We talked with Mary about:
- The similarities between Gen Z and previous generations and the fresh perspectives they’re bringing to the table
- Content marketing ideas that resonate with Gen Z and speak to their key priorities
- How financial services companies can rethink their hiring practices, marketing approaches, and other outreach efforts to better connect with Gen Z
About Mary Wisniewski:
Mary Wisniewski is the editor-at-large at Cornerstone Advisors, where she shapes content strategy. In journalism since 2008, covering banking innovation and fintech with brands such as Bankrate and American Banker, Mary offers unique insights into the evolving financial services landscape. Her most recent work focuses on how companies are adapting their strategies to connect with the next generation of under-30 investors, financial planning clients, and employees. Appreciating Gen Z’s focus on self-care, work-life balance, and pursuing passions beyond financial success, Mary recognizes an excellent opportunity for banks, credit unions, and other financial services companies to engage a generation with distinct concerns and goals. Mary frequently speaks at industry events, in the media, and as the host of her podcast, “Money I$n’t Everything,” sharing strategies and research for better understanding and serving Gen Z.
Featured Resources
- Mary Wisniewski on LinkedIn
- Money I$n’t Everything Podcast
- Frich Webinar: Z Hits Different: How to Better Acquire and Engage a New Generation
- White Paper: Z Hits Different: How to Better Acquire and Engage a New Generation
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Full Audio Transcript:
Lauren (00:05):
Well, Mary, thanks for joining us.
Mary (00:07):
Yeah, it's a pleasure to be here. Thanks for having me.
Lauren (00:09):
Oh my gosh, I'm so excited to hear from you. And our team was also just chatting about it. They're like, tell us more about Gen Z and all the things you're seeing in the fintech world and all these good things. So before we get into all of that, I'm just going to hand it over to you. Can you just share with folks a little bit about your background and how you got to where you are today?
Mary (00:29):
Yeah, so I hear people say this, and it's also true for me. It's been a series of accidents. The only non-accident was I pursued journalism and moved to New York City for a job in jewelry writing at the time. But one thing led to another and I ended up being a blogger covering bank innovation in 2008. From there, I jumped in.
Lauren (00:51):
What a time.
Mary (00:52):
What a time. Yeah. It was like, oh, what's happening? No one knows what we're talking about but that's okay. It really got me interested. It got me meeting people who really went on to huge things. It's fun looking back. But yeah. Then I went to American Banker editing op-eds and covering fintech for the brand. And then from there, Bankrate, and today I'm at Cornerstone as an editor-at-large who shaped their content strategy. And I also host a fintech podcast called Money I$n't Everything.
Lauren (01:25):
Super awesome. So lots of experience in the banking world, fintech. It sounds like you've also had some really interesting conversations just from day one with your journalism background. So yeah, I love that. Well, I know recently you've put together a report specifically around Gen Z and the fintech world, and I’d love for us to just unpack that. What are you seeing in particular for the Gen Z audience? Because I feel like it's a different beast and it's a different type of communication, different ways of engaging. What is the landscape you're currently seeing out there as it relates to this demographic and then also the fintech world?
Mary (02:08):
So I like to call them the under-30s, and I'm a millennial, and so I think back to when I was their age, and some things are very similar. Just because it’s a new generation doesn't mean everything's changed. And this one's such a broad one. It's very, very, very diverse but certainly they're bringing fun things to the work world. You can hear a lot of the older people are very mystified by Gen Z, and especially in banking circles, they're like, what's a self-care day? Or whatever. But I think it's really important, and I think previous generations have not been so forthcoming about what they need for themselves to actually perform well, and I think Gen Z is bringing it just in the way they're bringing their fabulous skincare. I love it. I think it's really fun in that way. And of course they're treating work differently. You're seeing Gen Z really double up on jobs, not only for money but here's my creative passion. I'm pursuing this as I'm also doing this corporate job and work-life balance seems to be a bigger goal.
