2 Major Challenges of Financial Services Marketing (and Solutions!)

Marketing financial services has always been difficult, but today, digitization has changed the game entirely. The challenges that financial services face when trying to connect with clients are unique and require creative approaches. This, in large part, is due to the nature of those services; for instance, they differ from tangible goods, like vehicles, and it’s often tough for customers to gauge the value of financial services.

Another issue lies in consumer promotion. A potential car buyer is often very vocal about that fact on social media and is more willing to discuss it in a public forum. However, people looking for a financial service are less inclined to advertise this need.

The challenges listed below are common to most financial-service managers, and overcoming them is the surest way to distinguish your brand from the rest:

Challenge 1: Gaining Trust

This is perhaps the most widespread problem for financial-service marketers right now. Money is a very personal topic, and consumers must trust their financial institutions in order to expand into more services.

Unfortunately, trust in the financial sector is at an all-time low. Consumers are skeptical of large brands that suffered during the economic crisis. Open Forum reports the recession negatively affected most people, and they are only recently becoming more comfortable with their financial positions, meaning they are very cautious about taking risks.

Solution 1: Leveraging Social Media

The best way to gain trust is to break down the barriers between the business and the client, and that means engaging with consumers on a more level playing field. Social media marketing allows companies to produce a likeable, approachable image on social networks that remains consistent from week to week. When clients see their financial institution is sharing interesting, useful or even humorous content on social media, they are more willing to interact with that company and consider its services.

Challenge 2: Consumers Are Unaware of the Benefits of Financial Services

In keeping with the previous example, people who shop for cars are able to immediately judge quality based on objective factors, such as gas mileage, appearance and price. They can read quantifiable figures about each vehicle to make comparisons.

For the consumer, this means product attributes are vague, which can increase skepticism. This is not an easy problem to overcome—especially because the average person views financial services as uninteresting.

Solution 2: Present Concrete Examples of Quality That Relate to Common Problems

Too many marketing strategies attempt to borrow from other areas when selling financial services, and these efforts generally fail because the product doesn’t lend itself to flashy advertisement. A mutual fund will never visually appeal to a consumer the way a new, luxury car does.

As such, the best way to make a financial service appeal to a consumer is to provide concrete examples of quality. For instance, describing the efficiency of claims processing shows potential customers that your company understands their frustrations with the industry and is willing to directly address them.

If you’d like more info on how Rise Interactive has helped our financial services clients face overcome their marketing challenges, contact us.