — those within 10 years from retirement Decision-makers — those 3 years from retirement. These segments of members may overlap in their information needs and some Fund communication may be relevant to all groups, but mostly these segments have different focus areas and different information needs. In developing your communication strategy, congnisance needs to be taken of these groups and you need to ensure media and messaging that will address their fears, hopes and dreams.

An example of Membership Segmentation:

Joiners
Joiners — need to understand the investment portfolios offered by the Fund and how to make a selection suited to their needs, the risk benefits offered by the Fund, etc. Important to these members is the Member Guide & Investment Guide, completing a beneficiary nomination form, etc. They will make use of Instagram, emailers, videos, posters and flyers to find information.
Builders
Builders — need to understand the mobility of their benefits in the funds as they move around to build their careers. The preservation of their benefits is also important. These members require event flyers (death, disability, resignation) and how to preserve benefits when they change employers. They need to understand replacement ratios, etc. They will make use of the Funds' website, regular newsletters and Newsflash emailers, etc.
Planners
Planners — need to understand whether they have saved enough to be able to retire in 10 years’ time. Important to this group is how the investments are growing, the Trustee Report, and how to save more in and outside the Funds. Planners need Investment fact sheets and economic reviews, they need to understand wealth creation, how to save, savings & investment products and the difference between saving and investing. They will make use of the Funds’ Annual Trustee Report, regular newsletters and flyers, Facebook, the Funds' website and face-to-face Fund presentations to access information.
Decision-makers
Decision-makers — need to understand the choices they have when they get to retirement - deferred options, the differences between life and living annuities, and options and taxation at retirement. They will make use of retirement planning face-to-face sessions, retirement counselling, newsletters, Facebook and the Funds’ website, etc./div>

Assisting with the graphic design elements required for Fund communication campaigns.

At RW we take graphic design very seriously and believe it is a science by itself. Our two graphic designers have three-year graphic design degrees and have been developing member newsletters, flyers, emailers, Instagram Reels, member guides, investment newsflashes, etcetera for over 15 years.

90% of the success of a communication campaign comes down to whether or not members have actually read the information sent to them. Whether or not members will read your communication has everything to do with how the communication is written, what the communication looks like, whether they can recognise that the info is from the Fund (so trust this information), the length of the communication, how it is laid out and the use of infographics, etc.

Our research shows that most members hate reading more than a page of information at a time, especially fund-related information. The exceptions are your Planners and Decision–makers, who tend to read more to access more information, especially when they realise that retirement is looming and time is running out for them to save.

Keeping messages as short as possible is only feasible if you can direct members to a website or social media platform where they can find more information, to read in their own time whenever and where- ever they want.

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