Get healthy returns by reaching cash-rich, pandemic savers in advance of 2021’s ISA deadline, writes Ozone’s Client Director Sophie Raptis
At Ozone we’re privileged to have an unrivalled depth of reader insight thanks to our unique single view of content consumption across and between our publisher partners’ websites. Yet we should never forget the wealth of knowledge that is shared by our incredibly talented editorial teams day in, day out.
Earlier this month, a piece in The Times caught my eye. In this article the Bank of England had highlighted that Britons had saved an unprecedented £125 billion during Lockdown v1.0 and subsequent periods. These words put this into context; “households have built up record levels of excess savings, stashing away five times as much as in any previous nine-month period on record”. The Bank of England expect consumers to use over 95% of those extra savings top up their pensions, pay off debts or to invest.
Our personal finance insights have shown some very interesting patterns across the past 12 months of uncertainty. One of the most notable changes came post the lifting of Lockdown v1.0 restrictions when we saw Savings content account for an ever-increasing proportion of personal finance page views - bar a notable dip at Christmas when additional restrictions were put in place. Note how the proportion of Savings page views, shown in red on this chart, plummets at the start of lockdown in March to account for nearly a quarter of all personal finance page views come November:
With all signs pointing to a gradual easing of restrictions in line with the ongoing success of the vaccination programme, it’s likely those who have been able to save during the pandemic will be considering options for their new found cash pots. The 5th April ISA deadline represents an opportune time for the canny saver to make tax-efficient ISA investments - and at Ozone we reach them at scale with 71% of ISA savers read Ozone websites weekly, with 50% reading every single day. (Source PAMCo 4, 2020)
In addition, our most engaged-with Savings content is highly positive in sentiment - a significant contrast - unsurprisingly - to many other areas of personal finance content. This Savings content is designed to provide inspiration and guidance to readers, keen to reach their own financial goals. In the chart below, you can see how the sentiment of Savings content - as shown in the final bar - is very different to that of other areas such as banking, financial assistance or retirement planning:
As the COVID vaccination programme cautiously points towards a brighter, post-lockdown Spring, working with Ozone to beat the ISA deadline creates the opportunity to personal finance providers to reach those lucky enough to have built their nest eggs during the pandemic, demonstrating an efficient way of keeping their new savings safe.
