Is trust the key for successful financial services marketing?

Trust has been a sticking point for financial services brands for decades now, exacerbated by the 2009 global financial crisis. In 2024, 76% of people said they’d be more likely to trust financial advice from friends and family than from professional services, making attracting new customers a genuine difficulty. Finding marketing strategies that the public both believes and trusts can be difficult at the best of times. Still, when you’re trying to overcome negative bias and consumer scepticism, the challenge becomes even harder. So, what’s the best approach to marketing for financial institutions in 2024?

The key marketing challenges for financial services

Trust is by far and away the greatest challenge that most financial organisations face, and that is made even more complicated by the fact that consumers are becoming increasingly distrustful of some of the most common advertising strategies now in play. ‘Advertorials’ and pay per click (PPC) campaigns have become a mainstay of the advertising industry, but with the public becoming more cynical of advertorials and PPC performance waning, these approaches are proving less rewarding for all brands.

This, combined with the highly competitive nature of the financial industry, which makes organic traffic and SEO-driven campaigns less effective, makes lead generation problematic. Then, when you add in the current budgetary restrictions faced by all businesses, thanks to the cost-of-living crisis, amongst other things, you have a particularly difficult landscape to navigate. But trust could hold the solution.

Using trust to build trust through marketing

For any marketing strategy to succeed, there has to be an element of trust, and there are a number of approaches that can help to both build customer trust and utilise customer trust when used in the right context.

You can start with targeted offers. Whether it’s discounts, giveaways, webinars, or loyalty programmes, targeted offers can be immensely appealing to the public – if used well. By giving customers something for nothing, you’re demonstrating that you’re putting customers first. But targeted offers have to be free of gimmicks and provide genuine value to your customers. And in finance in particular, where consumers are more interested in substance and reliability than they are a quick perk, the choice of offer is integral.

Another strategy that has gained traction in certain areas is personalisation, but this again has to be used wisely. While it can work extremely well as a means of better serving and enhancing the loyalty of existing customers, the idea of being ‘cyber stalked’ by financial brands, can be off-putting for many. Far from increasing trust, if used inappropriately, personalisation can damage trust and brand reputation.

In digital marketing, content remains vitally important, and it’s one of the best ways to help display your brand ethos and company culture. And this is a great way to build customer trust, because as long as you practise what you preach as a brand, and are not caught out merely playing lip service – as we’ve seen in the cases of green washing and DE&I washing – content marketing can also work really as a method of engaging customers and building customer relationships.

And then we move on to the process of building on the trust that you have. No one will be a bigger advocate of your brand than someone who has received exceptional service. And that’s where referrals come in. Research shows that 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family above all other forms of advertising. And that 76% of consumers are willing to refer a friend if they have had a good experience with a business. Referred customers also have a 37% higher retention rate and a 16% higher lifetime value than customers acquired from alternative sources. That’s an opportunity too good for financial institutions to ignore and they could stand to benefit greaty by implementing a referral programme.

Marketing always has its hurdles. But when you’re working in a sector crippled by a lack of consumer trust, where business is given grudgingly, and scrutiny comes as standard, finding a marketing strategy that hits the right notes is a greater challenge still. Making the most of the trust you do have, in a rewarding and respectful way, can be an easier way to buck the reputational trend and keep your customer base growing.