The world of financial services is becoming increasingly more competitive, with individuals and businesses moving more and more towards a complete digital experience when it comes to managing their finances.
In order to stay ahead of the game, you need to stay up to date with the constantly shifting digital landscape, and learn how to best position your company as a credible force in the world of online finance.
When it comes to developing a successful digital marketing strategy, you need to have your finger on many pulses, and your eyes on many balls.
It can be difficult to know where to start, but we have some ideas that will help steer you in the right direction.
Read on and learn how to create an effective digital marketing strategy for your financial services business.
Know your audience and focus your goals.
One crucial component of a successful marketing strategy is knowing your products and establishing who it is that is in need of them.
Before you begin executing your marketing plan, you must pinpoint your ideal customer demographic and focus your efforts on those people. Build your strategy around your target market: their needs and how your products or services can improve their lives.
Everything becomes a little bit easier when you have a set goal in place, know exactly who it is that you want to reach and how best to communicate with that group.
This is especially helpful when it comes to creating targeted paid search ads for optimal return.
Pay attention to user experience (UX).
There is no quicker route to turning away customers than making your processes slow and arduous.
We live in an age of convenience, and the less movements a user has to make when buying your products or contacting your customer service team the better.
Streamline your processes and ensure the user experience is as smooth as possible. You’ll be sure to attract more customers by making everything as easy as possible for the customer – from application to repayment, and everything in between.
Develop meaningful customer relationships.
People want to do business with companies that they trust. This is especially true when it comes to financial services.
We are all naturally dubious in terms of trusting others with our hard-earned money. So, to begin with, your marketing efforts need to focus on earning the trust of your audience.
This is no easy task, but it is crucial to your success.
Begin by defining your company’s core values, mission statement and how best to communicate them to your audience in an authentic manner.
Let your audience know that their savings are in safe hands with your company. That you’re a legitimate, knowledgeable and trustworthy business with its customers best interests at heart.
Be transparent and open with your customer base. This is the foundation of long-term, meaningful relationships and the driving force behind a winning strategy.
Make mobile a priority.
Mobile optimisation has been a deciding factor in the success of businesses for many years now, finance and otherwise. It is becoming ever more important as we move further towards entirely digital banking.
In 2020 more than half of all web traffic was received via mobile devices – and it’s no longer just about mobile optimised websites. There’s mobile apps and the increasing use of mobile phones to make payments to take into consideration.
In 2021, if your business is not set up to do business on mobile, you’re way behind the times and have some catching up to do.
Again, it’s all about a streamline user experience and easily-accessible, easy-to-use products. Remember that there’s no easier way to turn customers away than by making them work too hard.
Form beneficial partnerships.
Form meaningful partnerships with key players to strengthen brand awareness and expand reach.
Whether they be with established and influential organisations within the financial services industry, authoritative voices in the blogging sphere, or celebrities and social media influencers. Getting on side with a well-known brand, a trusted journalist or a taste-making social media star can be nothing but beneficial to your business.
Word of mouth is a hugely effective marketing tool, so connecting and forming partnerships with those who have a large following gives you a ready-made audience of captive ears to tell your story to.
Create engaging content.
On any given day, thousands of businesses, both financial and otherwise, are vying for the attention of internet users. It can be hard to break through the noise, but to be successful you need to stand out from the crowd.
There are many forms of content you can utilise to engage your audience: podcast, video, polls, or something altogether more adventurous. The only limit is your imagination, so get your creative juices flowing.
Make your content work hard and make life easier for your business. Don’t be bland, get creative.
Offer incentives and rewards.
A great way to generate sales is by offering people something in return for their custom.
Just like the ‘buy one get one free’ offers in supermarkets, you can increase sales of your financial services by offering incentives and rewards to your customers.
Cashback on purchases; 0% interest for 12 months; gift cards. These are common examples of incentives offered by credit card companies, insurance brokers and many other financial service businesses. You could go further with more exciting offers, such as holiday vouchers or a free laptop.
Whichever initiative you decide on, giving something of value back to your customers will increase conversions – turning prospects into clients.
Recap and review.
So, there you have it. We’ve delved into some of the best ways to create an effective digital marketing strategy for your financial services business. Before we go, let’s recap the main points.
Know your audience and focus your goals
Pay attention to user experience (UX)
Develop meaningful customer relationships
Make mobile a priority
Form beneficial partnerships
Create engaging content
Offer incentives and rewards
Need help getting your digital strategy right? Book a free strategy call with one of our experts to discuss how we can help grow your revenue fast. Book a call.