“The Financial Services Industry has been extremely slow in modernising their marketing in step with changing consumer behaviour” – Marketo
The financial industry is continually evolving and, as such, it’s essential that your business is responsive to these changes. A detrimental aspect of your organisational strategy, of which many working in finance often overlook, is marketing.
Developing a strong financial services marketing approach can assist you in attracting valuable new leads to your business, while also retaining current clients. Understanding your customers’ distinct needs and wants is at the heart of effectively targeting them and, essentially, can help you achieve a competitive advantage.
When determining the best B2B marketing tactic for your business, it’s crucial to develop a comprehensive understanding of the modern financial industry.
1. Build Long-Term Relationships
As a financial business, your interactions and ongoing development of rapport with clients are of significant importance. Focusing on the individual customer is central in achieving this and relationship marketing is key.
When you truly understand your target markets’ unique expectations you’re able to establish meaningful relationships, ensure that you’re meeting their distinct needs, deliver exceptional value and maximise their loyalty.
Building long-term relationships with your customers encourages return business, which is typically far more cost-effective for organisations than attracting new clients.
If particularly satisfied with your service customers may also choose to share their great experience with others, generating positive word-of-mouth and directing new customers your way.
2. Find a Strategic Position
How can you differentiate your financial business from others?
In the financial industry, it’s important to build a strong brand that is clearly communicated with your target market. You need to be constantly looking for opportunities to truly stand out from your competition and create memorable, relevant content.
A great starting point is to research your market and competitors in the financial industry, using the information found to identify current or potential issues and how your business could solve them. In doing this, you can develop a unique value proposition and strategically position yourself in the industry.
It’s then essential to convey a clear and consistent image of your financial business to customers, leaving a lasting image of why your offering will meet their needs like no other.
3. Simplify Processes
Finances can be confusing. A crucial aspect of your marketing as a business in the financial industry is to develop clear, simplified processes for consumers and to communicate these clearly with them.
“Remove steps, minimise forms, add confidence builders and ensure progress is clearly signposted for the prospective customer to minimise drop-out”
Making your target markets’ experience a little less daunting could be as simple as creating an easily accessible and navigable website. When consumers reach your online domain, they’re not as likely to experience confusion and be deterred from continuing their customer journey.
Simplifying processes removes various potential barriers for consumers and, essentially, facilitates your ability to generate more valuable new leads and truly nurture them.
4. Know Your Customers
Marketing in the financial industry is particularly unique when compared to other forms of business-to-business marketing. As such, it’s of considerable importance that you do your research and figure out exactly who your target customer is so that you can market to their distinct needs.
An individuals’ management of their finances is arguably far more personal than the purchase of most tangible offerings. Consumers are therefore likely to take greater precautions, and these can create additional barriers in their customer journey.
It’s essential to ensure the content you’re creating is highly tailored, relevant and applicable to your target market to truly engage their business. To achieve this, it’s crucial to have a comprehensive understanding of their specific expectations and needs in the financial industry.
5. Be Proactive
“45 per cent of financial service report their marketing is conducted on an “ad hoc” basis” – Global Banking and Finance
How often does your financial business assess whether your current B2B marketing strategies are still performing well, or if there are new opportunities you could get on board with?
To conduct marketing on an “ad hoc” basis is to only do so when necessary. If your organisation is interested in gaining exceptional results from your marketing efforts it’s essential to be proactive and, instead, update your strategic approach regularly.
By continually monitoring the effectiveness of your marketing, you’ll be able to identify potential areas of improvement and truly optimise your investment. This gives your business the opportunity to remain relevant in the current industry and, essentially, gain a competitive edge by staying ahead of the game.
Interested in developing a strong B2B marketing strategy? At the Lead Agency, we can help. For professional assistance in financial services marketing, contact our expert team today.
