Why should your bank invest in digital marketing? Easy. It will increase your revenue and help customers find you online. And, I should point out, your competitors are likely already taking advantage of it.
Since 2006, digital marketing has steadily become more and more popular in the financial service industry. This effective marketing method says goodbye to buying print ads and radio time, hoping that they attract viable clients.
Instead, it focuses on creating quality online content that draws people to your company’s website. The digital marketing methodology, in partnership with inbound marketing, uses content that’s in line with customers’ interests and needs. It naturally attracts traffic that you can convert into new clients.
What Is Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing refers to marketing techniques used online to attract and connect with customers. When we’re talking about digital marketing, we’re talking about all aspects of your digital presence, including:
- Your website
- Your digital advertising
- Your social media channels
- Your email marketing
- Your online content, such as blogs, service offerings, white papers and so on
Digital marketing and inbound marketing are terms that are often used interchangeably. That’s because the two are closely related. As defined by HubSpot, inbound marketing is “the ‘full-funnel’ approach to attracting, engaging, and delighting customers using online content.”
In other words, inbound marketing is the strategy, digital marketing is your tool belt. Inbound marketing is something you’re probably hearing a lot about because it’s the new age of marketing. It’s a more effective way of marketing than traditional marketing, which you would recognize as billboards, newspaper ads, radio ads, etc.
Your customers are online. Digital and inbound marketing help you meet them where they’re at with helpful, educational material that they want to read, as opposed to intrusive, interruptive ads.
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Related: Your Traditional Marketing Isn't Working
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The Value of Digital and Inbound Marketing
Is inbound marketing really worth the investment? Can digital marketing really help your bottom line?
The answer is a definite yes.
Inbound marketing represents a much stronger ROI for any business because it appeals to your specific target market's interests. When you post relevant, helpful, interesting and optimized content on the web, that content shows up in searches by potential clients seeking a solution to a particular problem.
For example, say I was in the market for a home as a first-time homebuyer. I’m going to have a lot of questions about how to get a mortgage, what the best rates are, whether I should talk to a bank before or after I look for a home, etc.
As a millennial, the first place I’m going to go (after calling Mom and Dad, of course), is online. I’ll be looking up those questions and clicking on the first few pages I see. If your bank shows up and has information that’s helpful to me, the chances of me sticking around to learn more about you and your services are pretty good.
How do you show up in those searches? By investing in a solid digital inbound marketing strategy, whether that’s in-house or through an agency.
Online searches are the starting point for 93 percent of buying cycles, and inbound marketing puts you squarely in that very lucrative game. As you become the go-to resource for valuable insights, you encourage prospects to delve ever deeper into your online presence.
When you invest in inbound marketing, you're investing in a more effective sales funnel by developing step-by-step support for turning prospective clients into not just committed clients, but brand advocates.
Not convinced? Here are a few more examples of the ROI inbound digital marketing can bring your business:
- Content marketing gets three times more leads than paid search advertising.
- Increasing personalization in more channels can increase overall consumer spending up to 500%.
- Digital sales could account for as much as 40% of new bank revenue within 5 years.
- Inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional outbound marketing.
Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing ROI
Many banks still use traditional, outbound marketing techniques. Sometimes those tactics can be successful, as your client base is still watching TV, driving by billboards and listening to the radio.
However, they spend even more time online on their phones and computers. If you’re not doing anything in those areas, you’re missing out. An estimated 86 percent of TV audiences never even bother to watch commercials, so think about how much outbound marketing money goes to waste in that medium. And 44 percent of direct mail recipients simply toss that mail in the bin unopened, another enormous waste when you consider the cost of production and distribution.
How Digital Marketing Can Work for Banks
The stats that I went over above are great examples of what digital marketing can do for your bank. However, if you want a closer look at how digital marketing can boost your brand awareness and connect with new clients, you can check out this case study on a small town bank that made a big splash online.
Here’s a sneak preview: by spending only $149.42 on an ad, they received 109,341 impressions and reached 26,032 people. Find out how by reading the case study!
