Let’s get down to business.
You’ve probably heard of inbound marketing and how it can help your business, but you might be confused as to how it works. We’re here to help you understand inbound marketing and most importantly, we’re going to give you six strategies for using inbound marketing to grow your business.
First off…
Here’s a refresher:
What Is Inbound Marketing?
Put in layman’s terms: Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on attracting, engaging, and delighting customers and potential customers. Unlike outbound marketing where businesses actively reach out to potential customers by pushing marketing messages often through “interruptive” channels, inbound marketing tactics put emphasis on drawing customers organically without being pushy or aggressive.
Takeaway: The core concept of inbound marketing is to provide helpful and relevant content to prospects when they are searching for your financial services so that you can build a relationship with them and ultimately convert them into paying patrons without having to spend huge amounts of money on advertisements.
The best part?
It’s not something that you have to be a huge corporation or brand to do – if you’re looking to create new leads and increase sales, let us show you how:
6 Ways Financial Services Can Use Inbound Marketing To Drive Success
Send Email Campaigns That People Want To Open
For the umpteenth time, email marketing is not dead. It’s an opportunity where each email holds the potential to strike a chord with your audience and orchestrate conversions. The only problem? Financial services providers have to get it right to drive meaningful results. The following tips should help:
- Create Appropriate Lead Magnets to Build a Quality Email List: A lead magnet is an enchanting overture such as exclusive financial insights, downloadable guides, or access to webinars that entices potential clients to trade their email addresses.
- Employ segmentation to create targeted subgroups: Divide your subscribers based on their preferences, interests, or demographics, so you can compose messages that resonate with their unique needs. With this, you can address their concerns directly which will make them more likely to open your emails and engage with your offerings.
- Craft Captivating Subject Lines: Avoid dull and generic subject lines that sink like anchors into the sea of inbox clutter. Instead, your subject line must pique curiosity, spark interest, and prompt readers to explore further.
- Personalize with Precision: Gone are the days of generic, one-size-fits-all emails. To stand out in a crowded inbox, you must tailor your messages to the unique needs and preferences of your audience. Utilize the vast array of data at your disposal to create personalized experiences that resonate deeply. Treat each email as a handcrafted masterpiece, showcasing your understanding of the reader’s pain points and aspirations.
- Tell Stories That Stir Emotions: Numbers and figures can often feel cold and detached. To warm the hearts of your audience, infuse your emails with compelling stories that ignite emotions and watch as your audience becomes enchanted by the allure of your financial offerings.
- Provide Valuable Insights: To truly engage your audience, offer them something of genuine value. Your emails should serve as treasure troves of actionable advice, empowering recipients to make informed decisions and navigate the complex landscape of finance.
- Encourage Two-Way Conversations: Don’t treat your emails as monologues, but rather as invitations to engage in meaningful conversations that build relationships and cultivate trust. How? Encourage recipients to reply, share their thoughts, and ask questions.
- Optimize for Mobile: Ensure your emails load quickly, display seamlessly, and offer a delightful user experience on smartphones and tablets. Streamline your messages, simplify your visuals, and prioritize clarity above all else. By doing so, you’ll reach your audience wherever they may be, capturing their attention and inspiring action with each swipe and tap.
Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating useful information for your audience (or clients) that will inform them about your products and services—but not directly sell them on anything. This can be in the form of blog posts, ebooks or whitepapers, videos, infographics, and more. The goal is to educate your audience and make them feel informed about your brand so that when they need something specific from you, they’ll think of you first!
Your content marketing strategy should be focused on providing your clients with valuable resources. This will help you create more leads, which is what you want from your content.
Here are some tips for creating engaging, informative content:
- Create Informative, Engaging Content: In order to get your clients to read your content, it needs to be interesting and informative. You can do this by including a variety of different types of topics in each piece of content and by ensuring that you have a clear understanding of your buyer persona. For example, the content created by a training company for financial advisors will be entirely different from that created by financial advisors seeking clients. In detail, a training company might create content like ‘How much do financial advisors make?‘ to capture the attention of advisors, while a financial advising firm might develop content on ‘How to choose the best financial advisors.’ The key is to ensure that the content is interesting to your target audience
- Provide Valuable Resources To Your Clients: Many financial services companies provide their clients with resources that are helpful for them in their daily lives, such as guides on how to save money or how to invest wisely. This will help you build trust with those clients and show them that you care about their well-being.
