Are you wondering if you’re on the right track with your approach to financial services marketing? Maybe you’re curious what other people in the industry are focusing on, or want to make sure you’re aligning with current trends like marketing automation.
We’ve gathered sources on 4 financial services marketing statistics to watch, with examples of how institutions like banks and wealth management firms are addressing the issues they represent.
4 Statistics on Financial Marketing and What They Mean for Your Business
1. 72% of Customers Say Personalization is “Highly Important”
Your financial services customers receive far more personalized interactions than ever before. They can jump on their phones, receive personalized shopping recommendations, and have those items delivered to their doorstep within a couple of days or sometimes a couple of hours. Curated clothing recommendations? No problem. Suggestions for that special holiday dinner with a pre-populated grocery list? Done. But these expectations don’t stop at shopping experiences, as they flow into all business interactions, including those with financial institutions.
A recent McKinsey report found “[t]he biggest reason companies fail to capture the full benefits of their digital improvement efforts is that they concentrate on optimizing individual touch points rather than first tackling the customer experience as customers actually experience it – the complete journey that cuts across multiple functions and channels.”
A banking customer survey found that 72% of respondents said personalization was “highly important” and only 8% reported that it’s not important at all. This sentiment holds true across all demographics, including Millennials (79%), Gen Z (75%), and Gen X (74%), with a slight decrease for baby boomers (58%).
The solution is to create a customer journey-driven strategy to meet rising demands around personalization. A strong plan for customer segmentation that leverages automation helps you tailor specific messages to specific audiences based on behaviors and interests.
For example, Centra Credit Union leveraged segmentation and automation to get super focused on members with an educational campaign targeted at the benefits of opening a new certificate of deposit. The campaign led to 35% email open rates, 470 new certifications, and over $10 million in new deposits over several short weeks.
2. Customer Experience is the “Top Priority” for 73% of Financial Services Marketers
Financial services marketers are responding to meet the demand for better customer experiences. In fact, three out of four financial services marketers say that improving the customer experience is a top priority. And most customers don’t just want a better experience – they demand it.
The majority of U.S. banking customers under the age of 55 say they have no problem switching banks, and seven out of 10 say they would change banks to improve their experience.
Financial services marketers can no longer deliver weakly–personalized content, because people expect much more. Every time a prospect or customer receives an email, product recommendation, or phone call, they want to feel truly known and understood. Marketing automation helps you achieve this level of personalization.
3. Organic Search Drives 64% of Calls to Financial Services Providers
Creating high-quality and specifically-researched content is essential, since organic search drives 64% of calls to financial services providers. If you want to stand out against the competition, you need to publish SEO-optimized content that draws in that high-intent organic traffic, then convert and nurture that traffic with marketing automation.
Research shows that less than one-fifth of companies say their content marketing is “very successful.” If you want to get more traction from your content, you need to get more personal. Create high-quality content that ranks well with search engines, but then capitalize on the power of data to capture leads with the right offer.
Tools such as lead scoring allow you to further understand what prospects are most likely to buy and help you get salespeople involved with the right prospect at the right moment.
4. Less Than One-Fourth of Marketers Say They’re Using Marketing Automation to its Ultimate Potential
Do you use automation? And if so, could that automation perform better? Act-On recently teamed up with Ascend2 and published a survey of 162 marketers. We wanted to learn more about how marketers use automation since it’s such a critical tool to provide the personalization and the customer experience that customers demand.
The survey revealed that only 22% of respondents said they are “successful” at using marketing automation to achieve their most important priorities. 62% of marketers said they are only “somewhat successful,” and surprisingly, 16% say they “aren’t successful at all.”
So, even if you’re using marketing automation, there may be room for improvement. When used well, it can help increase efficiency, align sales and marketing, increase conversion rates, and create more personalized marketing experiences for your customers.. And whatever is working well, you can identify and then scale. Without comprehensive marketing data, you can’t really do that.
With the right solution, you can easily set up and expand marketing automation and reach more prospects and customers through personalization.
The Statistics Are Clear – Use Them to Inspire Your Next Move
Financial services marketing must focus first on the customer. And, if you didn’t believe that when you opened this article, you should now. The statistics are clear that personalization and segmentation are 100% expected by your best customers, and that organizations just like yours are placing a huge focus on customer service because of that expectation. You’ve got to provide the information and support your customers need and answer the questions they are searching. When you do, you’ll have a much better chance of capturing some of that sweet, sweet organic traffic. According to the stats, there is so much more potential for all of these efforts with better use of financial services marketing automation.