Is your financial content marketing strategy failing to make the impact it should? Alternatively, are you looking to craft a financial content marketing strategy but don’t know where to begin?
Below, I’ll walk you through the key tactics all financial institutions should employ in their content marketing strategies to get the results their growing businesses demand.
Content Marketing Trends for the Financial Services Industry
Content marketing is by no means an undiscovered marketing strategy that financial institutions would be surprised to learn they should be leveraging.
However, the insights offered regarding the efficacy of content marketing strategies can be eye-opening. These may encourage you to prioritize content marketing in your broader digital marketing strategy.
Here’s what you should know about financial services content marketing in this day and age:
- Educational content marketing is the type of marketing that seems to have the most impact. Around 80% of people appreciate custom content to learn more about a company.
- 47% of buyers will view three to five pieces of content before reaching out to a sales rep.
- 90% of people looking for loans and mortgages, 85% needing check-cashing services, and 76% of consumers looking for tax preparation support start with an online search.
- 64% of calls to financial services come from organic search. Meanwhile, the other 36% come from paid ads.
A strong financial content marketing strategy drives conversions as many consumers rely on content (and SEO) to help them make informed financial decisions.
That being said, what do you focus on when you’re formulating a financial content marketing plan?
Financial Services Content Marketing Tactics
1. Case Studies
I can still hear the “It’s only three easy payments of $9.95!”
Do you remember all of the As Seen on TV products that pervaded TV commercials before traditional cable started to lose its popularity?
They hit you with the exciting sales terms, flashing imagery, and promises of life-changing results. But if you were like any other savvy consumer, you know that magnetic advertising only goes so far.
Your products and services need to actually work to not only get people in the door, but keep them there.
One useful tactic in financial services content marketing is case studies.
Case studies give potential customers useful insights into the efficacy of your products or services.
They help your customer relate to previous customers. They provide them with proof in the form of data and results. And they show how certain products and services will allow them to address challenges they’re experiencing or meet specific needs.
Case studies give customers tangible proof of what your financial institution can offer them. Your marketing strategy will draw them in, but case studies will encourage them to choose you for what they need.
Utilize case studies in financial content to offer customers the proof they need to know they’ve made the right buying decision.
2. Lead Magnets
Website visitors and potential customers love tools and free solutions or resources. This is why top marketers always offer lead magnets.
Lead magnets support you with lead generation by requiring users to opt in. They get the free tool they want, you get their contact, and then you can begin the process of advertising to them through methods like email marketing to nurture these leads and convert.
Operating in the financial industry means that you can offer unique lead magnets that are tailored to the specific needs of your target audience.
For example, if you know that people are coming to your website for loans, you can offer a convenient loan or financing calculator to help them see interest, fees, and monthly payments in one convenient place.
If you operate in the wealth management niche, calculators that give visitors insights into retirement planning can be helpful as well.
If you offer broader financial support, free budgeting spreadsheets might prove popular with website visitors.
You can even create custom GPTs designed around your users’ needs.
Lead magnets can act as powerful incentives for those landing on your website to trust your finance business with their needs.
3. Email Lead Nurturing and Newsletters
Continuing with the above advice, you need to nurture your leads once they opt in.
This is achieved with an effective email marketing strategy.
According to Mailchimp, the average open rate in the business and finance industries is 31.35%, and the average click rate sits at 2.78%. The unsubscription rate is among the lowest recorded, sitting at 0.15% for those in the financial sector.
You can nurture leads and maintain customer relationships with emails and newsletters by:
- Personalizing your emails.
- Prioritizing email segmentation. Marketers report that segmentation enhances your email campaign by boosting your opens by 30% and your click-through-rate by 50%.
- Piquing your lead’s curiosity about your financial service or solution using short, punchy copy.
- Enhancing emails with case studies and other compelling statistics. A strong financial service provider will emphasize the results they’ve provided for their customers.
- Keeping them updated with fresh finance content, product or service improvements, and more.
- Adding relevant CTAs to your emails for effective finance content marketing results.
Take care to perform A/B testing to see what works and what doesn’t. This will help you improve your results over time.
4. On-site Blog Articles
SEO helps you reach potential customers and turn interest into leads and conversions.
