Financial services companies cannot overestimate the value of email marketing services in forging relationships, cultivating leads, and driving growth. This article will look at the five best-performing types of email campaigns that can be used by the finance industry, with real-life examples and tips on how to make your program stand out. We will also show how to create a solid foundation of email for banks and financial services that is highly effective in terms of deliverability, segmentation, automation, and performance tracking. So, let us jump into the middle of it!
The Power of Email Marketing for Financial Services
There is no better marketing channel in terms of ROI than email. The average email marketing returns $45 on every dollar invested in it, a figure highly attractive to ROI-driven financial services organizations.
Email also outperforms social media for customer acquisition and retention. 91% of customers want to receive promotional and transactional emails from their financial institution. When used strategically, email marketing financial services help financial brands:
- Cultivate relationships and trust with potential clients
- Demonstrate expertise to establish thought leadership
- Deliver personalized, relevant messaging to move leads down the sales funnel
- Build brand awareness and affinity
- Drive product and service adoption
5 Effective Email Campaigns for Financial Services
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Personalized Financial Check-Up Campaigns
Personalized financial check-up email marketing campaigns are automated emails sent to existing customers to schedule annual portfolio reviews and financial check-ups.
With these campaigns, financial advisors can show an extremely personal interest in every client and simplify the procedure of scheduling annual reviews. The same idea can be used by accountants or mortgage brokers who, with tools such as email for startups, can automate appointment reminders and client follow-ups.
Individualized check-in campaigns enhance customer loyalty and offer a convenient route to high-value appointment booking of high value.
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Educational Drip Campaigns
Educational drip campaigns involve sending information-rich emails on a set schedule to nurture subscribers. These campaigns build trust and credibility with leads by offering value first before ever pushing a sales message.
For financial advisors, relevant email topics might include retirement planning tips or market updates. Accounting firms can share tax preparation best practices, while mortgage companies could provide first-time home buying guides.
When done correctly, educational drip campaigns establish the sender as an authoritative industry expert. They work to organically grow subscribers’ trust and confidence in the brand over time.
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New Product and Service Launch Campaigns
Launch campaigns generate excitement and awareness for newly released financial product or service. Typically, a launch campaign consists of a series of emails building pre-launch buzz, then encouraging subscribers to be among the first to try the new offer.
Whether you’re a leading bank, a FinTech startup, or an independent wealth management firm, service launch campaigns incentivize customers to engage with and adopt new products.
For example, an investment company might use a launch campaign to promote a new robo-advisor, while accounting software companies could market a new mobile app.
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Exclusive Offer Emails
Exclusive limited-time offers sent via email can rapidly generate sales. Offers tap into the fear of missing out (FOMO), incentivizing subscribers to take advantage immediately.
Examples of exclusive email offers in financial services include:
- Wealth management firms: Free financial consultations for new clients
- Mortgage lenders: Discounted refinancing rates
- Banks: High-yield promotional savings account rates
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Client Testimonial and Case Study Campaigns
Client testimonials and case studies make very compelling email content. They tell a story of how you’ve solved problems for someone like your subscriber.
For wealth management firms and financial advisors, case studies can showcase retirement planning success stories or client investment portfolio growth. Banks and lenders can highlight stories of helping secure financing for major life milestones like buying a home.
When formatted as easy-to-digest email content, testimonials build immense trust and credibility while demonstrating expertise.
How To Build A World-Class Financial Services Email Program
Now that we’ve covered effective email campaign ideas, let’s discuss critical components for building a high-performing program.
Collect Double Opt-In Email Signups
Double opt-in email signups should be collected during inquiries and onboarding flows. This confirms the lead intentionally and proactively opts into your email program vs. being automatically subscribed without consent. Double opt-ins safeguard deliverability and increase engagement.
Segment Your Email List
Dividing your master email list into distinct segments allows for more personalized and relevant messaging. Segment by client type, geography, subscriber lifecycle stage, and more.
Choose Email Marketing Software
Robust email service provider (ESP) software centralizes subscriber data, automates campaigns, and simplifies performance tracking. Carefully vet ESPs based on deliverability success, segmentation capabilities, compliance assurance, and analytics.
Automate Compliance Workflows
Schedule automatic email reviews by legal and compliance teams before deploying any campaigns. Programming these checkpoints through email automation software protects your business.
Track Performance and Optimize
Obsessively track important email metrics like open, clickthrough, and conversion rates. Use this data to constantly fine-tune content, messaging, imagery, calls to action, and volume or cadence for optimal results.
Conclusion
Email is the best-performing marketing channel, therefore, it offers an unmatched chance to develop relationships and revenue at a low cost. Financial institutions can combine value-based educational material with individual financial information, product releases, customer reviews, and special deals to stimulate growth via email and build thought leadership.
It is also vital to put a solid foundation for email marketing. Financial services email marketing requires scalable compliance pipelines, clever segmentation of the lists, and performance monitoring to ensure that each campaign outperforms the previous one.
Email marketing is one of the most effective channels of obtaining and keeping customers in the highly competitive financial industry. Use this guide as your practical road map to email success.
