A Hands-On Guide to Successful Content Marketing in the Financial Services Industry

Content Marketing Strategies for Financial ServicesA Hands-On Guide to Successful Content Marketing in the Financial Services Industry

• Engage Your Audience• Establish Credibility• Create Trust

• Build Your Brand• Generate Leads• Drive Sales

Introduction

Trends OverviewAmplified Global InstabilityEvolving TechnologyShifting DemographicsIndustry Implications

Web Marketing Trends Semantic SearchContent EngineeringMobile-Driven User BehaviorSocial Sharing

Content Marketing Tactics for Financial Services InfographicsEbooksProduct and Service ContentIn-Depth ArticlesBlogsSEO Best Practices

Conclusion

How Brandpoint Can Help

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Financial services as a whole – insurance, investments, tax planning, retirement planning, credit services, finance and loans, banking, real estate and more – is one of the most difficult industries for most consumers to understand. But it is also one of the most necessary sets of services out there today, because these are all topics in which the average person claims little to no expertise.

In short, it is an industry custom-made for good content marketing!

But there are challenges. As a highly regulated industry that works primarily with data, financial services providers often have a hard time communicating with their existing and potential customers. But successfully communicating with these people is a critical business requirement for success, no matter what financial sector you operate in.

While these challenges have always existed, they have become even more acute given the 21st-century forces shaping the relationship between consumers and the financial services industry: global instability, changing technology and demographic shifts. In addition, consumers are influenced in new and different ways these days; specifically, online communication channels have become more important than ever.

Content marketing is an essential tactic that can bridge the gap between the information financial service providers have and the needs of their consumers.

Introduction

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Three key trends will continue to impact financial services businesses in 2014 and beyond. Understanding these developments is key to content marketing success in this competitive industry.

• Amplified Global Instability• Evolving Technology• Shifting Demographics

These factors interact and intertwine: You cannot consider any one in a vacuum, and together they paint a detailed picture of a profound change in how people in the United States and beyond are living, as well as how they look at their futures. All this impacts buying behavior as it relates to financial services of all kinds.

Understanding these changes gives both new and established content marketers the insights required to successfully communicate with and influence an ever-evolving population of information-hungry and media-savvy consumers.

Trends Overview

CONTENT MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES 5

Amplified Global InstabilityFinancial services exist in a more unstable environment now than in previous decades. Since 2000, the industry has weathered the post-9/11 recession, a near financial collapse and ongoing political crises. These factors have been profound, but are not without historic precedent.

Here’s what is different today, though. Global financial markets have become highly connected, and the amplification of news and other information sources spreads knowledge faster than ever thought possible. When people have access to more information, they also have the ability to act on it as well. This leads to a market environment that is often characterized as volatile. However, it should come as no surprise that if people have both information and the ability to act on it, they will act … or as often is the case, react.

The ultimate result is that financial services customers are constantly mitigating risk, and will seek products and services that communicate these benefits.

“On May 28, 2013, there was a train crash in Maryland. Local respondents started tweeting about that, and within the next 90 minutes, CSC stock would lose $500 million in market cap.”– Forbes


Evolving TechnologyTechnology has filled a central role within financial services due to multiple factors, not least of which is the requirement to analyze and manage enormous volumes of data. The demands on this data continue to grow … and that’s as transparency, speed and complexity increase.

The perceived value of this data has also increased, leading to “big data” approaches to analysis. The amount of information that can be parsed and quickly shared is reshaping the relationship between financial services companies and their key audiences. Increasingly, people are being exposed to data in the form of trends, visualizations and other formats. The data-driven culture within financial services companies is now expanding to all audiences.

The end result of technology is a more informed consumer, empowered by the web to shop and compare financial service options. As technology becomes more pervasive, consumers will demand even more information they can review, digest and put to use making decisions on their financial future.

You have to be there offering that information. That’s content marketing.