Not everyone who finds your financial institution online does so looking for specific products or services.
As illustrated above, many people are looking for education.
A content strategist needs to create a financial content marketing plan that incorporates relevant keywords people are searching for in content creation.
If you’re a mid-sized bank researching SEO for banks, you can create financial content centered around keywords like “how to open a checking account” or “how does mobile check deposit work?”.
Do you offer wealth management services, or are you looking for support with SEO for financial advisors? You can create blogs to cater to each potential customer, focusing on financial topics like the benefits of wealth management and using a financial advisor for financial planning.
The goal is to create optimized content and break down new or complex financial concepts at the same time.
Then, you incorporate CTAs to drive them to take action and leverage SEO strategies to rank on SERPs.
Every financial services company and its marketers will want to focus heavily on SEO.
SEO is an effective way to generate traffic and conversions for your financial institution, and GB Digital is the fintech marketing agency to help you harness the true potential of SEO.
I can help your financial organization rank with SEO audits, comprehensive SEO planning, and quick results that help you see the returns and sales you aren’t seeing with your current digital marketing strategy.
Reach out now to see how an SEO agency like GB Digital can deliver the valuable content and content marketing results you need to help your company thrive.
5. Articles for 3rd-Parties
PR and link building are an integral part of SEO and content marketing that can be a bit trickier for many organizations offering financial services.
However, articles for third parties are a must if you want to make sure that your financial content marketing and overall content strategy are effective.
PR serves as both a way to market your business as a financial services provider and get the backlinks that you need to drive up your domain authority to rank higher on SERPs.
Meanwhile, guest posting will allow you to share your knowledge and financial advice across websites that rank higher than your own. This is all while getting links that point back to your site to direct readers there and show Google that you’re an authority in your industry.
Create a strategy that ensures you’re being advertised and published beyond your own website so that your content marketing efforts have the desired impact. Or, enlist the help of an agency specializing in SEO for financial services like GB Digital for faster, more effective results!
6. Social Media Content
Great social media content sticks with you. We all remember social media ads and content from a strong financial marketer that makes an impact.
While improving your online visibility via SEO is important, you should also think about how to create and repurpose financial content for platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and beyond. Social media can be quite impactful in financial services marketing.
Social media content can encompass images paired with useful financial information, infographics that drive users to purchase a specific financial product or service, or informational videos.
In regard to videos specifically, 96% of people use videos to better understand products or services, and 89% of people are swayed by this content format.
To make sure that your financial marketing and social media content marketing strategy makes an impact, always:
- Discover where your target audience is. The social media that the financial services sector targets will naturally look different than other industries.
- Consider how you can use free social media advertising in your broader content strategy, paid ads, and influencer marketing.
- Develop a strong brand voice and image that resonates with your target customers.
7. Podcast Interviews
Remember AM radio? Podcasts are just AM radio for the next generation, and they work.
Everyone and their mother listens to podcasts these days. It’s estimated that there are around 4.52 million podcasts globally, and around 158 million people listen to podcasts each month.
People trust podcasts to teach them about important topics, gain insights into products and services as well as industries, and connect them with businesses they can trust.
You can easily incorporate podcasts into your financial content marketing strategy to tap into this market.
The simplest way is to get an expert from your company featured in a major podcast that will demonstrate your authority and drive users to consider your financial solutions and services.
You could also start a podcast for your financial firm and conduct interviews with other financial services industry experts.
While this is more work and will likely take up more of your marketing budget, it does come with the added benefit of building community, getting consistent engagement, and bolstering financial brand awareness. Consider what will work best for your content strategy.
Streamline Your Content Marketing Needs and Achieve Real Results with GB Digital
Content marketing can be challenging for small to mid-sized financial companies, which is why outsourcing your content marketing and SEO needs to a seasoned digital marketing agency can get you the results you want without all the hassle.
GB Digital’s expert approach to SEO, extensive experience in the financial industry, and use of expert writers who produce factual, knowledgeable content give you the support you need to rank on SERPs fast and appeal to leads for greater conversions and profitability.
See what you can achieve with the right content marketing strategy.
Book your discovery call with us now!