And for money. So the report you referenced, we partnered with Frich, which is a fintech company that's targeting Gen Z and pairing with credit unions to get Gen Z to them. Most credit unions don't have young members, and you see a lot of things that would be true of most people, let's say just targeted to graduating from college. They're worried about their first job. They're not, and it's interesting, one of the questions Fritz was asking the handful of Gen Z people was, what number do you think you need to be happy? And some people said a three-figure salary but others were just like 50,000 or something like that. So it's like you're in your early financial story; you don't really know what's going on yet. You're probably still getting assistance from parents maybe. And when you get that first job, it's very overwhelming to know what you're doing with that money. I didn't really have that experience. I did journalism. It was a low amount. But people pursuing higher earning jobs from when they're really young, then where do I put the savings? How much do I put in savings and so on.
Lauren (04:45):
Oh my gosh, totally. I mean, it makes sense. I can see the parallels regardless of generation but it's really interesting to hear that, especially when you talk about working multiple jobs, like you said, work-life balance and bringing that forward. I want to get into the component you mentioned about credit unions; that’s really interesting about trying to be able to engage with this group more. What are you seeing along that trend? Are there certain channels banks are using or credit unions are using? Are there communication channels or types of ways they're going about to be able to engage this audience or even their employee benefit kind of offering? Is that changing the landscape? What are you seeing on that front?
Mary (05:28):
Well, I think what I'm seeing is a lot of need to improve in this area. Definitely you need to do a big social media push for this audience. And I would say historically, less so credit unions but certainly I'd still put them in this bracket, it's just a little bit more formal, the communication, the language used, say for your retirement, all this stuff. But what's been happening, fintech has been pushing it to a more casual way on social media. If you follow Chime on TikTok for example, it's just fun. It's like showcasing three payday months or something in a fun way and giving tips. I would encourage the industry to be a little bit more casual and fun and try out some short form videos.
Lauren (06:21):
So we have a client we worked with for a really long time, and its CPO always had this role of no boring content, and we would do stuff that was sales focused but we'd also have some stuff that was just kind of wild and out there, and it's in the financial services world. It was goofy but it was fun. It was like humanizing. What are you seeing as a line that credit unions or others are sort of toting that there's that balance for the formality because this is a really serious topic but there's also the need to be relatable and human. Are you seeing more video content that's coming out? Are you seeing more infographics? You mentioned voice and tone of the copy that's being rolled out. What kind of pieces are you seeing or would encourage companies to use to, for lack of better words, humanize or add that pizazz or that personality to the brand?
Mary (07:19):
I really do think this is just an area that needs improvement almost across the board from the financial perspective. But when they partner with fintechs, then the fintech brings playful marketing but you've got to think about stage of life.
Lauren (07:37):
Totally.
Mary (07:38):
One thing is this is something interesting about Gen Z, their openness to sharing their salaries, what they make, and just being more transparent about the numbers with their friends and family, just to what has been this secret. It's coming out. And I think that's really cool. But one of the things, topics, think about what's the average amount someone spends on a date, that kind of thing. That's money, things that would be on their mind.
Lauren (08:08):
Yep. Oh, those are such good examples. Well, just basic marketing, you meet them where they are, right? What's top of their mind and getting to know them and unpacking that more too. What are you seeing in the fintech space? Is there any just pushing the creative envelope digitally or trying to build more communities? Are there interesting things going on there?
Mary (08:29):
Yeah. Well, some of it's just growth from what has already existed, because if you think about it, this is the generation that grew up where Venmo would have been on their phone most of their life or a cash app or that kind of thing. So those brands, which are massive brands, have a lot of this audience. But now you're starting to see some fintechs pop up and they're like, I am specific to Gen Z. So I wouldn't say this isn't so creative but it is something that's happening. They're linking up with college ambassadors to help spread the like, hey, here's this fund money up, blah, blah, blah. And I think that's cool and larger than that, you mentioned community, and that's something I've been seeing happen just across the ages actually. There's a startup called Ultra that's working to help people improve their credit scores but on its app, it has live events where people drop in to hear about important topics, and then it's like the members are sharing their money hacks with each other. So it's sort of a little mini Mint community, a little Reddit popping up.
