Communicating in the Digital Age

As artificial intelligence-powered technology continues to evolve, plan sponsors are enhancing participant communication by shifting to a mobile-first, ultra-tailored and data-driven approach that uses a variety of tools—including increasingly sophisticated personalization—to boost engagement and improve retirement outcomes.

“Digital is definitely the dominant way that participants and plan sponsors want to be communicated with,” says Amanda Ross, managing director and head of participant experience at Bank of America. “Whether we’re talking about microsites, emails, podcasts or videos, digital is where they want to be.”

This year, fully three-quarters of all Bank of America communication deliverables have been in a digital format. A new area of focus for many plan sponsors and their providers right now is short, targeted video content delivered at specific times, such as during open enrollment or after a raise.

“People really don’t want to read much at all, so we’re moving to video,” says Jania Stout, national retirement practice leader for Prime Capital Financial. “Those videos have gotten shorter and shorter. It used to be no videos longer than two minutes; now it’s 30 seconds.”

Leveraging AI for Production

While providers say humans are still writing the scripts for these videos, they are turning to AI to produce them far more efficiently.

“Even five years ago, if you wanted a video to help educate plan participants, you were talking about hiring a design firm and acting talent,” says Shannon Stiles, head of participant outcomes at Manulife John Hancock Retirement. “You were talking anywhere from a $20,000 to $70,000 investment in a two-to-five-minute solution.”

Today’s AI tools can help produce such a video, including generating avatars and voices, for a fraction of the cost and time.

While video is getting a lot of attention, providers say plan sponsors still need to maintain their other communication methods—from in-app videos to text messages to pop-ups on the employer’s intranet—and ensure that their message remains as consistent as possible across them all.

“When [participants] get those communications, it has to be relevant, and it also has to be timely, or else they’re going to ignore it or not take action, given all the messages that they receive these days,” says Scott Buffington, vice president and general manager of retirement at Paychex.

Providing mobile apps and well-built, mobile-responsive websites allows participants to access plan information, self-service tools and educational content on the go, which is increasingly preferred, especially by younger generations.

“If we’re going to get them, we’ve got to have the capability to engage them in a mobile way,” Ross says. “Mobile as a component of digital is becoming more and more important.”

That is because many participants use their personal email for retirement plan communications, and their personal email boxes are so inundated with promotional messages that many go unread entirely, Stout says. Communicating via text message and push notifications also allows plan sponsors to connect with employees who may not spend much time at a desk or in front of a computer.

Personalizing the Experience

That said, various employee groups have different needs and like to receive communication in different ways. Stout recommends that plan sponsors and their providers poll employees, or ask them during onboarding, what type of communication they prefer.

Technology can also help plan sponsors measure the effectiveness of campaigns more quickly.

“We could spend a lot of time and effort doing a campaign, but if it’s not moving the needle, we need to pivot, learn and do something different,” Buffington says.

Some plan sponsors and vendors are leaning into AI is via chatbots on the provider’s website.

“One of the great things about this is they can be personalized to the participants’ situation,” says Gabby Kerrigan, a senior communications consultant with Segal. “So they can put in things like their age, where they live, how much they’re currently contributing, let’s say to a 401(k), and that AI assistant can spit out personalized information tailored to their situation.”

As technology and AI continue to evolve and grow in use across nearly every industry, participant expectations for personalization are changing as well.

“What used to be personalized and curated for you five years ago is not the expectation today,” Ross says. “We need to leverage technology to truly know the participant so that we can [more specifically tailor and] curate communication that is unique to them and what they need [in the moment] and their next best step.”

One very effective aspect of automation is its ability to enable providers to deliver customized messages in real time. For example, if a participant opens a new account but forgets to name a beneficiary, they receive an immediate message prompting them to do so. Bank of America’s messages to individuals who have abandoned the enrollment process before completing it have helped increase enrollment for that population by 169% this year, according to Ross.

“Automation is a really big piece when it comes to action-based communication,” Ross says.

 

More on this topic:

	How to Best Personalize Plan Communications
	How ‘Building Knowledge’ Differs From ‘Driving Action’