Using Content Marketing to Drive Sales
May 22, 2015
Using Content Marketing to Drive Sales
• 12 year old Financial Marketing Company
• Principals have spent a majority of their careers in the financial services and marketing industries
• Work with financial institutions of all sizes in helping them generate more sales through more channels
Agenda• Consumer Buying Behavior
• Defining Content Marketing
• Content Marketing in Action
• Why is it so important to financial institutions today?
• What kind of content is needed?
• Delivery Channels
• Revenue Opportunity
• Build or Buy Considerations
Consumer Buying Behavior• Fact 1: People are looking for easy to understand answers
to their financial questions.
• Fact 2: People will buy from the one who provides it. (74% of responders polled)
Consumer Buying Behavior
• Fact 3: This is especially true around life events when, according to Forrester Research, they are 43% more likely to buy a financial product.
• Fact 4: If customers don’t get this content from their financial institution, they will get it from someone else. The competition is relentlessly doing so today.
So…What is Content Marketing?• Creating and distributing relevant and valuable content
to attract, acquire, and engage customers.
• Not a sales messages that interrupts but something that people actually want to engage with.
“People want to be taught not sold. When trust is the goal, companies should strive to sell by not selling.”
Joe Pulizzi, Content Marketing Institute
A “Teach not Sell” Approach
Content Marketing in Action• Content marketing is not new
• Nike -1966 - benefits of jogging, not selling shoes
• John Deere – 1895 – newsletter on technology in agriculture
• Home Depot - today– teaches people how to build a fence
Content Marketing in Financial Services
Being an educational resource to help people make better decisions that could help them save money and avoid mistakes.
Old Barriers
▫ Regulation▫ Compliance- can’t just hire freelance
writers▫ Inside writers- expensive
Why So Important?
• Content creates dialogues that uncover more needs – generating more leads – leading to more sales
• Traffic migration from branch to online makes dialogue creation more challenging
• Most online interactions are strictly transactional in nature
Delivery is Key!
Relevant content is great- but it’s level of effectiveness depends on DELIVERY.
• Delivered around life events when people are looking for answers and more likely to buy
• Delivered in a way that engages people and allows them to uncover hidden needs
• Delivered in a way that connects them with the person who can help with those needs.
Leverage Existing Channels• Content that sits idle or hidden on your site can’t help
your institution or your customer. Get it out there!• Cost effective delivery by leveraging existing channels
both online and in the branch.
What Type of Content is Needed?
• Your customer wants…▫ Broad
▫ Relevant
▫ Branded
▫ Organized around life events
▫ Easy to read and understand. No jargon!
What Type of Content is Needed?
• Your institution needs…▫ Professionally created and maintained to satisfy legal,
tax and regulatory changes.
▫ Compliance reviewed including FINRA review letters for investment related content
▫ Reviewed and approved by B/D compliance department
▫ Expanded as needed to reflect changing rules and regulations
Examples of Delivery
Financial Answer Center
Business Answer Center
Delivery Mechanisms
Delivery in the Branch
Onboarding
Account Servicing
Frontline employees introduce the content as a value added service and offer guides relevant to their life events as a part of their everyday service-focused routine. The request for a guide is an automatic lead.
Delivery Through Email
Feature your content in emails to your members!
Twitter Solution Facebook Solution
Edu Posts
Edu Tweets
Delivery Through Social Media
Delivery Through Mobile
EZ Viewer
• All content and features of the Financial Answer Center are formatted for easy access through mobile devices
Worksite Delivery
Financial education is one of the most rapidly growing employee benefits. Your business customers can provide it to their employees with a simple link.
Link to Financial Answer Center as an employee benefit draws employees of business customers to you for financial education and people that can help
Bringing it all Together: Content Calendar
• Three step plan for getting your content out there:
▫ Message
▫ Timing
▫ Delivery channel
Activity Levels to Revenue Impact
Revenue Opportunity Calculator
Calculator can be found at www.truebridge.com
Make your own assumptions!
Build or Buy Considerations
• Strategy is simple enough, but in order you build, you must:
▫ Create
▫ Maintain
▫ Host
Build or Buy Considerations:
• Affordable monthly subscription includes:
▫ Full turnkey Content Marketing System
▫ Customized to match your look and feel
▫ Integrated employee pictures and contact information
▫ Professionally maintained by a top national accounting firm
▫ Individual customer service to ensure active usage and shared “best practices”
▫ Hosted through top-ranked secure facility
In Closing…
• People need help.
• They will buy from the one who provides it.
• Use a content marketing strategy to make that YOU.
“We are living in a content-driven economy. You cannot survive in the banking space today without a content marketing strategy.”
Jeff Pilcher, The Financial Brand