The most successful businesses within the financial services industry are already relying on a solid content marketing strategy to engage with current and potential clients online, and keep them engaged throughout the duration of their professional relationship.

Whether your content creation is handled in-house or outsourced, it’s important to keep these 3 goals in mind whenever you reach out to your audience.

 

Build on your brand. Branding goes far beyond your company’s mission statement. What are your company’s core values, and how are they being communicated across all of your marketing platforms? Does your web and print copy sound like it was written by a slogan-generating app you downloaded to your smartphone for 99 cents, or an actual human being? Do you have a different content marketing strategy for every marketing platform? Does your online branding help you find your target customers by utilizing the right SEO (search engine optimization) keywords? Once potential customers find your website, will the content they see be relevant to their interests? (If the answer to every question wasn’t a resounding “yes”, then there’s work to be done!)

Keep it personal. Now that every company worth their salt has at least 3-4 online presences (including social media accounts), customers are bombarded with sales pitches and online gimmicks at every turn. Savvy internet users are keenly aware of when they’re being marketed to, so don’t insult them with tired, cliched advertising ploys. Engage them with content that reminds them that their unique needs and interests are special, and helping them meet their financial goals (whatever they may be) is your top priority. You don’t want them to “LOCK INTO A KILLER HOME LOAN INTEREST RATE TODAY,” you want to help them live the lives they’ve always envisioned.

Don’t undervalue one of your biggest assets. Many companies in the financial services industry miss out on new or repeat business opportunities simply because they fail to make the most out of one of their most valuable assets: their own website. A successful content marketing strategy will help you promote new programs or services to customers who might just be logging on to check a balance or find a phone number. You’ll also attract new customers who just happen to Google “home loan interest rate forecast”, “high interest savings accounts”, “upstate New York credit unions”, or more specialized topics related to the services your business provides. By simply posting a blog post or article to your website about current spending trends, upticks in the stock market, or whatever your area of expertise may be, you’re starting a conversation that invites your current clientele to engage (and quite possibly invest) with your company further. And of course, you’re ushering potential new business right through the virtual door.