4 Ways to Transform Your Financial Marketing Strategy

As consumers learn to expect on-demand, personalized service in every interaction, marketing teams at financial institutions cannot assume they are exempt. Consumers expect their financial institution to provide the right information at the right time throughout their purchase journey. Improving your marketing communication is essential to increasing your marketing effectiveness, building customer trust and, ultimately, growing your business. Here are the top tactics for transforming the way your financial institution approaches marketing.


1. Put Your Data to Use

Demonstrating that you understand your customers’ problems and specific needs is no longer seen as a bonus; it is an expectation. Brands are already using technology such as CRM, cookies, and self- service modules to tailor digital experiences to known patterns of behavior. Google, Facebook, Uber, and Spotify are setting the standard in personalized marketing and service, conditioning consumers to expect valuable and pertinent information in every interaction with a brand. Touchpoints such as web, mobile, and content marketing continue to grow in importance — but their effectiveness is limited without insight from robust data analytics.

For financial marketers specifically, data-driven insights based on advanced analytics are critical to crafting a strong marketing strategy. Through banking software that integrates with your core processing system financial institutions have the opportunity to harness a wealth of customer data in order to empower staff, meet the growing expectation for personalized service, and strategically increase the institution’s profitability.

2. Meet Your Customers on Mobile

Customers are flocking to virtual and mobile banking platforms for the ease and convenience of digital experiences. Research, comparison, and decision-making frequently happens in the context of their smartphones. Meeting your customers on mobile requires an optimized and responsive website and can expand to include custom apps and mobile targeted campaigns. Leading organizations are beginning to leverage mobile data for location-based offers and just-in-time marketing messages.

Your customers want the ability to bank on their own terms but, at the same time, they expect convenient access to real human beings who have all of the information about their personal details, their account, and their needs. They don’t want mobile interactions that replace personal relationships; they just want easier and more convenient access to them. When your marketing strategy includes highly-relevant marketing messages, delivered at the right time through the mobile mediums that your customers prefer, you are positioned for success.

3. Cater to Each Stage of the Customer Journey

Mapping your customer’s financial product purchase journey is essential to creating and deploying strategic marketing messages that help attract and retain customers. The customer is likely to have done much of the decision-making work before they ever step foot in a branch; for this reason, banks should see digital marketing channels as a priority for top-of-the-funnel marketing messages.

In mapping your customer’s financial product purchase journey, think about the questions that your customer might have at each stage of the process. Develop high-value content marketing that can be delivered using the right channels, right when they’re looking for those answers. Build a content marketing strategy ranging from blog posts, to FAQs, to interactive “calculators” that provide consumers with a helpful tool — and your sales team with invaluable data. There is still tremendous value in having local branches where customers talk to someone face-to-face, but it’s up to your marketing team to prime them for that interaction with content that meets their needs.

4. Get Personal

Research shows that 85% of Millennials are more likely to make a purchase if it is personalized to their interests. As such, establishing a customer-centric marketing strategy using real data has never been more important. At the most basic level, it is vital to tailor communications to each customer’s specific profile, as well as take the opportunity to add a personal touch to every interaction. Thank new customers for their business in an onboarding email, or offer white glove treatment to your most profitable customers.

Customized communications can be streamlined and scaled through the use of automated marketing campaigns. When you tailor your marketing messages to the individual customer, they are guided to next steps and your organization is established as a trusted advisor for their financial journey. Benefits of marketing personalization include increased conversions, responses, brand loyalty, and customer retention.

These marketing tactics are key for financial marketers who want to increase their reach, amplify their message, and see their organization grow. Need advice on coordinating your financial marketing strategy? We’d be happy to help.