Whether you are a startup or a seasoned veteran, creating a marketing plan for your financial services business is a crucial step to take if you want to start off on the right foot. No one ever said starting and running your own financial services business would be easy, but with a well-crafted marketing plan in hand, you’ll be on your way to success. There are several elements that you need to consider, and this article will provide you with a detailed outline of everything you need to know.

The Different Types of Financial Services

Providing financial services is a vital component of the financial system. The presence of financial services is essential for economic growth and development. Financial services marketing is the process of creating and delivering messages that promote the sale of financial products and services. The financial services industry serves a broad spectrum of clients, including individuals, businesses, and nonprofits.

The financial field can be broken into three primary subcategories. These include personal finance, corporate finance, and public (government) finance. Within these subcategories, there are multiple different financial services available.

The 5 Main Types of Financial Services

1. Banking
   Banking has been around for centuries; however, with the advent of technology, it has gone through a massive transformation in recent years. In addition to traditional banking activities like deposits and withdrawals, many banks now also offer online and mobile banking tools to enable customers to access their accounts anytime and anywhere.
   
   These digital tools make it easier for customers to manage their finances at their own convenience and comfort level. Furthermore, banks are increasingly offering personal finance management tools that enable customers to track spending habits, budget better, and save more efficiently.
   

Banks must adhere to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Guidelines like the Reverse Requirement. This means they must keep 10% of all deposits on hand. The remaining 90% is made available for loans. People who deposit their money in banks can earn interest on the money as it sits in their accounts.

2. Advisory
   Financial advisors are professionals who specialize in helping their clients make informed decisions about their finances. These professionals typically have a deep knowledge of investments, tax planning, retirement strategies, estate planning, and more. A financial advisor can help individuals and businesses understand their financial needs better and develop a plan to meet those needs.
   
   Advisors offer services such as helping clients create a budget and manage debt, providing advice on investments and insurance products, preparing taxes, creating retirement plans, analyzing investment opportunities and portfolio performance, coordinating with other advisors such as attorneys or accountants, designing an estate plan that meets the client’s goals and objectives, and more.

Financial advisors are dedicated to understanding their clients’ current situation and objectives so they can provide personalized advice tailored to each specific client’s situation. They strive to build long-term relationships with their clients by offering ongoing guidance as well as consistent communication throughout the relationship.

3. Wealth Management
   Wealth management is a financial service that helps high-net-worth individuals and families manage their wealth. It provides customized strategies for creating, preserving, and transferring wealth.

Wealth managers typically provide services such as portfolio management and asset allocation, estate planning, trust management, tax planning, philanthropic advisory services, insurance review and risk management, retirement planning, and legal guidance.

Wealth managers create a personalized plan that evaluates an individual’s goals, current financial situation, risk tolerance, and time horizon to suggest the best way to invest assets. They also provide advice on how to reduce taxes and manage financial risks associated with wealth accumulation.

The goal of wealth management is to help clients develop holistic strategies to maximize their overall financial security while minimizing taxes or other costs.

4. Mutual Funds
   Mutual funds are an important type of financial service that allows investors to pool their money together and invest in a variety of securities, such as stocks, bonds, and other investments.
   
   Mutual funds are professionally managed by investment experts who use the pooled investor money to buy a broad range of investments across a wide array of asset classes. This provides investors with diversification and professional management, allowing them to invest in a variety of asset classes without having to research or manage each investment individually.

One key benefit of mutual funds is that they allow smaller investors, who may not have the resources or expertise to create their own portfolios, to gain exposure to different asset classes at low cost.

The minimum investment for most mutual funds is relatively affordable for even small investors, and many come with no-load fees or other transaction fees that can help keep costs low. Furthermore, many mutual funds offer automatic investments for those looking for an easy way to consistently build their portfolio over time.

5. Insurance
   Insurance is a form of financial protection that helps to provide coverage against the risks associated with potential losses, damage, or liability. Insurance policies are typically purchased in order to ensure financial protection if an unexpected event occurs.
   
