5 Digital Marketing Trends for Financial Services Companies to Watch in 2022
As the industry went virtual due to the pandemic, companies shifted their focus and marketing budgets to digital engagement. Strategies varied, but many marketers turned their attention to content generation, webinars, and social media ads to stay connected with clients and prospects. As vaccines became available, live events rebounded, and we began seeing a rush to attend in-person events, not webinars. Unfortunately, Omicron reminded us that the threat of Covid is still here and has caused many firms to rethink how they are allocating their marketing budgets in the coming year.
We believe that 2022 marketing strategies will be a hybrid of in-person and digital marketing efforts. People’s appetites for meeting in person will vary, so companies will need to ensure that they engage their audience where they want to meet. In this blog post, we will share the 5 biggest digital marketing trends financial services companies should take notice of in the year ahead.
Content marketing will remain king
Content marketing is the most important aspect of any digital strategy. It is a powerful way for companies to connect with clients, engage them and build their trust over time. Content that provides value to your target audience is an essential aspect of any digital strategy and can have a lasting impact on your business. Effective storytelling can help build a company into something that clients want to engage with, which is why content will remain king. In fact, according to a survey conducted by HubSpot, 70% of marketers are actively investing in content and plan to in future years.
Video marketing is the future
You’ve read this headline before, but there is data to back up this statement. Video social posts engage users across all social media platforms. Google announced that YouTube reaches more 18–49-year-olds than any cable network. Facebook reports that video posts receive six times more engagement than photo or LinkedIn posts. And Twitter has seen an increase in video views by over 160%.
Marketers should take notice and begin incorporating video into their strategy. Video is key for creating strong client relationships because it puts a human voice behind the brand, which builds credibility and loyalty with clients. When planning your social media strategy, weave in a variety of post types and test which ones your audience engages with most.
Marketing shifts to the user experience
In 2022, marketers will shift their focus away from the product and toward the user experience. The future of marketing is focusing on client needs, not selling. The ability for companies to understand their clients enables them to build long-term relationships. This leads to more loyalty, stickier clients and ultimately bigger revenue opportunities.
So how do marketers make this shift? Instead of focusing on a message of “buy my product,” focus on the features and benefits your ideal client wants.
People want to be approached as individuals, not simply as a customer. Therefore, marketers should focus on building relationships and providing valuable content that helps the target audience solve problems before pitching their products or services. Otherwise, they'll see lower conversion rates.
LinkedIn is where it’s at
LinkedIn continues to be a rising star in the digital business space. Each quarter, LinkedIn shows considerable gains in monthly active users and engagements on the platform. They are also continuously launching new features that drive better results for businesses and pages.
Look for our January blog post about new LinkedIn features financial companies should consider adopting in 2022. A sneak peek of some of those features include:
· Creator mode
· LinkedIn stories
· Live events
· LinkedIn cover stories
Follow LaunchPad Creative’s LinkedIn page to read a more in depth post about recent LinkedIn features in January, and join us for our first monthly 20-minute marketing chat where we’ll review these new features.
Websites get faster
Although website traffic is predominantly mobile, most websites still don’t have fully mobile-optimized experiences. Earlier this year, Google launched Core Web Vitals, a set of three metrics that measure and evaluate speed, responsiveness and visual stability across devices. The results will offer potential boosts in rankings for sites that score well.
Thus, site design and speed will become ever more important in 2022. Sites with strong SEO will build brand awareness, bring increased web traffic, aid in targeting the right audience to find your site and help you stay ahead of competitors.
Trends are trends. But one thing is for certain: marketers must meet prospective clients where they are. Data has proven that hard selling is not as effective as educating prospective clients through content, events and other experiences that describe the user experience.