Financial experts, just like all other experts in the business world, need to market their services and be on a constant lookout for new clients in order to be prosperous. Luckily, in the world we live in today, there are numerous ways to promote your business and establish yourself as an indispensable asset on the market.
From hosting client events, delving into content marketing, SOE and PPC to offering financial services training, there truly is no shortage of marketing avenues you can opt for.
That being said, however, it’s worth mentioning that stretching your efforts too thin could potentially achieve the exact opposite result. So, in order to avoid bleeding your marketing budget on strategies that won’t bring you the desired results or the intended value, it’s important to recognise the ones that promise the best ROI before you decide to invest in any of them.
So, let’s explore some of the best marketing strategies and channels financial experts can use to promote their services.
Content marketing
Content marketing reigns supreme in the business world due to the simple fact that not only does it allow for shameless self promotion but, when done right, it also offers plenty of value to the audience.
It’s no secret that people like to learn new things and gain a better understanding of important topics, such as finances, so they commonly and quite fondly engage with high–quality content marketing pieces. Although many people mistakenly believe that content marketing revolves only around well-structured articles and blog posts, the reality is quite different. Content marketing also includes:
- Video marketing – Which allows experts to dive deeper into any potential topic and explain in detail who they are and what they do. It also allows businesses to give a personality to their establishment, making it appear more relatable and trustworthy. What’s more, thanks to platforms such as YouTube, financial experts can also easily engage with their audience, choosing to answer questions and provide deeper explanations to various topics. Get ahead of the curve and expand your network by adding a link to your YouTube channel to your digital business card. Everyone in your network and new connects will have direct access to your videos.
- Email marketing – Email marketing also falls under the category of content marketing. The main focus of email marketing is offering personalization, creating custom offers and boosting lead generation. Email marketing enables financial professionals to create custom and personalized offers to each individual client, offering not only greater value but a more hands-on approach to any particular issue.
- Social media marketing – although a strategy on its own, social media marketing is strongly connected to content marketing, as it’s precisely the content you end up posting that will help you reach your marketing goals. Social media marketing allows financial experts to reach new audiences and engage with them, which will only strengthen the relationship between the poster and the consumer. Moreover, it enables financial experts to build community trust and highlight the purpose of the services they offer, as well as – as mentioned previously – “humanize” their brand. No matter if you opt for paid ads, or choose to rely more on organic posts, a well-thought-out social media strategy will help you boost your business at only a fraction of the cost of some other marketing strategies.
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, allows financial experts and institutions to attract an audience – and thus potential clients – by presenting them with detailed, accurate and informative content regarding their services. This type of approach is used to encourage potential clients’ decision making, based on the information they’re presented with.
Although SEO may appear similar to content marketing, the fact is that content marketing makes only a part of a well-developed and thought-out SEO marketing strategy. By accounting for every aspect of a good SEO strategy, financial experts can:
- Boost trust with clients
- Encourage decision-making
- Focus on precise client targeting
- Make smart use of FinTech
- Offer new services and solutions faster
- Adopt new practices
- Create and foster long-term client relationships
- Boost lead generation
Since SEO fosters organic customer acquisition and lead generation, it has managed to establish itself as one of the best marketing strategies in the modern world.
Pay-per-click advertising
Another marketing strategy that’s proven to bring significant value to financial experts is pay-per-click, or PPC for short. Experts who opt for this approach need to create well-thought out ads, post them to search engines and pay for them each time someone clicks on them. The main perk of this method is that this type of ads targets the audience that’s already looking for the type of service that the advertiser provides.
So, not only is this strategy super effective, but it can also be quite affordable. However, in order to make a PPC campaign truly as effective as possible, advertisers should:
- Identify and target the right audience
- Use clear and concise language in order to effectively convey the right message
- Create a strong call-to-action (CTA)
- Constantly track results to see what drives the desired outcome and what needs to be touched up further
Traditional marketing
Although nowadays many businesses focus solely on digital marketing avenues when promoting their organizations, this approach is not always the most prudent one. And, although it is true that the majority of the modern-day audience is mostly present in the digital world, forgetting about those who still trust more and rely on traditional marketing channels is unwise. There is a large group of people who still read newspapers, receive physical mail and listen to radio ads, for instance.
Billboard marketing can also be quite effective, as there are still plenty of people who regularly commute and pay attention to ads they see along the way. Although the traditional marketing route can sometimes be more costly, when combined with digital marketing efforts it can bring even better results than digital marketing on its own ever could.
Word-of-mouth marketing
Last but not least, we have word-of-mouth marketing. This marketing approach, although quite simple, can be very effective. However, the way you choose to approach it can make a huge difference. Financial experts who seem too eager and pushy when asking their existing clients for referrals can often come off as unprofessional and even desperate – which is certainly not something you want to be aiming at.
On the other hand, if you don’t encourage your clients to “spread the word” about your business, they may not think of doing it themselves – not because they’re not happy with your services, but simply because they maybe do not understand the power of such mentions.
So, when trying to boost your “real-life” mentions, try to emphasize the positives it could potentially bring you, but be careful not to sound too demanding and desperate for new clientele, as it could seriously affect your professional image in a negative way.
To avoid this, you can also choose to host client events, where you can show your appreciation to your current clients, but also encourage them to “bring a friend” so that you get a chance to promote your services to new potential clients.