“53% of people over 25 years of age use the internet to access financial services information, making it the third most popular category of activity behind personal communications and general information.” – National Telecommunications and Information Administration


Shifting DemographicsFor decades now, the population of the United States has been aging, and today our country has the largest percentage of people over 65 years old than ever before. As the population has aged, the number of products targeting seniors – including insurance, investment and retirement products and services – has dramatically increased.

While many people believe that seniors are technology averse, this is clearly changing. Like their younger counterparts, senior citizens use the web to stay connected with people, and are thus participating in social media in greater numbers. Reaching this demographic will increasingly require the web marketing tactics that were traditionally reserved for younger audiences.

But financial services marketers cannot ignore younger audiences either. Younger audiences themselves are more informed these days, based on access to the web and social media applications, and communicating with them will require adopting bolder online marketing approaches. The “same old, same old” won’t cut it anymore.

“Between 2000 and 2050, the population of people over the age of 65 is expected to increase 135% in the United States.”– U.S. Bureau of the Census


Industry ImplicationsFinancial services are complex, and they target a highly involved customer base that is seeking more information – reliable information – online. The challenges of compliance, while significant, can and must be overcome in order to be competitive in 2014 and beyond.

Quality content that addresses the many questions consumers have will be critical, and that content can become a competitive advantage as more consumers continue to seek out financial services information online. When you provide quality, useful content in a meaningful and non-promotional way, those consumers will come to know and trust you as an expert. Then when it comes time to buy, invest or select a service provider … they turn to you.

But what exactly is quality, useful content?

That’s not determined by companies, organizations or even Google. The people that read, view and share content determine whether or not content is useful.

Presenting unique, useful and engaging content is key in an arena such as financial services, with so many questions being asked, so many details to explore and so many points of discussion.

To successfully communicate complex information and move consumers across a highly involved purchase process, such as buying insurance, planning for retirement, making an investment or taking out a loan, it’s critical to know who they are and what drives their decisions. Understanding the customer segments within financial services – and defining related web marketing trends – is critical to successful web content marketing and communication.

“Try to make sure that you’ve got high-quality content, the sort of content that people really enjoy, that’s compelling, the sort of thing that they’ll love to read that you might see in a magazine or in a book, and that people would refer back to, or send friends to, those sorts of things.” – Matt Cutts, Google

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Web marketing has recently undergone several impactful changes. In many cases, these changes have been happening for years, it’s just that now we are seeing the results more profoundly than ever before. It is essential to understand these changes.

Content marketing isn’t complex at all, but it does require a basic understanding of several components and how they are evolving:

• Semantic Search – How do the search engine algorithms actually operate to bring consumers to your content … or to someone else’s?

• Content Engineering – What can you do to improve your placement in the search engines?

• Mobile Devices – More and more people are staying off their PCs for personal use; what does that mean for your content marketing efforts?

• Social Sharing – Which strategies and approaches make your content good enough so that consumers will pass the material along?

Web Marketing Trends


Semantic SearchGoogle recently updated its search algorithm, and labeled it “Hummingbird.”

One of the key objectives of this update was to be able to process longer queries or strings of words, and not just deliver results on exact matches to specific keywords. In short, Hummingbird strives to infer the meaning of the words within the context of the search.

This concept is grounded in semantic search, which differs from keyword-driven search based on its ability to better understand the intent behind search.

This is important to financial services marketers for a number of reasons. As the search function improves to answer questions rather than queries, the demand will grow for information that is relevant for key financial services segments. It’s important to begin thinking of the web as infrastructure to answer questions … and not simply sites, pages and keywords.

Bottom line: You need to be creating original, engaging and informative content for people … not something that tries to satisfy the rote needs of an old-fashioned search engine. Those days are long gone!

“Rather than using ranking algorithms such as Google’s PageRank to predict relevancy, semantic search uses semantics, or the science of meaning in language, to produce highly relevant search results.” - Wikipedia


Content EngineeringGetting content to rank on Google, Yahoo and Bing is increasingly moving beyond keywords and into a set of specifications called Schema to clearly identify content types, sources, location and other meta information.

