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5 High Performing Email Marketing Strategies for Financial Services
It’s tough to create compelling and engaging emails if you’re a marketer in financial services. Getting copy approved by legal or compliance can be an adventure, and your audience may be intimidated or overwhelmed by your offers.
Plus, 30% of Americans say they are stressed about money all of the time. For some, discussing finances may be difficult. Even though the subject matter might be stressful, there’s also much opportunity for financial services companies if they take email marketing seriously. After all, email gives you a way to help your audience turn their financial stress into success and happiness.
Some companies in the financial services industry have created incredibly effective email marketing campaigns. These fantastic campaigns have turned the topic of finances into something exciting, relevant, and compelling.
With new technologies and new ideas rapidly changing in the financial services industry, there is ample opportunity for companies to set their brand apart from the rest.
Here are 5 strategies that financial services companies can use to take their email marketing to the next level and capture the attention of their subscribers and customers.
1. Better onboarding emails
First impressions matter a lot. This is not a cliché. An onboarding email is your chance to make a great first impression with a new customer.
Think about the last time you signed up for a service and received a really great email that welcomed you into the fold.
Perhaps, you’re not able to imagine such an email. On the other hand, maybe you were able to name one right away because it was that memorable. Unfortunately, a lot of companies drop the ball when it comes to onboarding new subscribers and customers.
PayPal has set the bar high. They have a simple and effective onboarding email that showcases their features and services. Most people already know what PayPal is, but they may not know the wide range of services and features that PayPal offers. The welcome email helps deliver helpful information when it’s most relevant.
Additionally, this email doesn’t overwhelm new users with information. It simply puts 3 reasons why shopping with PayPal is better. The reader can quickly consume the information, learn something new about the service they signed up for, and get to using the service.
2. Take the boring out of finance
Unfortunately, financial services have a reputation for being stale, boring, and corporate. If you ask most people about the importance of saving for retirement or budgeting, they will all roll their eyes and say it’s “super important.”
Yet, despite most people knowing the importance of budget, for example, not even half follow through on using one.
If you’re in the financial services industry, you need to present topics like saving or budgeting in a way that gets people excited. Research shows that younger generations are saving for lifestyle expenses rather than retirement. While we are not suggesting that retirement be put on the backburner, it may be important to communicate to customers about the expenses that are top of mind..
Acorns understands that people don’t want to sacrifice experiences now for retirement later. In fact, many people may be saving up for experiences like vacations, music festivals, or tours. Their partner referral email reflects this and uses big, colorful images of lifestyle experiences to help people bring the need to save together with their “wants.”
This email also shows the importance of understanding your clients. Some subscribers may be starting their savings while also planning a once-in-a-lifetime trip, while others are planning to put in their notice and start living their golden years.
3. Powerful promotional emails
Getting a potential client to sign up for an email marketing list is important, but turning them into a customer is essential, as it brings in more sales for your company and proves the ROI of your email efforts.
Many people may express interest in financial topics but fail to actually make that first deposit right away. That’s not unusual for the financial services industry. In fact, the average person stays with their bank for 16 years.
People become comfortable with what they know and are reluctante to change. That means that promotional emails have to be especially good when planning a promotional campaign. You need to capture someone’s attention, show them the value of what you offer, and be relevant to their situation.
Wealthsimple has a great promotional campaign that boils down the complex concept of investing over time into one eye-catching statistic. Save $6,000 per year starting now and be a millionaire when you’re ready to retire. That’s a bold statement that might be exciting enough to earn clicks from email subscribers.
Combine the effective copy with a colorful image, add in some humor, and you have a recipe for a great email campaign.
Financial services companies are just as much educators as they are providers of a service. For many, financial concepts are not taught at school or at home. People feel confusion or hesitation when the topic of finances comes up.
A promotional email is an opportunity to do more than just send out a coupon or special offer. With email marketing for financial services, it is also an opportunity to position your company as a trusted advisor.
4. Exciting product announcements
The financial services industry is changing very rapidly, especially in regards to the technology available. That means that many services are racing to introduce new features for their users. When an announcement is made about a new offering or an update, it should be exciting.
Mint created a product update announcement email campaign that uses bright colors, simple images, and effective copy to show everyone what they have to offer. Users can easily see some of the changes, read a short piece of information regarding each, and then download the new, redesigned app right from the email.
In this campaign, Mint built some excitement, offered some information, and then wrapped it all up with a call to action. Readers could consume the information quickly and act on the call to action right away. Most importantly, the images are simple, clean, and colorful. There’s no wall of text to dig through and only a few links to click on.
Mint could have crammed tons of information into this announcement email. Instead, the marketing team picked the highlights, built up some hype, and then let users discover the new design and features by jumping in and using the app for themselves.
5. Forget messy monthly updates
Monthly newsletters are a regular staple when financial services companies. Obviously, people want to know what is going on with their money and their accounts. This is where some financial services companies get trapped– they bombard people with links or complicated information.
Harvest has mastered the monthly update email with a clean, easy-to-understand newsletter for clients. The information is laid out clearly and users can dive into more detail as they continue to scroll. Instead of hitting users with everything all at once, Harvest grabs their attention with a clean, colorful graphic and then leads them through the information.
After the information has been presented, Harvest provides some quick hints about their app, a useful feature, and then an informative piece about a client that used Harvest to get great results. The copy is short but compelling. Users don’t need to navigate endless links or read through paragraphs of text just to decide if they want to learn more.
Wrap up
Building an email marketing strategy for a financial services company does not have to be complicated. As you can see, some of the most successful companies have found ways to simplify complex topics. They present them in a way that makes opening their promotional emails or newsletters feel like a treat rather than a chore.
If you’re ready to begin creating your own stunning email campaigns, sign up for Campaign Monitor and access all of the features without spending a penny. Your next email campaign can be as stunning and effective as the campaigns shown above.