   
   Insurance is provided by insurance companies and brokers, who assess the risk of an individual or organization and set rates accordingly. Types of insurance policies vary widely, but they generally fall into three categories: life, health, and property/casualty.

Life insurance provides coverage for death or terminal illness, health insurance covers medical expenses, and property/casualty covers losses from property damage or liability claims. Typically, an individual pays into their insurance on a monthly or annual basis in exchange for a “financial safety net” in the case of an emergency.

The financial industry includes financial advisors, credit card companies, and stock brokers. The industry is also known for its ability to promote investment. The financial services industry has been under stricter regulation.

Because of this, marketers working in the financial services sector must pay careful attention to the regulations in order to keep the financial services customers’ best interests at heart.

How Do Financial Services Companies Make Money?

Credit card companies finance consumers by charging interest on borrowed money. Loans are offered by banks and other financial institutions.

In order to raise funds, financial service providers help borrowers by selling bonds and shares. The financial services industry also includes banks, insurance companies, investment funds, brokers, and securities traders.

Banks provide financial services such as check and cash transactions, mortgages, business finance, and online transfers. Retail banks provide several types of savings products, including credit cards, CDs, auto loans, and home mortgages. Banks also pay interest on savings.

The History of Financial Services Marketing

Historically, financial services have been a small set of industries, including brokerage houses, banks, savings and loan associations, and mortgages. Financial services marketing is the process of creating and delivering messages that promote the sale of financial products and services. Until the 1970s, these companies provided only a few services. With the advent of the Internet, technology has enabled nontraditional competition to enter the market space.

Today’s financial industry is comprised of a diverse array of financial services. In 2017, the global financial services marketing industry was worth an estimated $169.9 billion.

These include insurance, asset management, retail banking, investment banking, and wholesale banking. They are all part of a broader convergence that is blurring the boundaries of financial services.

This industry is expected to grow to $206.6 billion by 2022, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8%. The financial services industry is highly competitive, and firms must carefully craft their marketing strategies to differentiate themselves from the competition.

How Does This Apply to Companies Today?

Financial services marketing is an important area of growth for these companies. It bolsters revenues and helps reduce customer acquisition costs. In addition, financial services marketers have more tools at their disposal to increase education and awareness for many financial services consumers.

The Industry is Growing – Rapidly

This industry is expected to grow to $206.6 billion by 2022, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.8%. mn. A marketing campaign that combines traditional and digital marketing techniques can increase brand awareness while driving a higher rate of conversion.

Staying Up to Date is the Key To Staying Relevant

Marketing financial services can be a daunting challenge due to the ever-changing landscape of strict regulations, intricate subject matter, and an uphill battle for gaining consumer trust. Technology poses yet another obstacle that must constantly be navigated in order to effectively market within this industry.

Mobile devices have already made a tremendous impact on the Financial Services industry in the previous years, and they will play an even bigger role in future. Mobile searches related to financial planning and management have grown 70% over the past two years.

Consumers Want a more personalized Experience

Using customer data, financial services can deliver personalized shopping recommendations. It also allows consumers to interact with the brand in a more personal way. A conversational engagement campaign can nurture relationships and encourage long-term loyalty.

How To Target Specific Demographics in the Financial Services Industry

Whether you’re a financial services buff, a newbie to the industry, or a seasoned professional, it’s a good idea to look at your competition’s offerings and compare notes. One way to do this is to perform a market research study on other financial services providers and their marketing tactics.

Evaluate Your Competitors

While conducting a frank examination of your competitors’ marketing materials, you’ll get a good sense of their respective strengths and weaknesses. Taking a look at customer retention rates, as well as the overall quality of customer service, will help you gauge how to go about improving your own performance and customer loyalty.

Financial services consumers start understanding that quality is important in a decision like this. Consumers are taking the time to research and evaluate financial services providers when doing their financial planning.

