Looking at where financial services marketers are focusing their efforts, it’s clear:
The main digital marketing strategies are SEO, paid ads, AI optimization, email, and social media.
Let’s look at how to apply these methods.
What Does Digital Marketing for Financial Services Look Like?
Every financial marketer should employ these tactics for a high-performing digital marketing strategy:
- Google still commands around 80% market share, so you must focus heavily on SEO and strong content to answer search queries.
- SEO now extends to AI and LLMs. The financial industry recently saw a 6.15% increase in searches that included the AI overview (and this will only increase). Your content has to be optimized for these changes.
- Paid advertising still works and gets you quick results. Financial service providers enjoy a 4.17% conversion rate from Google Ads and a 9% conversion rate for Facebook Ads.
- Younger generations increasingly rely on social media instead of their financial institution for financial education. You need a presence on these platforms to build brand awareness, credibility, and customer loyalty.
- Email marketing is another key financial marketing strategy because it’s highly personalizable and addresses individual pain points.
- Given that 69% of consumers trust recommendations and opinions of influencers, working with these folks is a must.
Digital marketing should comprise a huge part of a financial service firm or bank’s marketing strategy. We’ll go in depth on each tactic below.
8 Essential Digital Marketing Strategies for Financial Services
Regardless of the demographic, purchasing decisions for financial services require a lot of research.
This is where digital marketing services play a crucial role, helping each financial firm provide clear, accessible information to potential clients at the right time.
That means your digital marketing strategy must take an education-first approach.
1. SEO
Many financial services naturally fit local SEO, and this is where keywords are often less competitive. For instance, if you want to focus on SEO for accounting firms, you could target “accountants in Chicago”, and so on.
Local SEO involves optimizing your Google Business Profile, gaining positive online reviews, and citations. This can gain you a spot on Google’s coveted map pack for each location.
For content marketing in general, you must focus on a single keyword per page.
Financial services are what Google consider a “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) category. In other words, it’s a topic so important that it merits extra scrutiny.
Google’s guidelines for financial service providers are that every page should demonstrate Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EEAT).
This means:
- Content must be accurate and compliant
- Author profiles must be complete
- Your website needs clear contact information and transparency
- Your online reputation (eg, reviews) must be positive
Also: don’t forget technical SEO and backlink acquisition. Earn quality backlinks through outreach and partnerships.
Expert writers are your friend (like ours at GB Digital). Hiring folks who know how to navigate compliance and still make information engaging is the key to ranking high.
If you’d like help with your SEO strategy, reach out to start a conversation. Here are GB Digital, we live and breathe financial services SEO!
2. AI Optimization
ChatGPT is now the world’s 5th most-visited website. But what’s probably more important is that its largest use case is for general research.
People love it because it simplifies complex information and personalizes it to the user’s circumstances. This is especially useful for the financial services sector, where it can be hard to make sense of different products and how they will be of benefit.
But platforms like ChatGPT are only as good as the information that surrounds them.
Meaning, it pulls in and aggregates existing content from the wider internet.
For example, when someone asks Google, “What are the best digital banking service providers?” Its AI-generated answer is going to come from all the “best” and “top ten” articles that have been published.
So, your digital marketing strategy has to focus on content marketing optimized for AI-generated results.
That means regularly publishing informative articles, statistics, educational pieces, and so on, which goes back to the importance of SEO for financial services.
3. Online Advertising
There’s no denying that paid advertising can be high-cost, particularly since financial services operate in a competitive space. Prime keywords for pay-per-click are not cheap.
But there’s also no denying they’re going to get you quick results.
Placing a Google ad can get you measurable activity within a couple of weeks, which is rapid compared to slower, organic methods like SEO.
Facebook ads can also give a similar performance, sometimes even gaining customer engagement within 24 hours.
Retargeting is another effective marketing strategy. Since the buying process for financial services isn’t immediate, having your brand pop up at strategic intervals keeps it at the forefront of people’s minds.
As quick as paid ads are, though, they also plateau.
