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Help first, sell second: how financial education can become your next best digital marketing tool

3 MIN READ

Customer education—insightful and meaningful support that puts customer needs first—builds trust, increases satisfaction, and is an effective way to both begin the sales process for new prospects and retain existing customers. And yet many financial organizations are more interested in attracting new customers than providing valuable and informative advice to existing customers, failing to take advantage of this powerful marketing tool.

But 82% of retail clients say that they would place more trust in their financial institution if it provided them with annual continuing education, helping them to better understand financial products.

Financial marketing is facing unexpected changes to digital advertising options after Google moved to restrict ad targeting by age, gender, parental and marital status, and zip code. Facebook has also limited its ad targeting options. The initiative by both tech giants is partly a response to growing societal pressure to prioritize inclusion and an attempt to avoid accusations of discriminatory policies that group people into ‘buckets’. For financial institutions, the changes are likely to have a big impact on marketing budgets.

Without personalized ad targeting, the ability to reach the right person at the right time with the ideal marketing message is reduced. Before, financial services were able to contact the person most likely to take out a loan or open an account, tailoring their messages to ensure relevance. Now, these financial institutions, already so dependent on digital marketing, are being forced to re-evaluate their strategy—and at a time when many are already overwhelmed by the uncertainty and demands brought on by COVID-19.

Customer education: a valuable tool for financial organizations

Customer education has the potential to fill the gap left by targeted digital ads. Many financial institutions are searching for alternative marketing methods, hunting for ways to prevent loss of ROI now that granular targeting is impossible. Customer education by means of content marketing, SEO, and email marketing represents a powerful digital marketing opportunity. And it also allows financial organizations to continue to offer help and support to customers at just the right time, building trusting and enduring relationships that can lead to greater customer retention.

Now that targeting those at the start of the sales funnel has become harder, keeping visitors within the sales funnel is even more important. Drop-offs and abandonments can be prevented with digital solutions—but only if these digital solutions prioritize customer needs. By personalizing interactions and stepping in at the “moment of truth” to offer meaningful support, financial institutions can deliver a service that’s convenient, seamless, and proves their value to customers.

True customer convenience is not just about speed and efficiency. It’s about flexibility—giving customers a choice about how they communicate with their bank. For example, text messaging, which allows for remote and asynchronous exchanges with their advisor at a time that best suits the customer.

It’s also about personalization—providing relevant advice that’s specific to a customer’s unique problem. Tools like co-browsing allow advisors to tailor their guidance to the customer as well as adding a collaborative aspect to video meetings.

Digital marketers are having to make dramatic changes to their strategies due to new regulations. Customer education represents an exciting new opportunity to connect with customers, focusing on empowering them with meaningful and relevant guidance and creating a personalized, seamless, and convenient experience. This is a powerful way to keep customers interested, build loyalty, and boost sales.

Digital customer service & Unblu

Unblu’s platform of conversational banking products is designed with the customer’s needs in mind. Using tools such as co-browsing, video chat, and secure messenger, financial organizations can build a meaningful relationship with clients, grow trust and loyalty, increase conversions, and accelerate sales. To discover more about why Unblu is the best digital customer service solution, book a demo here.