Content is the cornerstone of any marketing playbook, and this is especially true for financial services companies. Customers may not be aware of what financial services companies can do for them, and content marketing can bring them the knowledge they need to sign up. This brief guide will explain what a content marketing strategy is and the key benefits of implementing one as a financial services company.

What is a content marketing strategy?

Content marketing is a way of engaging with your customers via a blog or other informational media, like videos, white papers, or social media. The aim of content marketing is to attract visitors to your brand by offering them something of value, in this case, content, with the idea being that you can inform and persuade the audience to take a desired action after they have engaged with your content.

Some common examples of content include:

• Blogs
• Articles
• Whitepapers
• Videos
• Interactive Media

Content marketing is effective for a number of reasons; let’s go over the main benefits so that you can better understand how a content marketing strategy can help take your content marketing to the next level.

The Benefits of a Content Marketing Strategy for Financial Services Businesses

The main benefit of content marketing is that you can grow your business, promote your brand, and attract new customers, ultimately growing your revenue. But let’s look at why that is.

Content marketing promotes engagement

When customers read an article that explains how they can lower fees and increase their revenue, for example, they will likely be interested in achieving those goals. If your financial services company can help with that objective, and they are already on your website, then there’s a good chance they will engage with your site and sign up for a trial or membership, or purchase a product or service.

Content marketing increases brand awareness

Before a customer signs up with your financial services company, they need to know that they can trust you. That’s where content marketing comes in. By regularly publishing high-value content, you can position yourself as an expert in your field, and people will come to trust you as a reliable player in the industry. This will cause more visitors to become customers, and those customers will also tell their family and friends, which can have a positive snowball effect, fostering growth and increasing your revenue.

Content marketing generates more traffic to your website

Organic keywords are the best way to generate unpaid traffic on Google. By putting content on your website that contains natural, relevant keywords in your industry, you will be able to attract new customers who have never heard of you before but who are already interested in your products and services. You know that they are interested because they are searching for content relevant to your industry. This is a great way to generate ongoing qualified traffic to your website or landing page.

Content marketing allows you to speak directly to your target audience

By researching what your target audience is interested in and searching for, you will be able to produce content that is relevant and actionable for them. Including links to your products or services in your blog articles, for example, is a great way to encourage people to take a look around your website, and if they like what they see, get in touch.

Visitors are also much more likely to give you their contact information, such as an email address, if they feel like they are benefiting from your content, and this, in turn, makes it possible to follow up with them and convert them into customers.

Content marketing lets you reach a broader audience

Local, direct marketing is costly and is only effective in your local area, but websites are worldwide and having a great piece of content can attract potential customers from all over the world. The more people who are aware of your company, the more customers you will have, so leveraging content marketing to enhance your brand, you can accelerate the growth of your financial services company without being hindered or restricted by your physical location. This makes entering new markets easy when it would otherwise be costly and difficult.

Why is it important to have a content marketing strategy?

As we’ve just seen, content marketing is an invaluable tool when it comes to growing your financial services company. However, just publishing content at random will not serve you well; in fact, publishing the wrong type of content can actually hurt your reputation, so coming up with a strategy to ensure that your content marketing efforts are effective is the best place to begin.

The 4 key benefits of implementing a content marketing strategy

There are many benefits that come along with planning your content. Here are the main benefits of implementing a content marketing strategy.

1. You can target a specific qualified audience
2. You can create and maintain brand consistency
3. You can see what’s working and what isn’t
4. You can refer to the strategy when necessary

What to include in a content marketing strategy

When you are deciding what sort of content you want to put out for customers, it can be easy to make the mistake of thinking that content just means articles, but this is not the case. While a strong content writer can make a huge difference to the success of your marketing, the most successful financial services companies often use their blogs in tandem with white papers and videos to reach different audiences and explain complex products or services in terms that people can easily understand and identify with.

Summary

Content marketing is one of the best ways to generate traffic to your website, promote brand awareness, foster growth and increase revenue. But it’s not enough to have content; you need to have the right content for your desired audience, which means having a plan.

Having a content marketing strategy that includes not only keyword optimized blog posts but also helpful videos and informative white papers will allow your financial services company to establish expertise, garner trust, and make a positive impression on potential customers. All of these things add up to increased revenue and growth for your financial services company. A digital marketing agency can help you build and deliver a successful content marketing strategy.