General

Financial Services Are Digitizing. Their Marketing Should, Too

financial services digital marketing

When was the last time you physically walked into a bank, a wealth management firm or your broker’s office?

If you’re like most people, the answer is probably “not recently.” Financial services have largely gone digital. We’re checking our investment accounts online, using mobile or Direct Deposit for our paychecks, and using an app to update our insurance.

The era of face-to-face transactions might not be completely at an end, but it might be starting to prep for its swan song.

But a fair question to ask is: If financial services firms’ transactions are increasingly digital … shouldn’t their marketing be, too?

In-person marketing made plenty of sense in the past. People would visit your brick-and-mortar financial services firm, and then you’d upsell your products and services to them in person. Why not? They’re a captive audience!

But your audience is no longer captive. They’re running wild on the internet, updating their life insurance policies, applying for loans and mortgages or increasing their Roth IRA contributions – sometimes without ever seeing a human being face-to-face.

The way people are using financial services has changed, so the way you’re marketing needs to change, too.

Enter digital marketing.

What Is Digital Marketing?

Digital marketing might sound intimidating, but it just boils down to “marketing your products and services online.” Pretty easy, right?

Digital marketing includes things like search marketing, content marketing, email marketing, social media marketing, marketing automation and more. It’s a way for your financial services firm to build your brand, find a loyal client base and put people in touch with the products and services they need – all online.

Digital marketing does one more thing: It establishes trust. When done well, it paints your small business as a leading authority in the industry through the content you create, the messages you send, and the customer reviews you generate. And when you’re managing people’s money, there is nothing more important than trust!

As your financial services firm makes the switch to a more digitized marketing strategy, here are some things you need to know.

Digital Marketing Tips for Financial Services Firms

Leverage Social Media

Before social media exploded onto the scene, we browsed the internet a lot differently. We had our favorite websites for news, weather, sports, celebrity gossip, community events, you name it.

Now, it’s all right there on social media in one never-ending feed. We don’t have to visit separate websites; all it takes is a “like” to add something to our page. We don’t really have to leave our favorite social media platform at all.

That means your financial services firm needs to be on social media to have any chance at being seen. It’s not optional; it’s mandatory.

Don’t discount social media marketing just because your line of business doesn’t “fit into” the traditional scene – your job is to make it fit!

Make Your Business Personal

Some financial services just aren’t thrilling. There’s nothing inherently “cool” about sound risk management, for instance.

And that’s OK. You exist to help your customers manage their money, not to entertain them.

But while it might be difficult to tell a scintillating narrative from your point of view, you can still win your customers over by telling their stories. When Mrs. Marshall tells your audience that your firm kept her retirement account breakeven in the midst of a 20% market downturn, prospective customers are going to sit up and listen!

Don’t Neglect Multimedia

In finance, written content is the easiest way to disseminate information. But just because it’s the easiest doesn’t mean it’s the best.

Exploring multimedia options such as infographics, videos, podcasts or webinars can open your small business up to a whole new audience while making a traditionally “boring” product or service a little less so.

Put Digital Marketing to the Test!

The way your customers approach your business is changing. Your marketing tactics need to change, too. Digital marketing can take your financial services firm to the next level.

Ready to get started? Mischa Communications has plenty of experience with small businesses just like yours. Let’s talk.