Design « Slata

Not true: Top marketing myths

Content Marketing is just a “nice to have for the long run”

According to the Content Marketing Institute, content marketing costs 62% less than outbound marketing, and generates more than three times as many leads.

It is simple: when you prove that you understand the challenges and solutions of your potential clients, you begin to earn trust. And trust is after all, one of the most common hurdle to jump for financial services in their customer acquisition journey.

High quality content helps demonstrate your expertise and can give you the authority that other types of marketing wouldn’t achieve.

Industry white papers, financial calculators, long-form guides, and industry reports are all examples of content that can build your authority in the industry and attract highly qualified leads.

Financial services cannot reach clients with online advertising

I know you think otherwise, but your client also browses Facebook and Instagram!

Most financial service companies have a very specific target. Online channels offer ultra-targeting capabilities that can benefit just about any advertiser.

On LinkedIn, reach users by profession, education, company, and seniority. On Facebook and Instagram you can target users in specific ZIP codes and create powerful similar audiences that could align with your actual target audience.

These are only some examples that can be used to target financial services clients. The possibilities to personalize your targeting are endless.

Marketers can take care of your campaigns regardless of the industry

“Oh, you are a lawyer. You should handle my tax case”.
“Sir, I am a divorce lawyer”.
“But…you are still a lawyer”.

Lawyers are not the only ones that have to deal with this scenario. Marketers experience this all the time.

That’s why clients tend to achieve better results with agencies that specialize in a certain sector.

Financial services, for instance, is a very complex industry. Your marketing team must know how to accurately talk to your client’s needs.

Plus: Anyone can do marketing — even a robot.

Marketing automation has been many marketers best friend, but it has also resulted in people believing that robots are capable of doing marketers’ jobs. From sending mass emails to pushing advertisements out, people witness technology doing the tasks marketers used to manage. Marketing Week even wrote an article entitled “Rise of the machines: Are robots after your job?”

The short answer: No. Marketing automation tools just make it possible for businesses to replicate their efforts more efficiently.

And the truth is that automation doesn’t really work without smart human input.

A website redesign will automatically increase leads

Why did you redesign your website?

If your site is not responsive or user-friendly, or if you have researched that your industry standard visitor to lead conversion rate is 5%, and you are at 1%, it was a good decision to redesign. But, if you just had a “hunch” that you need a redesign then you don’t really know what to benchmark once the new website is out.

Improving the traffic-to-lead conversion ratio means much more than redesigning your website.

You need to improve the quality of the traffic you are receiving, make your web copy and value proposition more compelling, or perhaps what you offer prospects in exchange of their email is just not good enough.

Do not redesign your website for the sake of it. But do it to solve a specific issue you identified.

Influencer marketing won’t work for my financial brand

Brands often believe their product isn’t right for influencer marketing if it doesn’t come across as well-suited for glam photos and traditional lifestyle copy. It may seem that influencer marketing might not be the best vehicle for financial services. However, the truth is, a real voice that’s used to communicate a brand’s benefits can be effective even for topics companies are unsure have a fit in influencer marketing.

Look for influencers who can craft an honest story and you will likely find that consumers will be more engaged and pleased to join the conversation.

How to create a Content Marketing Strategy without breaking the bank (or your back)

As we have discussed once and again, a thought leadership strategy is key for financial services companies and professionals to differentiate themselves in the marketplace. Here we just want to share the simple steps to follow to create and maintain a strategy without losing yourself in the process.

Step 1: What are your business goals and objectives?

The first step is to carefully consider the business outcomes you are setting out to achieve. What does success look like, and does everyone agree on that vision of success? Are you looking to gain exposure, create leads or educate your prospect on your offering? Be clear on what your objective is before embarking in any content development or channel creation.

Step 2: Competitive audit

Create a list of your competitors and do some detective work. Where do they publish content? What kinds of content do they prefer? Look at their publishing frequency and what topics they cover. See if they focus on long-form content with lots of value. Know what you’re up against but also use it to inspire your content, either by imitation or by differentiation.

Step 3: Content audit

Take a complete inventory of the content assets you currently own. Include details for each piece of content including what type of media and its intended marketing channel and audience persona. Evaluate what content is performing, what needs to be updated, and what can be put on the back burner. If you haven’t done any content marketing, review the content you have developed for marketing purposes, which should inspire some of your content verticals that you will develop later.

Step 4: Customer Personas and Content Verticals

Develop a complete persona of each type of existing or potential customer you want to reach and their main pain points. What are their desires, fears, and interests? What keeps them up at night?

Then, based on each persona, develop a content strategy on what will be discussed for them. Think of the main questions they have when thinking about the problem and define the content vertical. For example, if one of your targets is investors planning for their succession, the content vertical for that target will be practical tips and discussions on wills, succession strategies, investment planning, etc.

Step 5: Brand Voice

Your brand voice is your communication style. Define how you want to communicate. Will you be serious and research oriented? Will you be more informal and establish a closer connection with the customer?

Step 6: Content distribution plan

Determine how you will get your content in front of your intended audience. Find out where they are already discovering content—for example, social media, email, video sharing sites—and what type of content they prefer. Research which channels are the best fit, and constantly update and refine your approach. Then, think of your pieces of content as they feed into the distribution channel, and adapt to each of the channels depending on their style.

Step 7: Measurement

How will you measure success? What are your most important KPIs, and what are the smaller KPIs that ladder up to helping you achieve the objectives you set from the beginning?

Step 8: Toolbox

What tools will you use to create content? For example, does your company already use a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress? Figure out if you will use your own writing staff or utilize vendors. You’ll also need good analytics software to track and measure