We carry out a lot of research into what people search for online. It’s a significant part of what enables us to make strategic decisions for ourselves and for our clients.
In the process of doing this, we have uncovered a number of searches from people who are looking to understand what is meant by the term ‘financial marketing’.
The obvious definition goes like this; financial marketing is the process of helping to plan, deliver and promote financial products and services to a chosen audience.
That covers the important points, but based on my conversations with marketers as part of the Financial Marketeer podcast series, the true answer is a little more nuanced than that.
Here, we’ll explore not just how to define what financial marketing is, but also attempt to identify what makes it unique when compared to marketing within other verticals.
Financial marketing meaning
Whilst it’s a cliché, the ‘4Ps of marketing’ model still holds true; marketing is about managing product, place, price and promotion. That is true no matter what vertical you work in.
An effective marketer will have a say in:
- What the product is
- Where it is going to be sold
- What it will cost
- How it will be promoted
The weakness of the 4Ps model is that it forgets to mention the most important element; the audience. All of the ‘Ps’ in the model need to be aimed at an audience because, without that audience, nothing will work.
So, we have a definition of marketing, but what about the ‘financial’ element?
The ‘financial’ in ‘financial marketing’ refers to the specific vertical, financial services and, more recently, fintech as well.
Financial marketing difference
What is the difference between financial marketing and marketing within another vertical? This is a question I’ve raised with a number of my guests on the Financial Marketeer podcast.
Patrick Muir, an experienced financial marketer who has worked with the likes of Morgan Stanley and Egg, the UK’s first digital bank, describes working in financial marketing as operating in a ‘rigid box’.
“[The rules are set out] by various regulatory bodies, advertising standards, the law and in some cases depending on where you’re working, the brand you’re working within,” explained Patrick when providing an overview of the reasons why financial marketing is sometimes a restrictive place to work.
“To be able to think creatively within that box requires very strong skills and knowledge in what makes up those boundaries,” Patrick continues.
Marketing within financial services is unlike marketing in other sectors because it generally comes with more rules and regulations.
Your Money or Your Life
Financial marketing is truly different because it operates in an area occupied by only one other sector; health.
Google has many ways of assessing the quality and authoritativeness of online content and one way in which it categorises important information is called YMYL, short for Your Money or Your Life.
The idea is that Google views content relating to a persons health or wealth in specific, stricter and more stringent ways than it does for other types of content.
This means that content and brands operating in the financial services (and indeed health) sector are subject to more scrutiny, simply because they can have a bigger impact on the lives of consumers.
Summary: definition of financial marketing
So in summary, financial marketing is different to other forms of marketing because, in order to be successful, it must reach a higher bar set by:
- Regulatory bodies
- Advertising standards
- Law
- The stature of the brand and vertical you’re working in
A marketer who wants to perform well in this sector must understand the boundaries and work creatively within them.
About Indulge
It wouldn’t be right of me to finish this article without addressing our specialism. Indulge is a digital and marketing agency that specialises in working within the financial services sector. We work with large corporate firms, boutique investment houses and forward-thinking fintechs.
Besides our very solid technical credentials in the web, app and marketing space, we also have years worth of experience in understanding and operating within the ‘rigid box’ that is financial services.
If you have a brief you’d like us to look at, get in touch or download our brochure below.
