Financial Services Marketing: Foundations for growth
Financial services marketing – actionable tips for success
In the fast-paced landscape of financial services, marketing plays a crucial role in distinguishing your company from the competition and attracting new clients.
However, with the multitude of options available, finding the right financial services agency or effectively marketing your own can be a daunting task. Our goal is to provide actionable and simple tips for those seeking a new financial services agency or looking to enhance their marketing efforts.
As a brand and design agency specialising in financial literature, we understand the importance of strong brand foundations and consistency. Our experience has revealed that many organisations attempt to handle marketing in-house, often leading to suboptimal results due to a lack of necessary skills and resources.
1. Defining Your Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
To stand out in the crowded financial services market, you must clearly define your unique value proposition. This is also known as your key differentiator.
To do this, you identify the specific benefits your company offers to clients that differentiate you from competitors.
Craft a compelling UVP that resonates with your target audience and conveys why they should choose your services over others. Focus on your expertise, specialisation, innovation, or personalised approach that sets you apart.
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2. Building a Strong Brand Foundation
A strong brand is the cornerstone of successful marketing. It builds trust, credibility, and recognition among your target audience.
Start by developing a well-defined brand identity that reflects your company's values, mission, and personality.
This includes creating a memorable logo, choosing a consistent colour palette, selecting appropriate typography, and developing brand guidelines to ensure consistency across all touchpoints. It goes without saying that this needs to be designed by professional designers as errors in your guidelines can be costly in the long run – both financially and with your brand equity.
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3. Establishing a Professional Website
In today's digital age, a professional website is essential for any financial services company. Ensure your website is visually appealing, user-friendly, and mobile responsive.
Optimise your website for search engines by incorporating relevant keywords and providing valuable content that educates and engages visitors.
You can consider adding tools such as lead capture forms, live chat support, and online scheduling to enhance user experience and encourage conversion.
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4. Create a Suite of Financial Literature
You have products and solutions to sell, so you need to provide the right sales material. So you need to create a full suite of financial literature that matches your brand, values and solutions. It needs to be well-written and professionally designed.
Firstly, speak to your sales team and find out what they need – they have unique insights into the keywords and specific queries that your clients are looking for.
Then, combined with your financial team, write out the content. It's best to have a financial or technical writer get involved so that your content is relevant, understandable and compelling. Make sure all key decision makers, including your compliance team, have signed it off before you hand the text over to your design team.
Make sure your designers have your brand guidelines and other references so that they can ensure consistency throughout your financial literature design.
Pay special attention to proof-check any numbers and details to make sure no glitches have occurred during the process. Also, give some thought to if your brokers or clients will want to print any documents out – if so, avoid coloured or full image backgrounds.
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5. Content Marketing and Thought Leadership
Position yourself as a thought leader in the financial services industry by consistently creating and sharing valuable content. It's not as daunting as it sounds – you know your industry well, so share some of that knowledge!
Develop a content strategy that includes blog articles, whitepapers, case studies, and educational resources that address your audience's pain points and provide solutions.
Leverage social media platforms, email newsletters, and guest posting opportunities to expand your reach and engage with potential clients.
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6. Harnessing the Power of Social Media
Social media platforms are powerful tools for financial services marketing.
Identify the platforms most relevant to your target audience and develop a comprehensive social media strategy. LinkedIn is the most used business platform, but if you have an emerging brand or positioning, you may find that your audience loves TikTok or another platform. This choice should be based on your customer, not you.
Where to start? Share informative content, industry insights, success stories, and updates about your company. This is where you share your thought leadership views and have engaging discussions with your audience by responding to comments, asking questions, and participating in relevant conversations.
Effective financial services marketing can make all the difference in attracting new clients and growing your business. By implementing the actionable tips outlined in this article, you can unleash the power of financial services marketing and position your company for success.
However, if you find yourself lacking the skills or resources to execute these strategies effectively, consider partnering with a specialised brand and design agency like ours.
With our extensive experience in designing financial literature and our commitment to strong brand foundations and consistency, we can help you navigate the complexities of marketing in the financial services industry.
