Referrals have long been the most reliable method for generating new leads and clients for financial institutions. And while they still play an important role in the industry, modern companies should focus their efforts on online marketing strategies instead. As the world becomes more digital and younger generations begin making up the largest percentage of consumers, financial services have to be marketed in accordance with these landscape changes. You can contact fractional cfos who can help on financial services. To that end, here are some of the most effective online marketing strategies your financial services company will greatly benefit from:

1. Build a presence on social media

Social media is one of the most important marketing channels for all companies in this day and age, including financial institutions. A significant percentage of the world’s population uses social media for several hours each day, aiming to connect with other people, follow news and current events, find useful information, or simply entertain themselves. But it’s also the place where many customers like to find new products and services, especially younger generations.

That is why building and maintaining a presence on social media platforms can be so helpful in building trust, generating new marketing opportunities, and expanding your consumer base. Focus on posting high-quality, informative, and attention-grabbing content to engage audiences. Other ways you could improve your social media marketing include investing in social media ads, utilising the right keywords and hashtags, and building strong relationships with customers.

2. Enhance your SEO practices

If you already have an established website, you’re likely aware of the importance of search engine optimisation (SEO). By optimising your website for SEO using the right tactics, you can improve your rankings in search results, reach a wider audience, generate more site visits, and thus sell your services more effectively. The most common SEO methods include keyword research, mobile-friendliness, website speed, quality backlinks, etc.

However, SEO should be continuously improved in order to produce the best possible results. That is why it’s recommended to use a helpful tool that will be able to deliver white label SEO reports regularly. This software can check titles and meta descriptions, keyword consistency, broken links, friendly URLs, SSL security, loading speeds, mobile viewpoints, and other important metrics. In turn, this information allows you to enhance your SEO efforts and enjoy the best possible results.

3. Leverage content marketing

Content marketing goes hand in hand with SEO. But more often than not, businesses only use their on-site content for keyword implementation and promoting products or services. Instead, content should be leveraged for informing, educating, and empowering consumers. This is especially important for financial institutions, as a high percentage of customers don’t trust or rely on financial institutions to deliver clear and honest information.

For that reason, you should aim to build good relationships with clients through your website content. Companies offering trade finance options, for instance, can benefit from describing their financial services in detail and highlighting how their solutions can be directly advantageous to trading companies. Regardless of the financial services you offer, high-quality and high-value content can help to attract, convince, and convert prospects in a similar manner, leading to higher success.

4. Use customer outreach tactics

Although an old tactic, customer outreach is still an effective marketing strategy all financial institutions should adopt. It represents the process of reaching out to consumers in order to fill any existing needs in terms of help, awareness, and education. This can be anything from webinars and free consultations that are offered by smaller organisations to financial education programs like debt management courses in larger banks.

While it may seem like a large investment at first, customer outreach is great at building awareness, encouraging customer loyalty, and garnering more interest in your products and services. This tactic does work best when it’s carefully combined with other strategies, however, helping to promote your financial services through brand awareness and higher consumer trust.

5. Include video marketing campaigns

Videos are increasing in popularity among internet users and YouTube has quickly become the second biggest search engine in the world. Consumers regularly turn to video platforms to learn something new, gather more information about products and services, and even watch relevant reviews. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that video marketing is among the top online marketing strategies for financial services companies.

To get started with video, there are a number of solutions you could include in your marketing plan. For instance, you can focus on any differentiators that make your financial institution stand out from its competition or include strong guarantees such as a pledge of transparency to turn viewers into customers. As the financial system can be challenging to navigate for the average consumer, video guides and “how-to” videos can be quite popular as well. Similarly, videos depicting your financial firm’s history and company culture can personalise your brand and create more authenticity.

Regardless of your niche, digital marketing is vital to the growth and success of any financial services company. Consider the effective tactics mentioned above and incorporate them into a single marketing strategy that suits your business needs the most for optimal results.