Evaluate Your Customers

You might even want to perform a similar review of your own customer base. Likewise, if you’re in the business of selling a product, service or both, examining your competitors’ customer bases will help you devise strategies to enhance customer satisfaction and boost the bottom line.

Target past callers and lookalikes with the right ads based on their conversations. Your callers provide a wealth of targeting data you can use to more effectively acquire new customers and retarget qualified callers based on whether or not they converted. Additionally, by understanding your current customers to attract new customers, it can give you a realistic view of customer expectations surrounding your financial brand.

While you’re at it, be sure to conduct a survey of your competitors’ top ten clients as well. This will ensure you’re not caught off guard by your next client’s question.

The Most Effective Channels For Financial Services Companies

Whether you’re starting a financial services business or enhancing the reach of your current operation, you need to know what channels are most effective for your business. A seasoned financial services marketing agency will be able to look at a company, evaluate the marketing they are in and the goals they have, and determine which channels would be best suited for them.

After all, these channels are what enable you to reach your customers and drive awareness about your brand, products, and services. Learning how your customers navigate through your online and offline channels is a lucrative way to optimize their user journey with your company.

Traditional Marketing VS Digital Marketing Methods

The most effective financial services advertising strategy is one that uses both traditional and digital tactics. For example, you can create a multi-channel marketing strategy that includes direct mail, social media, and email.

These channels can help you reach your target audience and keep them interested. Let’s take a closer look at each:

Digital Marketing

Since digital marketing is on the rise, financial service providers can no longer afford to pass up on online marketing tactics. With advancements in technology, digital marketing allows companies to reach customers directly through online channels such as email campaigns, social media, search engine optimization and display advertising.

The advantages of digital marketing for financial services companies include cost-effectiveness, targeted messaging and greater reach. Through email campaigns, businesses can capture customer data that can be analyzed and used to customize messages in order to create more personalized experiences for customers.

Social Media Marketing

Social media platforms enable financial services companies to engage with potential customers and build relationships by sharing content and providing support. A good social media marketing strategy includes includes the use of storytelling, content, and creative humor as well as consistency and the willingness to offer value for the customer.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization helps companies achieve higher visibility on the web by optimizing website content for popular keywords used by customers when searching for products or services related to the business’s offerings.

Each undecided searcher represents a major revenue opportunity for your company. By using tools like content marketing, you can position your financial services company as a trust worthy source of information.

By optimizing content, you can increase your chances of appearing in organic search results. Many financial services searches are run on mobile devices, if the information you provide can lead to a potential sale of – their phone is already in their hand ready to call!

Creating high-quality and specifically-researched content is essential since organic search drives 64% of calls to financial services providers . If you want to stand out against the competition, you need to publish SEO-optimized content.

Display Advertising and Pay Per Click Ads (PPC)

Display advertising on websites and mobile apps gives companies an opportunity to target users based on their interests and behavior, allowing them to better understand their customer base.

From a marketing perspective, display ads in locations on the internet where your target audience would already be, you get a better return on investment (ROI) on your adspends.

For example, if you are looking to target loan and mortgage consumers, then placing ads on sites that would be targeting people in the real estate market would be a better investment of your ad budget than if you were to spend the money on a billboard. While more people may see the billboard, not all of those people are in the market for a financial product like a loan or a mortgage and so the percentage of of how effective it is will be skewed.

Data is Crucial in order to Maximize Your Results

Digital marketing also provides businesses with real-time data analytics capabilities, allowing them to track campaign performance metrics such as conversion rates and return on investment (ROI). While digital channels may present new challenges, they also present opportunities for financial service businesses.

You can use them to optimize user experiences across all your digital channels, improve your brand’s visibility, and streamline your operations. You can also use big data to target specific customers for digital financial education. Digital marketing campaigns can create and collect a significant amount of performance-related data and increase marketing ROI on various efforts in marketing financial services.

