The financial services industry is one of the most highly competitive industries in the world. To stand out from the crowd and attract new customers, you need to have a robust digital marketing strategy.
Consumers are always online, and the opportunity is ripe for the financial service providers who choose to take their digital marketing strategy seriously.
What can digital marketing do for your financial services company?
Consumer behavior has proved that digital experience matters. The majority of consumers would consider switching financial institutions due to a poor online experience.
A financial marketing strategy can do the following for your financial services company:
- Generate leads and sales – A well-executed financial marketing strategy will help you generate leads and sales from your target audience.
- Attract new customers – Digital marketing can help you reach new customers that you wouldn’t have been able to reach through traditional marketing methods.
- Build trust and credibility – For customers to do business with you, they need to trust and believe in your brand. Digital marketing can help you build trust and credibility with your target audience.
- Increase brand awareness – A solid digital marketing strategy will help increase brand awareness for your financial services company.
These things can be accomplished at scale and with a relatively low cost of customer acquisition when compared to traditional marketing channels.
How can digital marketing promote financial services?
Financial services firms can use digital marketing in several ways to promote their products and services.
Here are 9 of the most popular online marketing strategies used in the financial services sector:
1. Take email marketing seriously
Here at Steven J. Wilson & Associates, we consider email marketing the modern-day newspaper.
You are competing with hundreds of other companies trying to get your prospect’s attention every day in their inbox.
Gone are the days of simply sending out a newsletter with a list of recent blog posts and calling it good.
To stand out in today’s email marketing landscape, you need to get personal, tell stories, be interesting, and most importantly, provide value.
An effective email marketing campaign can help promote your financial service company in several ways:
- Build trust and credibility – If you provide the type of value that is so high quality it feels paid for, it will be easier to win their attention above everything else in their inbox.
- Nurture relationships – This value over time will allow you to develop deeper relationships that can eventually turn into sales.
- Generate leads – You will not just get any lead. These leads know, like, and trust you since you have been providing value to them over many touch points.
Email marketing is one of the most ROI-positive digital strategies in the financial services market.
2. Update or create easy to navigate websites
Nowadays, the lack of a well-functioning website is inexcusable for any business, especially the financial services industry.
Your website is the digital face of your company. It is one of the first places prospects will go to learn more about you and what you do.
A good website should be easy to navigate and provide clear calls to action that guide visitors to the next step in your sales funnel.
Your financial services company website should:
- Load quickly – 47% of consumers expect a web page to load in 2 seconds or less. (Kissmetrics)
- Be mobile friendly – Consumers said when they visited a mobile-friendly site, 74% said they’re more likely to return to that site in the future. (Google)
- Be easy to navigate – 55% of visitors will spend less than 15 seconds on a website that is difficult to navigate. (Hubspot)
If you have neglected to update your website or create one for your firm, now is the time to invest in this digital strategy.
3. Mobile marketing
There was a time when you would send an email, and it was a 90% guarantee that it would be read.
When email was becoming mainstream and people were reading everything that came through.
Well, for those financial service providers that start incorporating SMS marketing effectively, you can begin to enjoy the highest open rates of your marketing material at over 98%.
Yes, you read that correctly.
With SMS marketing, you can get your message in front of your target market with a nearly 100% open rate.
4. Social media marketing
I’m sure you by know you know the power of social media.
But do you understand how existing and potential customers are consuming social media?
In short, edutainment is hot right now.
Also, personal branding is crushing it with conversions now that consumers are warier than ever of being sold to.
5. Plan local SEO
Local search provides some of the highest conversion rates for financial companies.
The reason being is that when people are searching for a financial service provider, they are generally looking for someone close to them.
You want to make it as easy as possible for your local audience to find you when they are searching online.
This can be done by optimizing your website and online listings for local SEO.
Some tips to get started with local SEO:
- Ensure your NAP (name, address, phone number) is consistent across all online listings and your website.
- Collect reviews and testimonials from past clients and post them on your site and online listings.
