5 minutes with Megan Pope

Megan Pope, the newest addition to the First Wealth team, specialises in finance marketing for good. With a passion for our B corporation activity, financial education, and social sustainability, Megan joined us in September to help transform the way we communicate with our clients and provide content to our online audiences.

We caught up with Megan to find out more about her journey so far, what she has learned from joining the finance profession, and her advice to anyone who wants a career in marketing. 

Can you tell us more about your finance marketing role and what you do?

I’m the new Marketing Assistant at First Wealth!

Day to day that means I’m the one behind all the social media updates you’ve been getting! Alongside a small team of out-house marketers and copywriters, I create content for First Wealth’s social media platforms, help to create the newsletter our clients get every month, work with the rest of the team to improve their personal branding, and help to manage external communications.

I guess in the bigger picture, though, a lot of my role consists of adapting our marketing strategy to better suit the turbulent times we are living in. For instance, I am currently working on putting client (or potential client) queries at the forefront of our brand to ensure we reduce the amount of stress people may feel when first seeking financial advice, but also as a result of the British economic landscape more generally.

What are your specialities in finance marketing?

I guess that I don’t come from a finance background. That sounds counterproductive, right?

Before joining the team here, I studied for a BA in English and worked in marketing for a mental health organisation and for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion initiatives; I hadn’t ever thought about working in the finance profession until I found First Wealth.

Because I come from a creative background driven by social purpose, I’m able to get heavily involved in our environmental and social sustainability projects on the B Corporation committee. But it also means that I have a strong focus on our clients and their concerns and can therefore replicate this in consumers’ most ideal way. Finance marketing shouldn’t be impossible to understand, full of jargon, and disengaging; it needs to be relatable to our clients, make a difference, and ensure the safety of our most vulnerable audiences.

Having that background in mental health services and Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion also means that I have a genuine passion for marketing in an inclusive and accessible way. You don’t always see that in financial marketing.

What is the most valuable piece of financial advice anyone ever gave you?

I was always told to ensure that I save as much as possible so that whatever I spend my money on can be mine.

I always worked hard to save and plan my finances myself so that I had the opportunity to own something for myself if I ever wanted or needed to. Now, that isn’t always possible, of course, especially not when you pay rent, but I’ve stuck to that principle whenever I could and it seems to have worked so far.

What is your favourite part of finance marketing at First Wealth?

Working in a profession I had never considered before means I am always learning. And that’s what I love! Learning gives me purpose, especially when everything right now seems so uncertain. I want to learn everything I can, almost like a sponge. That is what gives me the opportunity to make a big impact.

Otherwise, I just love that First Wealth is so forward-thinking in our environmental and social sustainability. My role lets me be a big part of that.

What does the future hold for finance marketing?

Us marketers have a hard job ahead of us. The world is constantly changing, along with consumer behaviour, and the economy too.

I think the finance profession is going to have to tackle marketing head-on now. Ostrich marketing (though, yes, it is a myth that Ostrich’s bury their heads in the sand!) will no longer cut it. I think that’s something First Wealth are great at. We tackle financial anxieties head on really well. Not only for our pre-existing clients but for our wider audiences too.

I can’t predict the future, but I’d hope other firms will start to follow suit – having more open and honest communication with clients to better prepare them for economic turbulence.

What advice would you give to someone who wants to work in marketing?

That marketing for a purpose isn’t just possible – it is necessary! If you want to get into marketing or be a marketer, make sure it’s for something you are passionate about – I know that’s generic, but it’s true!

Also, if you can, get involved with some of the marketing communities out there. In my last year of university, I started engaging with Girls in Marketing, an online e-learning platform and community aiming to ‘equalise gender seniority’ in marketing. It really helped me understand the profession and pick up some skills and knowledge that I otherwise wouldn’t have had access to.

What have you learned from joining the finance profession?

The finance profession doesn’t have to be what most people think it is! Everyone at First Wealth is so passionate about their job. But the best thing about us is that we genuinely care about our clients and want to make a tangible difference in people’s lives.

Not every firm out there does, but it’s important to know that we DO exist!

This document is marketing material for a retail audience and does not constitute advice or recommendations. Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. The value of investments and the income from them may go down as well as up and investors may not get back the amount originally invested.