You’ll also need to understand how users navigate through your various channels. By understanding the financial services consumer journey, it will help you create a user experience that is optimized for the best experience. Additionally, digital marketing methods allow for financial services marketing campaigns to be directed towards the proper target audience.

Traditional marketing methods

Traditional marketing methods in the financial services field usually involve a variety of print, and broadcast. Print media consists of newspapers, magazines, brochures, direct mail, flyers and billboards. Broadcast media includes television commercials and radio advertisements.

The furthest Reach

The goal of traditional marketing is to reach as many potential customers as possible within the target demographic for a given product or service. This type of marketing relies upon data-driven insights to determine who might be most likely to buy a product or service based on their past behavior and current needs.

Word-Of-Mouth BUILDS The Most Trust

Word-of-mouth marketing is also important in this industry, as customers are often more likely to trust recommendations from friends and family. This is one of the most underrated forms of marketing.

Know Your Marketing strategy and Make Adjustments As Needed

Understanding where your marketing efforts are making the biggest impact and leading to the most conversions can help you focus any ongoing marketing campaigns to be most effective.

Financial services institutions typically utilize traditional marketing methods in order to communicate details about specific products or services, such as credit cards, mortgages, insurance policies or investments.

Marketing costs for various traditional marketing methods can be outweighed by the amounts that banking consumers spend, accounting consumers spend, and mortgage consumers spend.

Future of Financial Services Marketing Companies

Several trends in financial services marketing have emerged over the past couple of years. For example, a strong focus on personalization, the use of marketing technology, and improving the customer experience. These trends can help financial services marketing companies reshape their competitive landscape.

The United States is the largest market for financial services marketing, with a value of $59.4 billion in 2017. The UK is the second-largest market for financial services marketing, with a value of $19.3 billion in 2017.

Increasing consumer trust has become a key factor in the industry. This trust can be established through better customer experiences, as well as building a loyal following of customers.

Integrating New Technology Into a Strong Marketing Strategy

Financial services are moving into new channels, such as mobile, social media, SMS, and apps. These channels enable financial services to create a unified customer experience across all channels.

Using Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a type of computer technology that can be used to simulate human behavior, including the ability to understand and respond to complex commands. AI has become an increasingly important part of marketing in the financial services sector, with its applications being applied across many industries.

Financial services marketing companies can invest in artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to help them deliver better ads, content, and programs. AI can generate insights from user data automatically, without the need for a guessing game. Machine learning can also help create recommendations based on user preferences, and can provide huge value for financial services marketing companies.

Using Conversational engagement

Financial services marketing companies can adopt new tactics such as Conversational Engagement, which uses natural language interfaces to interact with consumers. This type of marketing builds long-term relationships and provides personalized recommendations. It can also fill gaps in consumer service, such as customer support.

Conversational engagement is a marketing technique that has become increasingly popular in financial services marketing. It involves using conversation-based tactics, such as chatbots, virtual assistants, voice-activated technology, and text messages, to interact with customers in a personalized way. The goal of conversational engagement is to build trust with customers and foster effective relationships.

Engage with New and Existing Customers

By leveraging the latest technologies, conversational engagement allows marketers to engage customers on a deeper level by providing personalized information and recommendations that are tailored to their individual needs.

For instance, a customer could ask questions about credit cards or mortgages, and the virtual assistant would provide detailed answers based on data collected from past interactions. Additionally, marketers can use conversational engagement to develop relationships with prospects by offering timely advice and insights related to topics they are interested in.

Best Practices for Financial Services Marketers

Having the right financial services marketing strategy is crucial to the success of your business. You need to get your brand out there and establish trust. While you should be creative, it is also important to keep in mind the rules and regulations of financial marketing.

Follow the Regulations of the Financial Sector

The financial industry is a highly regulated industry, which can hinder your marketing efforts. Luckily, there are tools available to help your financial marketers avoid pitfalls. These regulations are in place so that financial services organizations keep their customers best financial interests in mind.

