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One of the most essential elements in running a business is to know where new customers will come from. The same is the case with banks and financial institutions for their services. Banks often spend lots of money on sponsorship and advertising campaigns but often these investments don't always deliver the anticipated results. In the recent times, the Internet and social media have drastically changed the landscape of the finance industry. It's no secret that the Internet has dramatically changed the banking needs of consumers as well. Now-a-days customers are looking for answers to their financial questions through digital media, such as by watching YouTube videos and searching Google to find the best interest rates before taking loans. Customers today routinely use their Smartphones to seek information and engage with businesses. They get to know a lot about a bank through social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) before they ever set their foot in a branch.
With so many online channels now available to connect existing and prospective customers, it's crucial for financial institutions to implement an effective digital strategy. These digital channels present all kinds of challenges from losing market share to understanding of effectiveness of marketing investments. With so many people online today, it's still not easy for customers in our country to sign up for bank accounts, inquire about loans, and educate themselves about their finances. That's why it's so pivotal for every bank in our country to have an digital marketing plan. The demand for Internet-compatible banking is overwhelming; yet local banks are struggling to supply appropriate solutions. Only few banks have realised this need and are moving ahead of many others in this situation. Those who are already ahead are getting benefits out of this.
Digital channels are radically transforming the role of the marketing wing of any business. New digital technologies and shifts in demographic profiles of customers are forcing marketers to re-evaluate everything and reinvent marketing strategies for their institutions. To succeed in the Digital Era, it is critical for banks to understand the relationship between each demographic segment and digital channels. So, the marketers need to reshape their digital marketing strategies in ways that align with these demographic shifts.
Digital marketing has the capacity to create a solid and long lasting relationship between the brand and consumers. Its strategy to achieve the expected results is possible by designing digital campaigns which are delivered through multiple activities in different digital platforms. Some of the most important activities and platforms are:
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and Mobile Ready site: SEO consists of a series of techniques applied to a website to optimise it in a way so that it appears higher in the search results matching with the keywords customers are using in their search. When it comes to choosing a bank or financial institution, consumers literally have so many options to choose from that. Whoever does the SEO gets the best results. That's why bank's SEO on their website is important to stand out. With an effective SEO, a bank's website will rank higher and appear more often in Google search boosting its brand visibility, increase website traffic, and generate leads. In the world, the usage of mobile phones is higher than ever before and it is continuously growing in exponential rates. More people are browsing websites through their mobile phone rather than Personal Computers. Nowadays, having the website mobile ready is also another great benefit banks can have in terms of SEO. Google has started to rank websites having a mobile version better than websites which does not have a mobile site.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click): Pay-Per-Click, also known as cost per click, is an Internet advertising model used to direct traffic to websites in which an advertiser pays a publisher when the ad is clicked. PPC is commonly associated with first-tier search engines. Using PPC ads, data-driven targeting allows your bank to selectively communicate with the right people, at the right time, in the right place. Targeted ads provide highly-qualified traffic to your site immediately, reaching new prospects and markets, or even existing customers to boost mobile app downloads, internet banking enrollments, and other relevant banking products.
Content Marketing: Content marketing is the generation of useful and relevant contents for consumers through the web, blogs or social networks. Content is the backbone of an effective online presence, fueling your website's SEO, social media, online advertising, email, and even direct mail campaigns. An effective content strategy for your bank can improve brand awareness, boost engagement, and earn trust with both prospects and customers. In Bangladesh, any bank having presence in the digital space have a tremendous opportunity to offer customers something they cannot get anywhere else and take control over their customers' personal finances through specifically made content combined with marketing.
Integrated Marketing Campaigns: By integrating digital and traditional marketing together, any organisation- be it a bank or financial institution can get more value and measurable insights from its marketing campaigns. You could easily improve the Return on Investment (ROI) of existing campaigns by utilising the latest digital tactics available in the market.
Social Media Marketing: Social media marketing is the process of engaging and developing relationships with people interested in your bank. This gives you the chance to build brand awareness and earn new customers. To start, you can create free profiles on popular social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Then, you can start sharing content from your site to draw organic traffic, just like with organic SEO. After that, you can share your page online and earn followers from every social network. That lets you speak to your followers, giving your financial institution a more accessible digital presence and directly engaging the users most likely to convert into your customers. You can also use social media for customer service, replying to compliments and complaints as you go. That shows your followers that you're dedicated to their satisfaction as a tech-savvy, modern, and trustworthy institution.
Mobile Marketing: Mobile marketing consists of specific digital platforms, such as Mobile Apps and Mobile Webs that have been designed for optimised use through mobile devices. In recent years, the use of mobile phones in Bangladesh has increased remarkably. Total active internet connections crossed the milestone of 70 million since April 2017. Of the total connections, 93.69 per cent are through mobile networks, 6.17 per cent through the Internet service providers and only 0.14 per cent through WiMAX that is available in cities. Mobile now represents 65 per cet of digital media time and if your organisation is not present in the digital space, you are missing out.
Considering the opportunities, almost every large bank now uses Internet marketing to attract and convert new customers. If you are a banker and your bank hasn't yet made this shift, it's important that you start today. The advanced promoting technique in digital marketing makes utilisation of various tools found on mobile phones and web-based social networking to pick up movement, points of arrival for lead generation and retargeting promotions and email to follow your clients. However, sometimes it may be overwhelming for you to take all these marketing responsibilities on your own. So, you can leave this task to a result-oriented digital marketing agency, such as 'Ngage'.
Ngage is a prosperous digital marketing and creative services wing of SSL Wireless -a leading software development, ITES, Fintech and Payment Automation solution provider of Bangladesh. Ngage understands digital marketing, social media and has a strong creative team. Ngage provides strategy, development, consultation and execution to bring all aspects of digital, social media and traditional marketing efforts into alignment with unified goals and purpose. Ngage constantly works with its clients' results in mind. It can design a custom digital marketing strategy specific to your bank. Whether your bank or financial institution is just getting started in the digital space or you've been investing in digital for years, Ngage can help take your bank's digital presence to the next level and ensure Return on Investment.
The writer is Manager, Ngage360