Lauren (09:36):
A study group if you want a more formal title. But there's a transparency element that also aligns with what you were saying earlier of you just put it out there. There's not this sort of money story that's sort of in the back of your mind of like, okay, I can't share that. I don't want to be transparent but it's putting it out there in a safe way. Super interesting. As you look ahead, are there any trends, especially from this research you saw or things you see — I think about AI — how are these kinds of things impacting what's to come in the years to come?
Mary (10:13):
Well, I'll track it just from personal finance tips. So I'm someone who used to work at Bankrate, where I covered fintech, so it was a different role but they have such evergreen personal finance writing as do banks, as do credit unions. What is a checking account? And honestly, that's a piece of content you need, especially now because people don't know. But AI, oh, AI can write that in a heartbeat and maybe better. It's really dull. It's really dull writing, and honestly, it’s usually entry-level people writing a lot of the content, so the AI might actually get it better, spice it up. Yeah. It's just like the AI for FAQs.
Lauren (10:55):
Yeah, I like that. That's also good for SEO too. So a win-win from all the sides of things. And then I guess if you were to take that content and then put it also forward in more of an entertaining way or a digestible way — I think about Instagram feeds that come through. Like you said, quick tips, bulleting, those sorts of things.
Mary (11:18):
Yeah. Oh, and Lauren, one thing I'm thinking about, one thing about Gen Z is there's this return to, I don't know, nostalgia, things they never experienced. I think it started happening last year, maybe even before, but these under-30s wanting to do envelope budgeting as their strategy, like the physicality, so used to the apps. Yeah. So I think an opportunity looking ahead is like, oh, there's a lot to be commented on. What's the point of a branch, that kind of thing. But I think there would be an opportunity to bring some kind of lively event and target Gen Z specifically.
Lauren (11:58):
Yeah, that's fair. I think getting back to some of the things we've been used to, especially growing up in a generation that's so digital first with everything, missing that either human or like you said, the physical touch component.
Mary (12:10):
The physical touch. If you even look at TikTok, there's a Gen Z woman who went viral for just reading the newspaper, like the physical newspaper. I guess it's like things you might've missed.
Lauren (12:24):
Yeah, that's fair. It's like the idea of holding a book, right?
Mary (12:27):
Which I still do. I love underlining.
Lauren (12:31):
Yeah, I totally hear you. I know. I was in a conversation with someone yesterday and we were talking about moving to Kindles, and I'm like, oh, but there's this idea of being able to write things down.
Mary (12:39):
Write things down and give your eyeballs a break from the screen.
Lauren (12:42):
Yeah. It's all these little things, so super interesting. Any other thoughts you want to share or resources for folks you think might be helpful?
Mary (12:51):
Well, I think one thing that's probably helpful to this audience is that in our research, we did discover where Gen Z is going for financial advice. And I thought TikTok would be at the top of the list but it's there, it's present. But family was the biggest category followed by friends and then followed by your bank or credit union. You could check multiple options but the family was overwhelming.
Lauren (13:18):
So that was the trusted source for going to.
Mary (13:20):
The trusted source. Yeah.
Lauren (13:22):
Oh, that's super interesting. Thank you for sharing that. Sure. Yeah, and I see that too. We work with a lot of wealth management firms and we see referrals come in. A lot of them come from family and friends and then trusted advisors, which is probably no surprise but it's interesting to see that across the board also to your comment earlier, to see across the board this need for community, desire for community.
Mary (13:45):
Yeah, especially after the pandemic. We can't all just be locked in a room.
Lauren (13:54):
Oh my gosh, so good. Well, thank you so much for sharing these insights. We'll make sure to include a link as well below to that report you had mentioned and resources. So this was super fun.
Mary (14:05):
I was glad to, it was fun.
Lauren (14:06):
Great to hear from you and just dive into all of it. So thank you again.
Mary (14:10):
Thanks for having me.