- Optimize your website for local keywords.
- Add photos and videos to your listings and website.
- Keep your online listings up to date.
By following these tips, you can improve your chances of being found by prospects in your area ready to do business with you.
6. Content marketing
One of the best ways to reach out to potential customers is through content marketing. Producing high-quality content is the foundation for all your digital campaigns.
Luckily for those in the financial sector who take content marketing seriously, like a bank or credit union. They will be at a massive advantage since many other financial institutions are not doing this effectively.
Some ideas for financial services content marketing:
- Blogging – Blogging is a great way to build trust, credibility, and relationships with your target audience. It allows you to show your expert knowledge on various topics related to your industry.
- Video Marketing – Videos are a great way to connect with your audience personally and show off your brand personality. You can create educational videos, customer testimonials, or even funny commercials that get shared on social media.
- Infographics – People love visual content. You can take complex topics and break them down into an easy-to-understand format by creating infographics. This is a great way to share your content on social media and generate leads.
- Podcasting – Podcasts are becoming more popular each year. They are a great way to connect with your audience and build relationships. You can interview industry experts, share tips and advice, or tell stories about your brand.
By producing quality content, you can stay in front of new and existing customers until to continue building trust, brand ambassadors, and, most importantly, sales.
7. Organic SEO
SEO or search engine optimization should be a staple for any financial services company looking to generate leads through search engines.
SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in Google search results for keywords related to your business.
Almost 90% of searchers go to Google when looking for financial information or service providers, so your website must appear as high as possible in the search results.
Why not be the one that delivers this high intent traffic to your website?
Some tips for optimizing your financial services company website for SEO:
- Choose the right keywords – Keyword research is essential for SEO. You need to choose keywords relevant to your business and have a high search volume.
- Optimize your website content – Once you have chosen your keywords, you need to make sure that your website content is optimized for those keywords. This means using the keywords throughout your website, including the title, headings, and body of your text, to improve your odds of showing in organic search results.
- Build backlinks – Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. Google views backlinks as a signal of the quality of your website, so the more backlinks you have, the higher your website will rank. There are several ways to build backlinks, such as guest blogging, directory listings, and social media.
- Monitor your SEO progress – Use Google Analytics to track your website traffic and see how your SEO efforts are paying off. You can also use tools like Moz and SEMRush to access the big data they collect.
8. Encourage customer reviews
We live in a time where a stranger leaving their opinion and customer experience holds almost as much weight as a personal recommendation.
That’s why it’s so important to encourage your customers to leave online reviews on popular review sites, such as Google My Business, Yelp, and Angie’s List.
Positive customer reviews will help build trust and credibility for your financial services company, which will lead to more sales.
9. PPC ads
PPC campaigns are a great way to supplement your SEO efforts and generate leads quickly.
PPC or pay-per-click ads are advertisements that appear on Google search results pages. You only get charged when someone clicks on your ad.
PPC campaigns can be very effective if done correctly. Still, they can also be costly if you don’t know what you’re doing.
That’s why it’s essential to work with a PPC agency or financial marketers that specializes in financial services campaigns.
They will be able to create a campaign that is tailored to your specific needs and goals.
Financial institutions must cater to younger generations
With consumer technology becoming normal for internet users, financial organizations must develop their financial brand, online content, and marketing team to compete in the coming years.
The trend of fintech startups shows no signs of slowing down, which means that the major financial institutions must adapt to stay relevant.
Digital marketing for financial services FAQ
What is financial Digital Marketing?
Financial digital marketing is the process of using online marketing channels to generate leads for financial services companies. This can include SEO, content marketing, PPC ads, and social media marketing.
Why is marketing important for financial services?
Marketing is vital for financial services because it helps you reach new potential customers and build trust with existing ones. In addition, by producing quality content and providing a good user experience, you can generate leads and sales for your business.
What are the 4 types of digital marketing objectives?
The 4 types of digital marketing objectives are:
- To generate leads
- To build trust and credibility
- To increase sales
- To improve customer satisfaction
