Winning Digital Marketing Strategies to Scale Financial Services Brands

Financial Services brands, no matter what the size or maturity, have the ambition to extend their reach, expand into new markets or find new customer segments. With the ever-changing landscape in this sector, the importance of deploying smart digital marketing strategies to achieve this growth has never been higher.

In this article, we will explore the key strategies Financial Services brands should have in place to scale both effectively and affordably.

First though, it is important to recognise that Financial Services brands do have to contend with specific challenges that can impact the deployment of digital marketing campaigns and experiences. Being aware of them and how to navigate them is also key to building the right strategies for success.

These are five specific challenges that Financial Services companies face:

1. Building trust
2. Regulatory constraints
3. Data management and personalisation
4. Adapting to customers changing lifestyles
5. Limited differentiation

1. Building trust

For many years now, there has been a general scepticism of financial institutions with trust hitting all time lows. Fortunately, according to the Edelman Barometer, public trust is just starting to creep back. However, this is slow and whilst there are many very worthwhile initiatives from Financial Services brands to ‘do the right thing’ by society and also by their customers, people are just not ready to believe it yet. They are stuck with the perception of Financial Services hiding behind small print or constructing offers only for their own benefit. Subsequently, convincing people of an initiative or new product offer can face a lot of resistance and messaging needs to be handled well.

2. Regulatory constraints

Given the nature of what can be at stake for clients, Financial Services businesses do operate in a highly regulated environment, which can limit marketing creativity and flexibility. Delivering tailored messages and content is often hampered by having to navigate complex privacy regulations and compliance requirements.

3. Data management and personalisation

While personalisation is both crucial and expected, many financial institutions struggle with:

• Collecting and analysing customer data efficiently.
• Implementing systems to capture and customer data and demographics.
• Leveraging big data and AI to provide real-time personalised offers.

This flies in the face of younger consumer segments demanding both personalised experiences and strong data protection.

4. Adapting to customers changing lifestyles

For many years banking and insurance was dominated by physical environments and it was the Financial Services institutions that dictated the when, what, who of the process. Now, customers, many of whom have fragmented employment patterns and high expectations on digital servicing, expect different. The industry has had to catch up with flexibility consumers now demand and in particular the growth of a mobile user base. Furthermore, different customer segments favour different communication channels.

This also extends into content creation. Financial Services brands must move towards content that appeals to different segments, which typically means:

• Shorter form content
• Multiple formats
• Video-based messaging
• Content aligned with individualised interests

This is an important challenge for products and services that often need explanation and to carry regulatory messaging too.

5. Limited differentiation

Financial services brands often struggle to differentiate their products in a crowded market.

Taking all this into account, here are 7 essential digital strategies to scale your Financial Services brand

1. Ensure you maximise visibility.
2. Reach target customers efficiently.
3. Build trust through valuable content.
4. Engaging target customers via social media.
5. Build credibility through influencers.
6. Nurturing ‘warm leads’ to increase conversion.
7. Scale up efficiently through Marketing Automation.

Let’s dive into these in more detail:

1. Ensure you maximise your brand’s visibility to new customers through Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Developing the right SEO strategy is crucial for increasing brand visibility organically and attracting high-quality traffic. This is a valuable foundation for any brand. This strategy will include:

• Optimising your Financial Services brand website content for relevant financial keywords to increase relevance to searches.
• Creating informative, high-quality content that addresses topics customers are searching for.
• Ensuring the various technical SEO elements are in place, such as site speed and mobile-friendliness.
• Building authoritative backlinks from other reputable financial websites

This is an ongoing work and it can take time to rank higher, so the sooner this strategy is finalised. Getting expert help here can really help accelerate your results.

2. Reach target customers efficiently through Paid Media Advertising

Beyond the important organic efforts, strategic use of paid advertising can help reach potential customers quickly and efficiently. This can include:

• Implementing targeted pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns on key search terms with relevant supporting messaging.
• Using display advertising on relevant financial websites
• Leveraging social media platforms for precise audience targeting
• Optimising media spend by focusing on high-converting keywords and audiences

3. Increase trust via valuable content

Producing valuable, engaging content is essential for building trust and credibility in the financial sector. This includes developing a content strategy tailored to your target audience’s needs and interests. Here are three considerations:

• Create and test a variety of content formats, perhaps including blog posts, whitepapers, and videos
• Focus on educational content that helps customers make informed financial decisions
• Leverage thought leadership pieces to establish industry expertise and stand out versus the competition. It is important to also balance out teaching and storytelling here so that the audience is engaged as well as educated.

4. Engaging target customers via Social Media Marketing

Engaging with customers on social platforms can also help build brand awareness and trust. Here are some proven elements to help you succeed:

• Develop a consistent brand tone of voice across social media channels to ensure you become familiar and trusted even in multiple different formats.
• Share valuable financial insights and tips regularly to gain engagement and following.
• Be proactive. Engage with followers through comments and direct messages
• Use social listening tools to monitor brand mentions and industry trends to obtain learnings to optimise your performance and to trigger new, relevant campaign ideas.

5. Build credibility through Influencer Partnerships

Collaborating with expert financial services influencers can also expand your reach and credibility. Some key element to keep in mind are:

• Identify and partner with trusted financial experts or thought leaders
• Co-create content with these experts that provides value to your target audience
• Leverage influencers’ platforms to reach new potential customers
• Ensure partnerships align with regulatory compliance requirements

Letting someone else talk for your brand will be a big step but if done right it has the ability to be highly relevant and tap into lifestyles not only products, thereby building a long-term relationship.

6. Nurturing ‘warm leads’ via email marketing Email Marketing

Once you have done the work of attracting potential clients and got them into the sales funnel, maintaining customer relationships with prospects through email can drive higher conversions. Here are some actions to consider:

• Segmenting your email list based on customer preferences and behaviours
• Personalising email content to provide relevant financial information to that segment.
• Implementing automated email sequences for onboarding and retention to ensure benefits are reminded in a timely fashion.

7. Scale through Marketing Automation

Leveraging marketing automation tools can help scale your efforts efficiently. You should look at the following:

• Implementing lead scoring to prioritise high-potential prospects
• Creating personalised customer journeys based on user behaviour
• Automating repetitive marketing tasks to free up resources
• Using data analytics to continually refine and optimise campaigns

These are just a few of the digital marketing activities Financial Services brands should be focusing on to drive their growth. Each one requires dedicated resources and knowledge to ensure it can be accelerated to build competitive advantage and increase market share.

There is plenty to navigate and identifying the right agency partner to bring additional expertise and experience to maximise your scaling potential is certainly well worth considering.