We see these results when we conduct a search for things like a recipe, food information, sports score or financial market performance indicator. Facebook also has a set of specifications within its platform called OpenGraph.

Producing quality content is critical, but it’s also important to get maximum visibility and ROI for your investment in content. Making sure content is formatted to 1) be found, and 2) shared effectively, is critical in today’s search world.

Think of all this as “content engineering.” Platforms like Facebook and Google have a vested interest in keeping their user experiences optimized, and it will become critical that content is formatted to fit within their specifications.

FACT: All major search engines are now advising authors to utilize Schema.org to mark up their content for better indexing and results.


Mobile-Driven User BehaviorThe way people interact with sites, brands and information via computers has completely changed in the past decade. One of the most profound drivers of this change has been the wide adoption of mobile devices and a corresponding change in online behavior.

Location forms the basis of many mobile interactions. Finding a bank, reviewing a portfolio or locating a local insurance agent are all tasks that can be done effectively on a mobile phone, and many companies have optimized their user experiences to support these interactions.

But mobile-driven user behavior doesn’t stop at the phone. People are using tablets more often and consuming content within mobile apps.

Consumers watch videos on their phone, but not for long periods of time. Mobile experiences need to be simple in order to be effective, and those expectations are being carried back into the content consumed via laptops and desktops.

Like all industries, companies within financial services need to recognize the behavior of end users. Mobile is no longer just for maps. Make sure your user experience is clear and that content can be easily found across all devices.

“77% of mobile search happens at work or home even though a computer may be accessible.”– Search Engine Land


Social SharingSocial networks have become central to broad demographics of online users, from teens through middle-aged professionals and retirees. Platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have become sharing platforms.

As an industry whose growth is affected by a large amount of regulatory compliance, and is often structured to move in a disciplined and methodical way, financial services companies often neglect opportunities to participate and share via social networks. This needs to change.

Social sharing metrics are key signals for search engines. In other words: The more your content is shared and talked about, the more credibility you generate in the search engines’ eyes … and the higher your page ranking.

Moreover, developing and maintaining a social relationship with key constituents gives you the ability to facilitate ongoing relationships at scale, and effectively respond in real time to developments within an industry, locale or customer segment. Think of social media as a connection directly to your consumer – a place where you control the mood and message.

“Social media and technology are empowering consumers to receive the advice and expertise traditionally housed in a branch through non-traditional networks–threatening to turn banks from relationship centers into merely cash registers where sales are completed.” – Council on Financial Competition

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So, how do marketers close the gap between their industry, customers and the constantly changing marketing environment of the web? Can existing infrastructure such as websites, email lists and social profiles be leveraged? What else is required?

For many years, content has been the last thing considered in user experiences. However, for the foreseeable future, it will be the primary factor in determining success or failure for web programs. There are a number of tactics that marketing and communication professionals within financial services can leverage to increase their success with content.

FACT: “Banking and financial services marketers have a tighter grip over their content marketing creation and topical planning. This is likely due to the tight regulations this industry is tasked with complying with, including Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). As a result, 56% of respondents had a content marketing editorial calendar in place to guide content creation (versus 32% of responses cross-verticals).“ – IMN Content Survey

Content Marketing Tactics for Financial Services


InfographicsThe financial services industry is filled with often difficult-to-grasp, data-driven subject matter. Distilling a complex topic into a simple concept can be critical to facilitating everything from brand awareness to lead generation and product or service sales.

Infographics have become recognized as a highly effective tactic for relaying this type of messaging, whether you want to educate prospects about their life insurance options, emphasize the need to be saving for retirement or describe alternatives for financing a home or other large purchase.

An infographic combines facts and information graphics to tell a story. Why use a thousand words when you can use a hundred words and some eye-catching graphics? The story can illustrate a process, a concept or even be used as how-to information.

Here’s another big bonus for creating infographics: As one-page, stand-alone documents, infographics are easy to share on social media, and that’s important for expanding your reach. Also, when infographics are shared, they can build organic links to your website, benefitting search engine optimization.

