Loving Your Brand Strategy for Financial Marketing 

All of us are dreaming of beaches, hot sunshine, and cocktails with those little tiny umbrellas in them because it is cold here. I’m officially out of love with winter and winter was for sure not my Valentine. What I am loving is brand strategy. 

It’s dependable. It loves me back. It communicates with me clearly. It helps me win all of the arguments. Now, it doesn’t send me chocolate, but that’s okay because it does move the needle. And strategic marketing when done right, especially within the financial world, can do lots of things for you. It can differentiate you from your competitors by capitalizing on your strengths. Strengths that you currently have, as well as your potential.  It provides better value to customers. It provides consistency.

Essentially, you are implementing your business’ mission through specific and strategic processes. Let’s discuss three ways to be strategic in the financial world. First of all, break through the clutter. Second, the value experience. And lastly, we’ll discuss consistency. 

All right. Breaking through the clutter, how do you stand out in the crowd? In the financial world, consumers have literally thousands of choices. Right? But by encapsulating the who, the what, the when, the where, the why, and the how of your business, you can create a distinctive brand and execute the strategy. Answering the how, as you can imagine, is key. Making sure what you are putting out there, from your customer service to all of your visual experiences, make certain those are resonating and aligning with your core values. This provides an immediate promise to the customer, which also gives you a very authentic feel to them. And in the financial world, that sets you apart. The more authentic you are, the more you are trusted.

Okay, let’s move on to the value experience. Again, the financial world offers a great example for many industries. Competing on product features is such a smart move. But for banks and credit unions, it just doesn’t make sense. Products are too similar. Interest rates are too volatile. Customer experience, overall value, and most importantly, trust – there’s that word again, trust – rules in financial service relationships. And your brand, more than any particular product or promotion, articulates what that experience of trust can be.

Your messaging, your customer service, your tagline, your social media posts, all of it helps customers connect and identify with your mission and your values, so let your strategy guide you in the right direction. And so, lastly, consistency. You want to build customers. Of course. You want to gain more business. Sure. You want to do more loans. You want to open more accounts. Of course. Be consistent in how you deliver your brand message and visual elements. Make sure they’re in line with your identity, values, and strategy.

Of course, we’ve talked about all of that earlier. The key here is repetition and the rule of seven. A customer needs to see your marketing seven times before it resonates. Now, keep that in mind. Because just as you are getting completely sick of something, it’s providing consistency to others.  It’s resonating, and it’s building brand loyalty, which solidifies your brand recognition and increases your positive brand image. For example, you’re a bank. You have a drive-through. You utilize email campaigns. You’ve got a great website, and you utilize all of your social media platforms. You are touching your customers at every one of those touch points with the exact same message and visual. It’s showing consistency. It’s reaching people where they are at and connecting with them over and over. 

So to recap, we just covered three ways to love your brand strategy and be strategic in your marketing.  They were: break through the clutter, the value experience, and the ever important consistency.  For more information and specific case studies about what I’ve just talked about, I invite you to learn more about our financial services.

And I would love to know your goals and your pain points. I would love to put our ideas and initiatives together to really make a difference and bring your intentions to life with thought-provoking creative that moves people to action. We are the people helping the people who are changing the world. I love everything that message stand for. Take care and I hope to see you soon.

Want to know more? Visit our financial services business hub to find a variety of case studies, helpful blog posts and Agency for Change podcast episodes featuring financial business leaders.

KidGlov is a boutique, full-service, advertising, branding and content marketing agency and certified B Corp, with offices in Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska, specializing in nonprofit marketing, healthcare marketing, financial services marketing, social impact marketing, and purpose-driven businesses.