In the world of financial services it is a common misconception when people talk about digital marketing strategies to assume the audience is always your average consumer. The language used and the concepts suggested are usually attuned to draw in everyday people who might be interested in your products or services. However, for many businesses, this approach simply isn't sufficient.
Companies and individuals offering financial services serve a different type of clientele than your average retail or corporate business. They often offer B2B services to small and medium sized businesses and individual clients who tend to be intelligent, wary, and fiscally conservative. Marketing strategies that play on emotions or push for impulse buys are laughably mismatched. But, inbound marketing provides a wonderful way to reach out to your prospects, prove your expertise, and gently invite them to consider your services.
Financial Services Focused Inbound Marketing
When looking for financial services, from CPAs to wealth managers, people tend to take their time. They want to think carefully about the decision and choose the best available provider for their needs. Flashing banner ads or even modest PPC search engine campaigns won't persuade your business-savvy potential customers.
With inbound marketing, you can choose to impress them instead with high-quality content containing good financial advice, in-depth descriptions of financial plans, and up-to-date information on the latest trends and regulations. These articles will appear in the search results of professionals who know what they're looking for and will be impressed when you offer it to them for free. Writing in clear and easy to understand terms, highlighting not only your expertise but your sensitivity to the needs and interests of your potential clients is required.
Reaching Out To Businesses
One important thing to remember is that financial advisors and department heads use search engines, too. When they need more information on a specific financial concept or plan, they turn to Google like everyone else. This means that SEO and inbound marketing are just as useful for B2B services as they are for companies that only serve individuals.
You just have to speak to a different audience. Rather than aiming for the general public, don't be afraid to write your inbound content assuming your buyer persona has a little bit of industry knowledge. When aiming to reach the ears of the decision makers in a position to hire you, write blog posts and eBooks as if you are speaking directly to them. Keep the tone professional, informative, and respectful of their existing knowledge and choose topics covering specific financial details and pain points they might be experiencing.
Appealing To A Blended Audience
Many financial services providers have a mixed group of clients, ranging from medium sized businesses to private individuals. Insurance companies, for instance, offer package deals to employers but also handle a lot of individuals seeking complete or supplemental insurance policies. Appealing to your audience of individuals takes a slightly different tone, less financial acronyms, and more “how it works for you” explanations.
A good way to blend the styles is to create articles effectively targeting both halves of your audience. Write specifically for businesses in one post and for individuals in another. Spell out acronyms the first time you use them, add helpful “how it works” paragraphs between the technical explanations, and use links for concepts mentioned but not explained.
If your company offers financial services to a blended audience, both the businesses and the individuals are an important part of your growing enterprise. Because everyone uses search engines to seek services and information about financial services, inbound marketing is a powerful tool for drawing in both B2B and consumer clients as long as it is used correctly. Every time you sit down to create any piece of content have a buyer persona in mind and write directly to that person. Financial Services providers have any number of opportunities to take advantage of the power of inbound marketing. Get on board before it's too late to catch your competition.
For more information about inbound marketing for financial services providers, please contact us today!