Customer Interests

Some of the regulations to ensure the protection of customer interests are the Truth in Savings Act, Fair Lending Laws, and The Truth in Advetising Act. These ensure that financial organizations are not deceptive nor misleading in their advertising and also ensure that a person is not discriminated by demographic or any other trait when providing credit.

In addition to marketing automation, which includes email automation and chatbots, you can also invest in AI solutions to better serve your customers. These tools can help you crunch data, identify customer needs, and target specific customers for additional customer service.

Combine Traditional and Digital Marketing Strategies

Financial organizations need to develop a single financial marketing strategy, which covers both traditional and digital channels. Your digital marketing strategy should be consistent across all channels and include paid ads, social media, and targeted content.

Creating a seamless customer experience has always been a challenge for financial institutions. However, new players are redefining the way they deliver products and services.

How to Market Each Type of Financial Institution

Now that there is a better understanding of what financial services marketing looks like, its time to start build your own plan. As mentioned earlier, having a solid marketing plan in place (and sticking to it!) that you can track your success with, is crucial. So let’s start with the basics:

1. Define Your Target Market

There are many financial products that can be offered and each of these products (generally) have different demographics that they are designed for. For example, the target audience for tax return preparation consumers is most likely going to look a bit different from loan and mortgage consumers.

This is why customer segmentation is important. Especially if you are using marketing automation, segmentation can help tailor specific messages to specific audiences.

2. Research Your Competition

As mentioned above, researching your competition can be a great place to start when building a plan. You can see what efforts they are making and what is working or what can be improved upon.

This is very clear when looking at banking organizations. Banks may seem like they would all be the same, however by researching what customers want and what is working for their competition, it allows them to offer features that make them stand out.

3. Create a Branding Strategy

Especially with digital marketing, this can help customers trust your brand. For example, if you are looking to attract tax return preparation consumers, by positioning yourself as a good source of information regarding any changes in tax code or by providing resources, customers are more liekly to connect with and trust the brand.

Content marketing can help create a story for the brand and with all the different channels, a marketing campaigns can really create a cohesive brand identity.

4. Develop a Marketing Mix

A comprehensive marketing plan needs a combination of multiple marketing channels and marekting techniques. Many people look to the “7 Ps” when talking about a marketing mix. The seven P’s include product, price, promotion, place, people, process, and physical evidence.

This can also include using a mixture of both tradition and digital marketing, like mentioned previously.

5. Set Goals and Objectives

While this may seem like a no-brainer, setting goals and objectives that are clear and measurable is a crucial step that many people tend to overlook. It is far too common where a financial services marketing strategy only has one goal and it is something vague like “make more money” or “get new clients”.

This can cause it to feel scattered and hard to focus. By setting goals with numeric value (i.e 10 new financial advisor clients, $10,000 more in revenue for the quarter, etc.) then it gives clear direction for what you are working towards and decisions can be made with information in mind.

6. Measure Results and Revise as Needed

The same reason we need specific goals is the same reason we should be regularly checking in the data we collect regularly. With all of the new technology that allows data to be tracked in real-time regarding the marketing efforts being made, if something is not working – then change it!

This industry is rapidly changing and the best way to stay relevant is to know when to pivot or change directions when something isn’t working. Use the data to your advantages and get the most out of your marketing budget.

Financial Services Consumers Have Options with Financial Institutions

Various types of financial institutions are available to meet the different needs of financial services consumers. These institutions allow people to store money, invest it, and receive valuable advice. They also allow people to buy, sell, and trade assets, including stocks, bonds, and derivatives.

The main purpose of these institutions is to maintain a stable and active financial system. They also provide a variety of services for consumers, businesses, and governments. These include deposit accounts, checking accounts, and savings accounts. They also provide loans, mortgages, and home mortgages.

A financial services marketing agency can utilize multiple marketing techniques on different financial products for one financial institution.

These types of financial institutions help people and businesses grow financially. They provide consulting services, as well as banking services. They also help people grow their wealth through investment.