6 Finance Industry Marketing Techniques

Bill Tsouvalas

3 years ago

The internet is rife with questionable information – and there’s no shortage of it in the finance industry.

When it comes to turning leads into finance customers, cold leads are often wary of putting in an application for finance when they’re confronted with a lot of marketing fluff but little reliable information. In fact, this might turn them off completely.

The solution is to educate and inform readers – teaching them valuable skills. This has been proven to be a sure-fire way to build trust and loyalty and move prospects down the value chain. In the finance business, it’s the duty of marketers to convert cold leads into warm leads that are engaged and ready to buy. After a decade of experience in content marketing, here are some lessons learnt building rapport with cold, sceptical finance leads and engage them on their journey towards becoming warm and ready to buy financial customers.

1. Blogging

Successful content marketers publish quality content regularly, mind you it is better to create fewer posts of higher quality, published at regular intervals than an abundance of lower quality info.
A website blog is an effective content management system for displaying chronologically ordered information, with the newest posts always being displayed first. Furthermore, a blog provides a great way to discuss the latest trends and show website visitors that your site is alive and up to the minute.

A blog compliments how-to guides by giving readers the latest information, comparisons, and FAQs about what’s happening in your area of expertise. In the field of finance, this could be changed to regulations and Reserve Bank cash rates, or the impact of a global pandemic. An example of this was a successful mini-campaign around the Royal Commission into the Banking Sector and what it meant for would-be borrowers, which aimed to educate and inform.

Websites considering investing in blogging should always ask themselves whether or not the content they are creating is “share-worthy.”

2. eDMs

EDMs or electronic Direct Mail, allow businesses to build rapport through the delivery of a monthly newsletter straight to the reader’s inbox. As recipients have signed up and may unsubscribe at any point, they are more interested and likely to positively respond to your message than people who found you through search.

Monthly newsletters should always include timely posts about current market conditions and can nudge people towards your products depending on the time of year. For example, you could run regular features about budgeting and saving around the holiday months; or provide evergreen content such as negotiating for cheaper car or big-ticket item deals around EOFY. EDMs are your opportunity to talk directly to an already loyal and valued customer base.

3. Guest Posting And Outreach

Once you are publishing quality content on a regular basis and engaging with followers through direct mail, it is time to get your ideas published on other websites. Writing unique articles on your area of expertise and having them published on related websites is known as guest posting or guest blogging.
Guest posting can be one of the highest return activities you can undertake to promote your website and business. If other sites link back to yours within the context of an informative article, then readers get yet another useful reference point for judging your business. Search engines love it too!

To get started, enter your main keywords into Google followed by “write for us” or “contribute.” Then make a list of sites that accept guest contributions. Read their blogs to gain an idea of their tone and messaging. Finally, reach out to discuss an appealing angle. While challenging at first, guest posting becomes easier and more productive the more you do it.

4. Press Releases And Surveys

Surveys are a great way to generate primary source data that we can use as press release material and promote to other reputable websites. One mention from a top journalist or site is worth its weight in gold – and it is nigh on impossible to achieve by any other means.

It also develops and enhances credibility and rapport with industry bodies and influencers of note in advertising, business, education, the public sector, and the media. While potentially expensive and time-consuming, this strategy is all about taking your brand’s reputation and recognition to the next level.

The holy grail of Press Releases is to have journalists approaching you for comment in your field of expertise. The flow-on of this is that potential customers begin to view you as a top-level source of information. When it comes time to buy, they are much less worried about taking the next step.

5. Social Media

Social Media is a powerful means of reaching and interacting with potential customers. The issue is that it works more effectively for some fields than others. While finance is not a visual “hot” medium the socials can still be useful for broadening your reach and warming up cold leads in search of meaningful human interaction. Having an automated system to publish your blog content and outreach posts to your social media channels with the click of a button is a great way to leverage this medium.

6. Helpful How-To Guides

A lot of people feel intimidated by money matters. Surveys have shown that money and finance are “taboo” subjects. Unfortunately, like many taboo subjects, kids and adults alike can get some pretty shoddy information from friends and family – and on the internet. By providing how-to guides on your company website, showing customers the ins and outs of the financial product and how to maximise the value from it, they can feel more empowered to make a sound decision.

As finance brokers, if you can demonstrate that a product is not right for their situation, you have performed your duty of care. You’ve also pre-qualified them for other, more suitable products.
However, you must emphasise your advice is general in nature and leads should always see a qualified professional before making an application or enquiry.

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