So your financial digital marketing efforts shouldn’t just focus on this area. Use them to kick off growth, while you concentrate on the slower, more sustainable methods like SEO.
4. Email Marketing
Email marketing is great for reaching all demographics because it’s highly personalizable.
The main challenge is that people’s inboxes are saturated, so you’ve got to give them a good reason to click and read.
Don’t use email marketing for aggressive selling; no one wants that.
Calls-to-action should be something like an invitation to explore your financial services company or book a discovery call.
Educational, value-driven information tailored to different life stages or financial goals works very well. People want answers to their questions and their pain points addressed.
Ultimately, the aim is to use email content marketing to establish yourself as a trusted advisor.
Use segmentation to split your email list into the right demographic groups, then create personalized messages to address their unique financial concerns (email marketing automation makes this process scalable and simple).
For instance, retirement planning needs are going to look very different for a 20-year-old than they are for a group of seniors.
5. Social Media
Pick your social media platform wisely. The one you choose depends on your targeted demographic.
The best consumer-facing channels for financial institutions are undoubtedly TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.
People turn to these platforms when they’re looking for advice or financial information that addresses their problems. So, focus your social media marketing efforts on solving your audience’s pain points.
Tailor content to fit each platform:
- TikTok and Instagram contain a younger crowd and want quick, entertaining information like bite-sized tips or relatable money advice.
- Facebook has an older demographic, so community discussions and in-depth posts work well.
- YouTube has a varied audience and is perfect for tutorials, explainer videos, interviews, and detailed guides.
The B2B financial brand will find its audience on LinkedIn and X.
These platforms contain the decision makers within your target industry.
They want financial industry insights, thought leadership, and market information that will benefit their business.
6. Influencer & Podcast Sponsorships
Partnering with influencers is a smart marketing strategy.
These financial experts or “finfluencers” are highly trusted. This is because the stuff they put out there is relatable, resonating with their audience (which consists chiefly of Millennials and Gen Z), who prefer peer-reviewed content.
They often have the knack of breaking down complicated topics like investing and loans into understandable formats, which further fuels their popularity.
Financial podcasters are very similar in this respect, so it’s worth sponsoring relevant shows.
Their audiences are also highly engaged and remain steadfastly loyal to their favorite hosts.
The difference is that podcasters go in-depth on subjects, therefore attracting higher-net-worth individuals and those interested in investments. Influencers tend to stick to short-form content, which is why they’re so appealing to younger audiences.
Although this is another type of paid media, the advantage is that you get to reach very niche communities in a way traditional ads can’t.
7. Offline Marketing
Just because financial services marketing has gone through a digital transformation, it doesn’t mean offline strategies should be ignored.
Older generations still favor traditional TV over online streaming, so placing ads there is still essential for cornering the 55+ market.
Offline matters for the B2B financial company, too. For example, if you provide fractional CFO services, it’s a good move to sponsor a trade show or have a booth at a financial services summit. You’ve just got to find the events where your potential customer hangs out.
Even good old-fashioned billboards can make sense when placed in the right location.
8. Sales Cold Outreach
Cold outreach is a marketing effort that gets a bad rap. Even so, it still works as long as you take a very targeted approach.
For B2B, cold email marketing is great for making direct contact with decision makers. But messaging must be highly personalized and based on thorough research on the prospect’s business.
Cold calling is still viable if you take a professional approach with clear, concise conversations and active listening.
LinkedIn can often be a better way to reach a prospective client since it allows you to connect in a less intrusive way. The people who use the platform kinda expect it, anyway.
Expert Financial Marketing with Garit Boothe Digital
Just as someone hires a financial advisor to guide smart investment decisions, bringing in a digital marketing agency ensures your financial marketing campaign is strategic and targeted.
GB Digital is your trusted partner that gets you sustained organic growth in the financial sector.
We specialize in SEO for financial advisors, fintechs, and financial institutions, so we understand the nuances and challenges of this industry.
Our job is to fine-tune your content, secure high-quality backlinks, and get your pages to rank.
To understand more about how GB Digital gets results for your digital marketing campaign, book a discovery call today!
