Roy Morgan’s Banking and Finance Report indicated that the market for financial services has continued to boom for the financial year of 2020 to 2021, reaching a 13.2% increase, or about a $13.2 trillion valuation.
This unprecedented growth manages to outperform the three years prior to that combined. And with such staunch competition in the financial services space, it comes as no surprise that marketing in this industry is a competitive space to be in.
With the global climate shifting to digital and the media priming the people’s focus on personal finance, to say that marketing is important in the world of financial services is still an understatement.
The New Marketing of Financial Services
More and more banks and financial institutions continue to increase their ad spending to capture consumer attention. This is necessary to take advantage of the increased emphasis on consumers having a savings account in today’s market.
According to EMarketer, financial services are the 3rd largest spenders on digital advertising, with consumer goods and retail trailing leading as 2nd and 1st respectively.
With an increasingly engaged consumer base, online marketing has become the primary go-to for financial institutions and continues to grow. Every digital marketing channel, from display to social media, is growing steadily in this space.
Financial Services Digital Ad Spend Statistics
There’s more interest in the convergence of technology and finance than ever before, with financial institutions rushing to improve their digital presence.
While the years 2020 and 2021 are similar in terms of market growth (at 14.6 to 14.4%, respectively), it shows that there’s resiliency in the financial services market to withstand the tumultuous events of the pandemic.
Compared to the travel and automotive industries which took a sharp plunge, financial services remain consistent. With cautious optimism, it may even move in an upward trajectory once the threat of the pandemic will eventually subside.
According to a 2020 report, one of the most important beneficiaries of the budget for financial services is mobile ad spending.
It has been claimed that it would grow by up to 13% during the year of its report, making up $13.91 billion or 70% of the total digital ad spending utilized in digital ad spending.
Other ad formats show promising growth too. Search engine optimization enjoys a 9.1% growth, or $9.01 billion, in ad spend. Spend on display advertising enjoys a higher growth pattern of 10.8% or just shy of $9.94 billion for the year alone.
Financial Services Marketing Outlook
It is projected that financial services will continue to ramp up its marketing budget for the next couple of years. By 2022, financial services will experience a 12.8% growth from the previous year. By 2023, it will grow by a further 11.3%.
How to Effectively Market in the Finance Industry
While digital ad spending is a dominant force in promoting financial services, it isn’t the only area of growth for this sector. Here are the other ways these financial institutions can connect with customers.
1. Customer Outreach
Customer outreach is a way brands can connect with their customers in a personal manner. Through programs, phone calls, or webinars, they can provide personalized assistance when it comes to financial products.
While it may seem like a philanthropic measure as these businesses are doing it mostly for free, the intent behind customer outreach is to foster a sense of loyalty and trust in your customers.
On top of that, when you help people with their financial goals, be it through savings or debt consolidation, they will be more willing to spend money on your services (e.g., investing in stocks or opening up a credit card).
2. Press Releases
Press releases are an effective and inexpensive way to spread the news about your product or service.
Financial services providers utilize press release distribution networks such as Get The Word Out to consolidate the news about their products and services in a digestible manner for readers to know more about the brand.
In essence, sending press releases to distribution networks allows you to connect with a prominent journalist who can help your message reach your target audience.
This can also effectively pull traffic from the newsletters, websites, and other digital channels where those releases are being published.
3. Digital Storytelling
One way to captivate your audience is through storytelling. Digital storytelling can be told through infographics, blog posts, videos, and other engaging forms of content.
By adding a human touch to your brand, you can get potential customers to trust you more and become loyal customers over time.
Social media also plays a role in digital storytelling as it’s one of the strongest channels where you can reach your audience.
For example, making videos about real people and depicting their rise from financial struggles can make your target audience sympathize with them. If it’s memorable, your brand will be carried along with it.
Big Data and Automation
Big data is a powerful tool that can help financial service providers make better business decisions.
By collecting information from social media, emails, and other sources, they can get a more accurate idea of your customer base.
With the right set of data at their disposal, companies will be able to develop new products or services that potential customers might want or need.
Big data also allows companies to automate some of their customer outreach efforts. Rather than having a small team dedicated to sending out personalized messages, they can leave that task in the hands of an automated system.
This frees up time for human resources who are more suited to make business decisions rather than answering emails or phone calls all day long.
Final Word
Marketing in the finance industry is a resilient force. It’ll only strengthen over time as more competition enters the scene, which means marketing departments and advertising agencies need to be quick on their feet to stay ahead of the game.
Financial service providers, on the other hand, gain a considerable advantage over their competition by employing the above marketing techniques in conjunction with a well-planned marketing strategy.
