Marketing For Financial Services

Marketing for financial services is no quick or simple solution.

Here at Opulent Media Group, our marketing plans consist of in-depth ideas according to your specific objectives and requirements.

There are a few essential “building blocks” involved in the various stages of most financial organisations’ business cycle, regardless of their size or type.

This introduction’s sole objective is to describe these “building blocks” so that you can get in the right mindset before writing up a profitable and workable marketing plan for your financial services organisation.

Digital Marketing for Financial Services Wheel

We hope this intro is helpful, although if you would like to discuss your marketing strategy with our specialised financial marketing services team, you can contact us here.

Alternatively, you can skip ahead to our 30-page guide to marketing for financial services

1) Create your marketing position

It is important to first distinguish at which stage of the business cycle your financial organisation currently sits.

The standard process of a business cycle is explained below:

Startup: This is the first step of your financial organisation, at which your financial business is stepping into the marketplace, designing and developing its website, branding, and completing the registration of FCA.

Expansion: At this stage, your business is taking off by increasing employment and profit. You might also need to increase the prices.

Peak: Your business is now at the height of potential growth.

Contraction: The downfall of the firm is started at this stage. The employees quit their jobs, profit and prices decrease at the contraction stage.

Trough: The organisation cannot exist in its present condition.

Of course, all businesses do not undergo the full process.

For example, for the repositioning of an organisation, the expansion of the business might be followed by the contraction stage.

You can of course always return to ‘peak’ too, and it’s our job to get you there from whichever stage of the cycle you are.

You should be honest in determining your organisation’s position in the business cycle, as it will help configuring your marketing strategy.

For instance, could you spend more on Pay Per Click (PPC) to speed up your business’s expansion stage?

Or do you redirect some of your marketing spend to re-target your current clients to sustain relationships while at your peak?

Maybe by offering them referral perks or added service value.

Most of which can be automated.

2) Creating a financial distinction

This “building block” is related to the above one and asks “What is your business’s position in the marketplace?”

The most critical question is asked at this financial marketing building block, and it is “What is the distinction of your business, and why would clients engage with you and not your competitors?”

There are two techniques to compete with competitors.

The first one is to offer lower prices than your competitors.

This technique works only in a few cases. For example, in 2019, a study showed that some investment funds moved to a low annual management fee, which in turn helped them take the business from other active managers.

Nevertheless, there are factors to consider with this technique.

What if your competitors have the same prices and you cannot lower your costs further?

What if you’re in the business expansion phase and need to increase your prices?

Which leads us to the second and by far more superior technique; to create a distinction.

Your distinction is what makes you different.

For example, are you a financial adviser who can manage the transfer of a final salary pension, are you chartered or can you help expatriates in the Far East?

Whatever it is that makes you different – find your niche and shout about it.

Client Personas and Competitor Analysis’ are an excellent way to find out what makes you stand out in this crowded marketplace, and can be significant stepping stones to perfecting the marketing for financial services.

3) Set-up your marketing direction

Should your business sell its financial services/products to the present marketplace?

Or, should you switch to a new target audience, which could open more doors?

Many elements can affect your financial marketing strategy. For example, would it be okay to take for granted whatever you are doing at the expansion stage of the business cycle?

Conversely, if you are in the contraction stage, are your products/services no longer valuable for the clients?

Do you need to follow them with tailored client journeys through the financial path they take throughout life?

Your current market is important and should be looked after and resold, although a different target audience may be required to keep your business at its peak and continue your growth.

4) Creating a focus

Everything in the business is related to one critical question: “Who exactly is your target audience?”

One of the essential features of a financial marketing plan is that it outdoes the primary demographics, including gender, age, earnings and location, although these demographics are crucial.

You should ask yourself whether the target audience is fixed, increasing or decreasing.

What is important to them?

How do they decide to proceed with a financial service?

What issues are they facing, and do they want those issues fixed soon?

How can you solve their problems more effectively than the solution already available in the market?

Conclusion

This is simply the thought path behind the beginnings of a financial marketing strategy.

There are still so many things to talk about, for example analysing the environment of the present market or establishing the objective of the marketing plan.

Although, one more thing that is important to mention here is how important it is to review your marketing plan after implementation and make improvements continuously!

All points, as mentioned earlier, are essential, and should not be considered chronologically.

For example, choosing the target audience affects the direction of the strategy. It’s one big puzzle which we can help piece together.