Technology moves very fast. Finance marketing cannot, therefore, afford to stand still.
Search engines and social media platforms update their algorithms. Consumer behaviour evolves.
What worked for lead generation last year, or even 3 months ago, may not necessarily work in 3 months time.
Given this evolution in the finance marketing landscape, what kinds of skills will be necessary in the coming months of 2017 to increase brand exposure, and generate new leads?
Based on our experience of marketing in the financial services industry, we’ve come up with 4 key areas to help you focus your finance marketing:
Digital Advertising
There are lots of channels which fall under this unbrella. Facebook ads, Twitter ads, LinkedIn ads and more. Here, let’s just focus on one of them: Google AdWords.
The finance marketing world is becoming steadily more aware of the power of AdWords to generate lead opportunities. However, many companies are still neglecting AdWords despite its marketing potential.
For instance, is your target audience likely to read online newspapers like the Daily Telegraph? Or perhaps there’s a prominent blog your audience likes to read, which attracts far more traffic than your website currently does.
If so, wouldn’t it be great if you could put your advert on these websites without spending loads on advertising space (i.e. with the newspaper itself)?
With AdWords, it is possible to do this. Provided the websites you’re targeting are part of the Google Display Network, you can pay Google to show your advert on prominent sites like these and attract traffic to your own website.
AdWords is only becoming more important with the rise of searches on mobile devices, where the mobile screen immediately shows only 2 or 3 results. These spaces will be dedicated to AdWords links.
Don’t get me wrong, SEO is still massively important. Organic traffic is often a higher quality than paid traffic in finance marketing. However, you want to be the first brand to appear in your users’ mobile searches. If you want them to see you first rather then your competitor, you’ll need to get involved with AdWords.
Social Marketing
At the very least, your finance marketing would benefit from setting up company accounts for Facebook and Twitter.
Even if you do not plan on generating many conversions from these channels, they serve as an important social proof for prospects checking out your brand. That means generating followers, posting appropriately and strategically, generating engagement with your content, and encouraging “likes” and positive reviews.
For Twitter, this takes time and effort. You do not have to use Promoted Tweets if you do not want to. For Facebook, however, you will need to Boost a few posts at the very least if you want to generate Fans, and have posts appear in people’s newsfeeds.
LinkedIn is often a crucial channel for finance marketing. I find that most people tend to get more results from their personal profile, connecting and engaging with other users, than they do from their company page (unless they’re a huge player). However, your company page is still important for brand authority and social proof purposes.
Website Design & Development
As finance marketing goes increasingly digital, your website is only going to become more and more crucial to your marketing strategy. Financial websites are the focal point of their brands’ digital channels, making them the online face of your business.
Increasingly, financial companies are realising the potential for their website to generate inbound enquiries and business opportunities. To leverage this potential most effectively, you will need skills or expertise in the following areas:
- UX design
- Front-end development
- Web development
- Consumer and behavioral analytics
- Product management
You will also need an understanding of search engine optimisation (SEO) and digital project management.
Content Development
Content links very closely to website development, but deserves a category in its own right in finance marketing. Of course, much of your content can be housed on your social channels. It’s important that this content is shareable, digestible and easy to engage with.
Other content, however, will reside on your website in the form of blogs, reports and downloadable white papers. In order for your finance marketing to thrive, it’s important to understand how to develop these materials and promote them effectively through your digital channels.
Key skills required here will involve and understanding of SEO, digital project management and analytics.
Phil Teale is the Sales & Marketing Manager at MarketingAdviser, an agency specialising in marketing for financial services – and especially for financial advisers. Along with our sister company, CreativeAdviser, we also provide bespoke website design, branding, graphic design and video production services to financial clients.
Contact us on 01923 232840 or email me: phil@creativeadviser.co.uk