FACT: Search volume for infographics increased 1000% between 2010 and 2013. – Brandpoint Research


EbooksSales support and lead generation are some of the most important tasks in an organization, and they are also some of the most challenging activities to facilitate. People offer their contact information only when they believe they will receive something of value. You can effectively close the loop on this exchange by providing content that offers quality information and imparts knowledge of value.

Enter the Ebook.

An Ebook is a stand-alone document, typically in PDF format. The text content can range from 1,000 or 2,000 to as many as 5,000 words, and the piece typically runs 10 to 30 pages long. You’re reading an Ebook right now.

Ebooks typically combine text and graphics to tell more complex stories than infographics. Ebooks are designed to be print-friendly and to be read on desktops, laptops and mobile devices (most likely a tablet).

You can promote Ebooks on websites, within paid media and via social media. For many online marketing campaigns, offering premium content deliverables such as an Ebook can multiply the number of leads you generate. Ebooks are also effective tools to be leveraged by inside sales teams to establish relationships with potential customers.

“The ebook has become the current standard for the long-form content package. A lot of companies are moving away from the verbose white paper to the sleeker, more appealing ebook.” – Joe Pulizzi, founder Content Marketing Institute (CMI)

55% of B2B marketers rate Ebooks as an effective content marketing tactic.– TopRank


Product and Service ContentProducts and services are the core content for most websites within the financial services industry. These pages need to rank highly in organic search, serve as landing pages for paid search and contribute intrinsic value to a lead or sales conversion.

Content describing products and services comprises the pages that your prospects access, often multiple times, before they take action. These are some of the most critical pages for lead generation on your site, and they deserve extra attention. Consider these best practices:

• The product or service name should be in the headline.• Include subheads.• Your primary keyword should be in the first paragraph.• Include a bulleted list of key benefits.• Bold or italicize important words.• Link to other logical places on your website.

Making sure that these pages conform to SEO best practices is a top priority in authoring this content. Optimize meta titles and descriptions: Even though they have little effect on search results, these descriptions are one of the few opportunities you have to control what the search engines serve to your audience. Write content that will entice viewers to click. That includes authoring with the appropriate level of information and with the right voice and tone.

FACT: “Driving increased number of leads is the most important goal of content marketing, with 44% citing this as a primary goal.” – IMN Content Survey


In-Depth ArticlesOne of the new content types supported by Google is a specific type of content called In-Depth Articles. This content takes advantage of Google Schema and is displayed as a rich snippet (pullout of key introductory/explanatory information) in search results.

In-Depth Articles are intended to be information that is long-form (more than 1,000 words), evergreen (relevant for not months, but years) and authoritative. These articles need to be tagged based on Google’s Schema and should follow Google’s SEO best practices.

The types of topics that should be considered for in-depth articles should be highly involved, multi-faceted and answer multiple questions end users have around a topic or set of topics. Think of an in-depth article as you would a magazine feature story. Here are a few tips for creating great in-depth articles that will actually get read:

• Create an exciting headline that just can’t be ignored. • Break down the article into subheads and short sections.• Write in the active voice (as much as possible, stay away

from passive verbs such as be, am, is, are, was, were, have, has, had, been, being, etc.).

• Use bullets and lists to provide white space.• Add pictures that grab and hold attention.

FACT: Finance is the fifth most popular content category of in-depth articles. – Forbes

http://www.brandpoint.com/get-clicked-9-tips-for-writing-engaging-headlines-and-winning-the-battle-for-readers-attention/


BlogsAs a web marketing tactic, blogs have evolved from being an outlier tactic to nearly mandatory. There are many reasons why they are popular … and essential. Blogs:

• Are easy to update.• Can accommodate a variety of topics.• Let you continually update your messaging.• Address new trends as they happen.• Keep the search engines coming back to see what fresh, new

content has been added to your website.

One of the keys to smart blogging is to blog often – one, two, even three or more times per week (as long as the content is interesting and relevant). New blogs – well written and featuring new, original content – keep the search engines coming back to your website, and that’s good for traffic.