Webinars And Events
Webinars and events provide financial service providers with a platform to showcase their expertise, connect with their audience in real time, and foster meaningful interactions. By hosting insightful webinars and participating in industry conferences, companies can position themselves as thought leaders and generate leads. These virtual or in-person gatherings offer a unique opportunity to educate, inspire, and engage with potential customers, ultimately strengthening relationships and driving business growth.
Use Social Media To Your Advantage
Contrary to what some “financial experts” think, social media isn’t just a realm of mindless scrolling and endless cat videos. Far from it.
Imagine social media platforms as vibrant marketplaces bustling with potential customers, eager to find solutions to their financial needs. So how can it be leveraged to promote financial services?
One sentence:
Harmonize your social media presence to resonate with your target audience.
Follow this 5-step strategy to get started:
- Clearly identify your target audience, their pain points, and aspirations, and develop a compelling brand message that strikes a chord with their financial needs.
- Craft engaging and valuable content, using metaphors and storytelling techniques to simplify complex financial concepts and make them relatable and memorable.
- Choose the social media platforms that align with your target audience’s preferences and habits, and tailor your content to suit each platform’s unique characteristics. Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are some of the most popular social media platforms choices for financial services.
- Engage with your audience – responding to comments, initiating discussions, and providing helpful insights, to foster a sense of community and build trust. Social media is a two-way street. It’s not just about broadcasting your expertise; it’s about fostering meaningful connections with your audience. Engage in conversations, respond to comments, and cultivate a community of loyal followers who view you as their financial confidant
- Measure and Fine-Tune. Continuously analyze your social media metrics and gather feedback to refine your strategies, ensuring that your content resonates with your audience and drives them to take desired actions.
To succeed:
Think of your social media presence as a charming coffee shop, where customers gather not just for the exquisite brew but for the genuine human connection it offers. Embrace authenticity, empathy, and vulnerability, and watch as your social media presence blossoms into a vibrant hub of engagement and trust. And while the allure of social media may be intoxicating, don’t let it distract you from the ultimate goal: driving traffic to your offers. That means you should utilize compelling calls to action that beckons them to take the next step – whether it’s subscribing to your newsletter, downloading an e-book, or scheduling a consultation.
Dont Forget About SEO
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and it’s an essential ingredient in the recipe for inbound marketing success for financial services. Let us explain:
When potential customers are searching for answers, solutions, and trustworthy financial guidance, they turn to search engines like faithful companions, seeking to quench their thirst for knowledge and find providers they can rely on. Your goal is to ensure your digital presence tops the search results. And that’s where SEO comes into play.
It encompasses the strategies that help guide search engines to your virtual doorstep, ensuring that your website, blog, and other online assets are discoverable by those who seek financial services.
Research the keywords and phrases your target audience would use when searching for financial services or information.
Create valuable content around these keywords, addressing their pain points, aspirations, and desires.
Build authority and trustworthiness of your website over time. This includes linking to credible sources, getting backlinks from authority websites, demonstrating subject matter expertise and experience, etc.
With the right SEO strategies, you can raise your online ranking, appear on the coveted first page of search results, and attract organic traffic like moths to a flame.
Influencer Partnerships
Collaborating with influencers and industry experts can be a strategic move to expand reach and gain credibility. The key is to identify key influencers in the financial services space and form partnerships with them, allowing service providers to tap into their existing audience. Influencers can help amplify brand messaging, endorse products or services, and provide valuable insights to their followers. Such partnerships can not only enhance visibility but also build trust and credibility among the target audience.
Conclusion
When financial service providers embrace the power of attracting and engaging with prospective clients and customers on their own terms, they can build trust, establish thought leadership, and ultimately drive growth in this digital age.
