The Importance of Digital Marketing for Financial Services

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is!

When it comes to digital marketing for financial services companies, many professionals believe they live in a very transactional world. These financial professionals, however, are under the wrong impression. Most modern consumers today are looking for more than just a transactional service.

The financial services industry is a competitive and unique industry to market for. We know that those in the financial services industry navigate the difficult terrain of regulatory and compliance hurdles while seeking to successfully market their products and services.

So, here are a few insights into the importance of digital marketing for financial services companies, and why you should be marketing right now.

It’s Time to Get Real

Let’s be honest. Financial services aren’t always the sexiest arena to market.

How do you make commercial insurance appealing? What about wealth management? While challenging, it’s not impossible.

Learning how to market in the financial industry can be tricky, but before you market to your client, try BEING the client/prospect…

If you were a prospective client visiting your site, Instagram, or other social channels, what would catch your eye off the bat? Would you be intrigued? More importantly, what would turn you off? Approach this exercise as if you’re a job interviewer, looking for any reason to say NO about your own business.

This observation will help you look at your current strategy and identify its current effectiveness. So be honest! By doing so, you will be able to understand the big picture of what your clients require to be loyal.

Effective digital marketing in the financial services industry is important as it ensures you not only attract new clients but also retain existing ones.

Build the Relationship

This step is arguably the most important. Oftentimes, people think of gaining clients as very transactional. This, however, is where businesses go wrong.

When it comes to digital marketing, your goal in the financial services industry is to build trust and a connection. Your objective is to establish a loyal client base.

Let’s consider banks for example. Unfortunately, according to research, “92 percent of millennials don’t trust banks.” Constant stories in the news of “data breaches, various crises, and financial institutions misdeeds” fuel the fire of distrust. Yeesh!

But of course, people, and millennials especially, only want to do business with financial companies they trust. And how could you blame them? Financial institutions need to create trust with their consumers arguably more than any other institution. You are, after all, handling people’s money on some level.

It’s difficult to approach a consumer as a stranger and gain their trust. Here are some ways you might build trust with your clients  and prospects:

• Establish and showcase your strong company culture
• Gather positive reviews and referrals from your existing client base
• Promote values that speak to your target demographic
• Solidify your digital presence
• Improve online user experience
• Customer personalization
• Consistent email marketing
• And more!

The bottom line is that there needs to be a relationship between you and your client —an understanding of your clients’ needs before your market to them. Then, use your insights to inform your marketing material. 

Embrace Social Media

Who runs the world? Social media! Instagram, Facebook, Twitter… These platforms are no longer just used for sharing photos with your friends. Companies are—and are expected to be—active on all social platforms today.

Social media is a great way to create strong brand awareness while connecting with current and potential clients.

Keep in mind that millennials and Generation Z (Gen Z) are becoming a larger portion of the population. They, as a whole, utilize social media more than older generations. Capitalizing on cultivating a social media presence that targets younger generations will aid in negating the hesitations they feel about banks. 

Additionally, social media is a place where you can share the story of your brand. It can, and should be, a fun place! You could:

• Post user-generated content (UGC) from your consumers and followers
• Utilize the ever-growing reels feature!
• Share behind-the-scenes photos and video
• Repurpose already existing content for social
• Follow trends or start your own using hashtags
• Post video testimonials
• And more!

Trust us, your prospects are looking at your social channels, or lack thereof, before they even make the decision to get in touch with you. Don’t rule yourself out as an option because of your limited social presence.

Leverage Technology

Traditional marketing is outdated and just doesn’t cut it anymore. Artificial intelligence (AI), Customer Relationship Management systems (CRMs), analytics, email automation, chatbots… Technology is evolving more than ever before these days! And financial service companies cannot afford to fall behind.

At Digital Storyteller, however, we recognize that you cannot just dive headfirst into the world of technology today. It’s crucial that you craft a clear strategy prior to adopting these new technologies.

An additional note: Your mobile site needs to mirror these wicked fast technological changes! This means it is SEO optimized and has a speedy loading time. In fact, did you know that if your site doesn’t load within three seconds, it’s likely your user will return to their search engine to find their information elsewhere? Yikes!

Content Marketing is King

If you haven’t heard of the importance of content marketing, at least you know you’re in the right place! Earlier on, we talked about how 92% of millennials don’t trust banks, and this statistic extends beyond banks to many other financial institutions.

Content marketing is a great way to regain trust. In fact, research shows that by educating customers, you gain client loyalty. An effective content marketing strategy provides value to prospective customers through an assortment of “relevant articles, videos, podcasts, and other media,” either shared or created, according to the Content Marketing Institute.

If you’re an expert, then act like it! We understand that discussing financial information with businesses can be difficult, as these topics are typically kept private. As a company, however, you have to gain your clients’ trust before you can offer them a service. Show them that you are an expert in your field!

Show Them How It’s Done

People know that managing their finances will lead to their success, whether as an individual or a business, but very few know how to do it. Learn the language of your prospects and use that in your advertising to them. As experts in the financial world, share your information and educate your clients to help them understand what they need to do to succeed.

Bring in the Marketing Experts

When you partner with a financial services marketing agency, like us, you don’t have to rely on what limited internal resources you might have access to.

At Digital Storyteller, we have the team and tools to boost site traffic for your financial services business using a variety of digital marketing strategies. Need help crafting an effective marketing plan for your financial services company? Contact Digital Storyteller today to learn more!