We get it: content marketing for financial services can be tough. You’ve got to craft amazing content that engages your customers while effectively communicating your value proposition and keeping your brand compliant. And since most consumers start their financial journeys with an online search, the companies that win are those whose content marketing reaches customers in the digital realm.

This guide will give you everything you need to create stellar content marketing for financial services. We’ll walk you through which companies stand to benefit from content marketing, how financial services companies can get started on their content marketing journey, and the benefits that a great content marketing strategy can provide. Let’s get started!

Who can benefit from content marketing?

Banks and building societies

Banking is going digital, especially among younger consumers. Content marketing allows banks and building societies to cement their market expertise with insightful thought leadership and build trust with consumers through educational content.

Fintech companies

If you’re a financial innovator then you already know you need to stand out in a competitive market. Content marketing is an effective way for fintech companies to achieve this, allowing them to showcase their products and explain how their unique value propositions solve the industry’s most pressing problems.

Insurance companies

Content marketing can be an effective way for insurance companies to explain the complexities of their industry in simple terms, showcase the benefits of financial protection, and empower consumers to make the right choice for their circumstances.

Financial advisors and planners

Consumers want a trusted pair of hands to put the fate of their finances into. Financial advisors can use content marketing to establish their expertise and build trust with their customers by sharing insights on financial planning, wealth management, and retirement strategies.

Investment firms

Investors need the latest news, insights, and investment methods to meet their goals. Investment companies can use content marketing to provide this valuable information and position themselves as trusted partners to potential investors.

How to create the ultimate content marketing strategy in 5 steps

Building a killer content marketing strategy might seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. We’ve got a complete guide to content marketing ready and waiting for you, but we’ve summarised the basic steps below:

Know your audience

You can’t deliver knockout content if you don’t know who your customers are or what they need. Conduct thorough research to understand your target audience, create personas using a data-driven approach, identify precisely what your audience needs, and find out where and how they like to consume their content.

Get planning

Now it’s time to break out the spreadsheets. Develop a content plan that outlines the types of content you’ll create and the subjects you’ll cover. For financial services, creating thought leadership should take front and center but you should consider including producing interactive whitepapers, online reports, and ebooks too. These types of content are known as lead magnets and work very well to capture leads.
Hosting lead magnets in online documents gives you the intel you need to prioritize leads effectively. Unlike a PDF, online documents go beyond downloads and sign-ups; content analytics reveal which leads are hot – and which need warming up.

Create amazing content

Now the moment you’ve been waiting for! Invest time and effort into creating high-quality content that answers your customers’ questions and provides them with the insights they need, following the five ‘Ws’ of content creation to ensure you’re hitting all those nails squarely.

Release your content into the wild

Establish when, where, and how you’ll distribute your content for maximum impact. Effective content distribution happens across multiple channels, including your website, social media platforms, email newsletters, and industry publications – but make sure you’re prioritizing the channels where your audience is most active.

Analyse, iterate, and improve

Once you’ve shot for a goal, you need to make sure you’ve scored. Tracking the performance of your content is vital for the effectiveness of your content marketing strategy. Monitor your KPIs and use the data to continuously evaluate and improve your content to make sure it’s working hard.

Top tips for crafting amazing financial services content

Double down on thought leadership

Building trust and credibility is a major priority for financial service companies, and powerful thought leadership is the best way to do it. Thought leadership research shows that high-quality thought leadership is a valuable commodity that organizations and consumers alike turn to when trying to solve their biggest problems. Our guide to thought leadership gives you everything you need to start creating high-quality content that shows off your expertise and builds connections between you and your audience.
Want to see a winning piece of thought leadership? Take a look at this report from financial services giant, Standard Chartered.

Build trust by educating

Educational content is a powerful tool that helps establish your brand as a trusted solver of problems. Focus on creating content like FAQ pages for common questions, in-depth explainers that demystify products and services, and expert guidance on saving or investment strategies that help your customers achieve their financial goals. Educational content is the key to building trust and loyalty amongst your customers for the long term, which means you have to stick to it to get results.

Keep up with financial news

The world of finance is constantly changing, but this gives you a great opportunity to connect with your audience. Consider curating financial news as part of your content marketing strategy by providing expert insights on current events. Timely, relevant, and valuable coverage of trends in the market helps your customers to make better decisions, increasing loyalty and establishing you as a reliable source of financial expertise.

Be brave and innovate

Getting creative with different types of content is the best way to find out what your audience likes. Try hosting an “Ask Me Anything” webinar with one of your experts, or swap out a dry market report for an interactive whitepaper. Make sure you’re recording how your audience interacts with your new formats then use these insights to build better content in the future.

5 benefits of an effective content marketing strategy

Build trust and loyalty

Publishing high-quality content that answers common questions, provides expert insight on market trends, and helps people understand complex financial matters proves to your customers that you know your stuff. Demonstrating expertise helps to build trust with your audience and keep them coming back for more, helping you to nurture long-term loyalty towards your brand.

Enhance customer engagement

The financial industry can be a tricky beast for many consumers to tackle. If you want to dial up customer engagement then you should be using content marketing to educate consumers on the topics they need help with. Breaking down complex financial concepts, services, and processes helps empower consumers to make informed decisions, and they’ll remember that it was your company that helped them.

Increase brand awareness

In the digital world, the brands that get ahead are the ones that post well and often. A steady stream of relevant, high-quality content positions you as a trusted and reliable expert, helping you to build a strong foundation for your brand and protect your reputation.

Boost lead generation

Successful lead generation for financial services hinges on great content experiences that show you truly understand your potential customers. And high-quality, highly aligned content isn’t just for show; it can create significant ROI when done right. When you implement an effective inbound lead generation strategy by providing value, you make it that much easier for your sales teams to build long-lasting relationships with customers.

Adapt to the digital future

Finance is racing into a digital future so it’s vital that financial services companies keep pace with the times. Content marketing means you can meet current and potential customers where they’re most active, whether that’s on social media, search engines, or other channels. What’s more, the lessons you learn on your content marketing journey can enable other parts of your business.

Turtl takeaway

Ready to start crafting a content marketing strategy that will get heads turning and conversions rolling in? So are we.

Choosing the right content creation software for financial services will bring your content marketing strategy to the next level. Break free from PDFs and upgrade to a format optimized for digital. Turtl reimagines long-form content and is the only scientifically proven digital reading format that increases engagement up to 10x more than traditional PDFs. We put interactivity and rich visuals at the heart of Turtl Docs to improve comprehension and drive reader action.

But Turtl is about so much more than good-looking content. Turtl Docs help you reach and exceed your content goals, whether you’re looking to increase lead generation, produce content at scale, or empower your sales teams. Turtl Docs provide you with the data you need to capture leads from your long-form content, making it easy to prioritize leads from engagement data surfaced by Turtl Analytics. You don’t just get a list of sign-ups; you can see which leads are hot and which ones need warming up. The figures speak for themselves – some of our customers have increased marketing qualified leads by over 500%.

Want to find out how Turtl helps financial services companies transform their content performance?
Check this out👇

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