5 Ways to Market Your Financial Services Business
Do you think you are not the best fit for the financial services sector? Think again. Women-owned businesses are rising in the industry. You will find more women in accounting, bookkeeping, financial planning, and investing than ever before. This historically male-dominated business is slowly getting infiltrated by powerful female entrepreneurs and CEOs. They bring their knowledge, skills, and focus into a traditionally male-run industry. They create businesses that help other entrepreneurs and individuals thrive. It takes strategic planning to market your financial services business. Here is what you need to get started.
Business and Marketing Plan
Before you go doing anything, you need a plan. A solid business plan and a stellar marketing plan are critical for your success. What services will you offer? How much will they cost? What is your expected revenue? Who do you need to hire? How much can you afford to spend on marketing? Who are your target clients? What do they do? Where do they hang out online and in real life? A strategic marketing plan will help you account for all of these crucial questions.
Additionally, your marketing plan should include all the different ways you’ll promote your business online and in person. It should include a schedule to plan the exact marketing channels you’ll use and what you will promote on each of them. A sales funnel should be included in your marketing plan as well. Once you capture their attention through your marketing efforts, what will you do to funnel them into your business?
Networking
People forget that you can still meet potential customers in person. There are many different networking opportunities in cities around the world. Financial services businesses should include some in-person connections. People love to work with those they know, like, and trust. That’s why it’s crucial to connect with individuals in the real world. Online connections are good, but they don’t have the same weight as knowing someone in person. This is especially true when you want people to trust you with their finances. Networking can help break down any initial barriers and give people the confidence they need to hire your company to help.
When you go to a networking meeting, think about how you can help someone. Start conversations, ask questions, and give out your contact information. If you start a great conversation with another entrepreneur, it might be appropriate to schedule a coffee meeting or something to keep that connection going soon after the meeting. While many people prefer to give out digital contact info, it’s still appropriate and helpful to have business cards available.
Social Media
In this day and age, social media is one of the most affordable and easy-to-use marketing tools. For B2B connections, you may want to focus on how others in your niche leverage it. Social media for accountants will look different from social media for personal finance. Offer valuable tips, remind people of tax deadlines, share inspirational quotes, and mention some of your personal stories. People love stories on social media. Additionally, video is becoming more and more popular and helpful at getting small businesses found, so find resources to learn best practices with these.
People also love to hear juicy news. You might consider sharing financial horror stories, AKA what not to do with your money. I heard one story about a woman who was in so much debt and couldn’t afford her credit card bill. Instead of waiting until she could pay the full minimum payment and incurring a late fee or asking for a reduced interest rate, she would take cash advances at almost 30% interest. Then she would turn around and pay the credit card bill with it. With habits like those, it took her a while to dig herself out of that hole.
Website
Your website is an important marketing tool. It should be modern looking, with simple navigation, and answer all the important questions within seconds. Questions people typically think to themselves when they get on a financial services website are, “How do I contact you? How much do you cost? Do you offer the services I need? What do other people say about you? Do you have any helpful tips?” Making it easy to contact you is critical. Whether you allow people to contact you through social media, a web form, or by phone, there are many communication channels available.
A good website will have great SEO, an easy-to-spell domain name, and navigation that works well on smart devices and desktops/laptops. Many websites utilize blogging to help facilitate SEO and being helpful. If your blog offers useful tips, people are more likely to come back and read them. Then when the time comes that they need your accounting, investment, or bookkeeping services, they know exactly who to hire.
Reviews
You need social proof. When you’ve done an excellent job for a client, their reviews are worth their weight in gold. Reviews are a phenomenal marketing tool. Your marketing plan should include a simple way to capture and share these reviews. Whether you leverage a third-party site like Google or put them directly on your website or social media, share the reviews. The more positive reviews you have, the better. The goal is to create trust with people who have never met you and are considering your services.
Marketing a financial business starts with a plan. There are many different channels you can use. Make sure you leverage the right ones for your and your target audience.