The holidays are over, and receipts are being tallied. Although the pandemic was still a factor, many consumers were excited to celebrate – and spent accordingly, with 71% of Americans believing they possibly overspent during the holidays, according to the DMS 2022 Personal Finance Survey.

Personal Finance Marketing Should Offer Simple Solutions To U.S. Consumers Who Overspent During The Holidays

The DMS 2022 Personal Finance Survey asked 250 U.S. adults in early January how they spent, their plans for future financing and what’s important to them moving forward. The results showed that consumers feel overstretched since the holidays, and many are looking for solutions to start the year off with more cash in hand.

According to the DMS 2022 Personal Finance Survey, a substantial amount of consumers believe they may have overdone it financially during the holidays. Ages 25-34 and 55-64 were more likely to feel like they overspent, possibly due to stage of life and career status. Meanwhile, ages 45-54 and over 65 were less likely to feel like they’d overspent. When developing personal finance marketing strategies, understanding your target audience, including the emotions tied to their current financial situations and their motivations for seeking personal finance solutions is essential for developing messaging that resonates and encourages action.

Consumers Are Searching For Fast, Easy Solutions To Their Personal Debt Problems

To start the year off with enough cash and manage holiday debt, 16% of those surveyed plan to file taxes early in order to get a quick refund, 15% are considering personal loans and 10% are thinking about new credit cards.

Different Demographic Groups Seek Different Personal Finance Options

• Ages 18-34: Personal loans were the top considered option to solve cash flow for ages 18-34, the group of adults least likely to have meaningful equity to tap into.
• Ages 35-64: Filing taxes early is a top choice for ages 35-64. According to Lynn Ebel of The Tax Institute at H&R Block, families with children under 17 are most likely to get bigger tax refunds, making the tax refund a timely solution to holiday overspending.
• Ages 65+: New credit cards were the most commonly selected option for ages 65+ to get additional cash during the first half of the year. According to the National Council on Aging, “older adults increasingly are retiring with debt and are carrying greater amounts of debt than ever before.” In 2001, less than one-quarter of senior households had credit card debt, and this share grew to more than one-third by 2016. As a result, seeking new credit cards to manage finances or to maximize benefits has become more common for retirees over the past couple of decades.

When asked about priorities when seeking financing opportunities, 23% of people surveyed said that the ability to get enough money was their main priority, while 19% were looking for low interest rates and 18% wanted a fast and easy borrowing process.

For the most part, consumers are likely to shy away from a complicated borrowing process that doesn’t bring them fast relief. But personal loan marketers should make sure to understand their specific target audiences and what matters to them.

Consumers Are Looking To Multiple Sources When Researching Personal Finance Options

Of those surveyed in the DMS 2022 Personal Finance Survey, when it comes to researching personal finance, 22% plan to search online, 21% expect to rely on their friends and family, and 19% will turn to banks to discover their options.

Not Every Borrower Takes The Same Path To Personal Finance Solutions

• Ages 18-24: This is the group most likely to defer to friends and family for information on where to find cash. With less life experience, parents still play an important role in their decision making.
• Women: Women are most likely to go directly to banks to learn about personal loans and other solutions to overspending.
• Men: Men go online more often than they go anywhere else to research financing options.

Personal Finance Marketers Have A Significant Opportunity To Engage & Convert Borrowers Right Now

When people need money, they often need it now. Personal finance marketers must seek to get the right message in front of the right consumers at the right time for their prospective borrowers to take action, and that may mean being in front of them frequently. Based on borrower expectations, referral programs, cross-selling strategies and online advertising campaigns that deliver inquiries or clicks through to information landing pages may all work well.

Whether for this post-holiday borrowing season or to prepare for the months and years ahead, personal finance marketers should consider building top-of-mind brand awareness, growing their email subscriber databases and advertising within the channels most likely to be frequented by prospective borrowers, including marketplace websites, email and social media.

Not all borrowers look or behave in the same way, but they all have similar needs. The brands that best engage borrowers by demonstrating how their solutions will deliver quick relief are likely to see success.

Seeking New Ways To Maximize Your Customer Acquisition Efforts?

Digital Media Solutions^® is ready to help you find new digital performance advertising solutions to scale success. DMS creates people-based advertising campaigns, leveraging our first-party data asset, proprietary technology and expansive media reach to define and engage highly targeted audiences, attracting the consumers with the greatest likelihood to convert. Contact DMS to learn how we can connect you with consumers that need your personal finance solutions right now.