In short, blogs address many key signals for search engines, but chiefly: Search engines like fresh, relevant content.

Many financial services organizations could benefit from blog content, but far fewer take advantage of this tactic due to organizational structure, the requirement for regulatory compliance or a lack of awareness of the viability of this tactic.

Editorial planning, informed topic selection and a structured content workflow can overcome these obstacles and create a sustainable marketing and communications advantage for organizations that recognize the value of blog content.

One final blogging tip: Take advantage of Google Authorship to stand out in search results. Link your Google Plus profile to your blog content. Google rewards this.

FACT: Blogs remain a popular B2B and B2C content marketing tactic. Over 70% of businesses surveyed by Content Marketing Institute leverage blogs as part of their content strategies. – Content Marketing Institute

http://www.brandpoint.com/google-authorship-how-the-tech-giant-is-humanizing-your-online-presence/


SEO Best PracticesRecent updates from Google, and the evolution of social media platforms, are changing the way SEO gets implemented. Some best practices still apply, and Google gives strong guidance:

• Ensure that each of your web pages has a unique title and description.

• Avoid duplicate content (the search engines frown on that, which is why fresh, original content – frequently fed to your site, often via a blog) is so important.

• Make sure your pages can be found.

• Use appropriate page-level elements for emphasis.

But what’s changed is quite profound. Earning links based on quality content is paramount; sites that try to buy their way to higher domain authority are penalized. Tagging content based on Google’s schema, Facebook’s open graph and the Dublin Core standards can help content be found and shared more easily. Promoting content via social media impacts SEO as well.

As more people turn to the web to get their financial services questions answered, ensuring that content is formatted to these SEO standards will often be the difference between content being found or not found.

“Today Google’s algorithms rely on more than 200 unique signals or ‘clues’ that make it possible to guess what you might really be looking for. These signals include things like the terms on websites, the freshness of content, your region and PageRank.” – Google

http://www.brandpoint.com/how-to-use-googles-structure-data-markup-helper-to-add-schema-to-your-wordpress-blog/

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At first blush, creating a content marketing program for your financial-related business – or improving the content marketing plan you currently have going – might seem daunting. But it doesn’t have to be a complex process. And it certainly is essential.

Content marketing is the new marketing. Your competitors are doing it; you need to be doing it too.

The secret to good content marketing for the financial services environment is simple: Put a plan and schedule together, then just get to work creating and posting content. The ideas in this Ebook will get you going on strategies to do just that. Keep your plan simple to start, and build from there as you see results.

For instance, you might start blogging or increase your blog frequency. Try to create an Ebook every quarter. Actively work to update and improve your product and service content. Have experts within your organization create in-depth articles surrounding the problems and challenges your products or services solve.

Be a thought leader and an information provider to build trust and loyalty among consumers. Then reap the rewards as they turn to you when it’s time to purchase. That’s content marketing for financial services.

Conclusion


How Brandpoint Can HelpBrandpoint has been creating content for the world’s biggest and best brands since 1996, and is a leader in the ever-evolving content marketing industry. Ebooks like Content Marketing Strategies for Financial Services pass along hard-earned expertise to organizations that care about great content and want to put it to use in their marketing programs.

Brandpoint creates quality content that delivers measurable online results for our clients. We have the team, tools and process to quickly deliver quality content that can address the marketing challenges faced by companies in every corner of the financial services industry.

Brandpoint’s content marketing solution features:• Deep experience delivering results for financial services clients• Dedicated account manager and strategist to get your campaign going and keep it humming• Assigned writer for your account: You work directly with your writer to assure proper tone and quality

content results• Proprietary content platform that makes workflow smooth and easy for you• Custom online reporting dashboard so you can measure the results of your content investment• Satisfaction Guarantee … or your money back

Contact a Brandpoint Digital Marketing Consultant for details.

http://www.brandpoint.com/contact-us/

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A Hands-On Guide to Successful Content Marketing in the Financial Services Industry