Four Marketing Concepts Every Financial Firm Should Know

“The number one bank in the world will be a technology company,” states futurist and fintech influencer, Brett King. 

So, what does that mean?

Financial firms need to adapt digital marketing strategies to not only stay relevant, but competitive, especially as the landscape changes, evolves, and grows. 

Even as we say that, the atmosphere is already changing – it really does happen that fast. But, luckily there are four fundamental marketing concepts every financial firm should know to make sure no one gets left behind. 

Let’s dive in. 

Lead Nurturing

Bringing value by way of education, help, and awareness without obligating the client to purchase is one of the key ways to stay at the top of your clients’ minds.

With the financial service industry being riddled with complex jargon and terms, it’s important to nurture your clients. A few ways to do this are through debt management services, financial planning services, and education on financial literacy. 

According to the Financial Educators Council, financial illiteracy has cost Americans an average of $1,634 in 2020. If we continue to generalize these claims, that equates to a total loss of $415 billion in 2020.

Although education of financial management and literacy might seem like a philanthropic effort of sorts, the ROI has proven to be well worth it and serves as a key way to nurture your clients and build trust in your brand. 

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is increasingly important to the health of any financial firm. So much, in fact, that in 2020 the only other industry next to financial firms that increased their budget on social media was retail.

This statistic only serves to leverage the fact that even as many companies cut their marketing budgets, the global pandemic shifted how financial services maintain relationships with clients. 

Social media proved, and still proves, to be an effective medium of communication as a way to increase sales by strengthening relationships and trust. 

According to a Putnam Investments survey, “74% of U.S. financial advisors who used social media for business initiated new relationships or onboarded new clients.” This study also indicated that “nearly three quarters of advisors (74%) relied on direct messaging through key social network platforms to communicate with clients and prospects; of those, 94% reported gaining new assets.”

Growth-Driven Design (GDD)

Autonomy is key for Millennials and Gen Z, so having the ability to do as much as possible without someone, or something, interrupting the process is crucial.

That’s exactly where your website comes into play. 

Although having a blazing fast website is a great start, for many financial institutions, having a website that places the customer at the center of your business operations is even more critical. 

How will they interact with my website?

Is my onboarding process smooth, streamlined, and intuitive?

Would this information translate better if I “show” rather than “tell”?

Is my website mobile-friendly?

Am I designing for future generations only? (Spoiler: Big mistake)

Approaching your website through GDD vs the traditional method capitalizes on integrating current-day trends while they’re happening. The traditional method, however, is primarily rooted in a “do your best now, and see what happens then” type of model that rarely lends itself to maintaining the upper hand with ever-evolving technology. 

And let’s face it – that’s a wasted investment. 

Because almost every client in your business base owns a smartphone or a laptop (but most likely, both), ensuring your brand has the least amount of friction between your client and your service is key in keeping your clients for the long haul. 

Also, taking it just one step further, as we stated earlier, technology is evolving at a rapid pace, and the expectations of your clients are growing with it. Updating your digital experience now with a website primed to stay competitive with the landscape is undeniably valuable in order to experience exponential growth. 

Studio Production

For many financial service companies, conversations and communication are crucial in developing trust with your clients. As humans, we gravitate towards entertainment and emotion far more readily than the financial firm industry’s M.O. of complex terminology, data, numbers, and statistics. So, one of the most effective ways to simplify these terms that also packs a potent ROI is through storytelling by way of a high-end studio. 

Storytelling, whether it’s through a video on your website, digital ads, or social media platforms, is designed to translate difficult-to-understand jargon into easily digestible narratives. These stories start the conversation with your audience, and potential clients, by helping, educating, and entertaining them. 

Your strategy plan should include storytelling in a way that is pure and organic to your brand. A few examples of storytelling are:

• Photography: Infographics or real-life stories from clients, like Dove.
• Podcasts: All but two of the top financial firms by revenue in the United States have podcasts. 
• How-Tos: A lot of financial firm clients are eager to utilize your services to make smarter financial decisions. But, a lot of those same individuals have questions, and lots of them. Having a resource-center, like Betterment, with real questions from real clients is one way of telling a story that your brand is eager to help anyone seeking assistance. 
• Video: South African institution, Sanlam Bank, created a 5-part web series entitled One Rand Man to magnify research that household debt averaged about 75% of their after-tax income. This campaign:
• Was viewed over 900,000 times
• Had 74 million media impressions
• Earned $2.8 million worth of media exposure

The method of storytelling is effective, powerful, and truly has no limits. 

Regardless of the goals, you have set for your financial firm, having a marketing strategy plan in place is one of the most effective ways to focus your efforts to reach your goals.