Don’t ever stop engaging with clients, and don’t treat all clients equally
It generally costs financial services companies over five times as much to acquire a new client as it does to retain an existing client. But, all too often, this gets forgotten, with some financial services companies obsessively focused on new client acquisition.
It goes without saying client loyalty is important for all financial services companies. Loyal clients are more likely to continue doing business with a firm over time. Loyal clients tend to be more profitable than other types of clients. This is because they often require less marketing and selling effort, and they are less likely to switch to a competitor.
“89% of prospective financial services companies clients switched to a competitor’s website due to bad user experience.”
Source: Webfx
Today’s more savvy and well-informed clients expect immediate, personalised interactions. To meet these expectations, financial services companies must differentiate their client service proposition through timely, targeted and tailored client experiences based on real-time data analytics.
How do you ring-fence the clients you want to keep?
Well, to start with, look upon marketing being about keeping existing clients just as importantly as it is about acquiring new ones. Regular interaction helps build trust and loyalty, and loyalty is a function of marketing for both new and existing clients.
As clients become increasingly discerning with a greater propensity to switch advisers, and as new disruptive models enter the financial services space, the value and effectiveness of face-to-face advice will continue to be challenged – so high levels of interaction and service standards will become increasingly more important.
“Just having satisfied clients isn’t good enough anymore. If you really want a booming business, you have to create raving fans.”
Delivering a high level ‘client experience’
The importance of communicating effectively with clients should not be forgotten. This can be done by planning your communications and creating target-specific content to keep them informed and keep your brand in front of them.
Delivering a high level ‘client experience’ means providing regular touchpoints that gives them access to topical and newsworthy resource or knowledge centre content on your website which they can read online, download or forward to a prospective new client.
5 tips that should be on your client loyalty marketing checklist
Communication calendar – even if your clients don’t contact you between an annual review meeting, be proactive with your communications. Consider adopting a communication calendar to manage client engagement and create new business opportunities.
Magazine or publications – this is a cost-effective way of retaining clients. You can use email automation to send updates, promotions or news to all of your clients at once. And you can send the email using an RSS feed on a regular frequency, so you don’t have to manually update the content. This approach is a proven way to remind clients of your brand every time they open their inbox.
Use email engagement – each email you send can reinforce client loyalty and retention. This is still a very effective way to engage further with clients and to create more touchpoints. You should create data segments based on specific areas of advice and client personas that will be important to them. For example, any client in their early 50s would benefit from receiving information about how to access their pension pot or what considerations are important in the run-up to their retirement date.
Market to your clients’ interests – whenever we talk about client loyalty and retention, one thing is clear, your marketing collateral must be aligned with your clients’ needs and wants. If you’re looking to improve retention rates, you’re not going to achieve this by sending existing clients emails, blogs or social media posts which have nothing to do with the things which initially attracted them to your firm in the first place. Or, if you’re thinking about trying out some new content on your blog or social media channels, it’s important that you assess why your followers liked your content in the first place. Is the new content that you want to post going to add further value and be relevant to them?
Nurture your clients – lifecycle marketing is the discipline of marketing to your existing clients, based on their current status and future aspirations. There are two important lessons here. One, don’t ever stop engaging once they become a client. Two, don’t treat all clients equally. That means you should communicate very differently with a client that is nearing retirement age compared to a client that is starting a family or looking to grow their business.
Ready to discuss how to keep your clients engaged and loyal?
Regular communications are key to creating the feeling of a personal connection that persuades clients to stay loyal. For more information about how Goldmine Media can help your firm, talk to a member of our Business Team on 0845 686 0055, or email: findoutmore@goldminemedia.co.uk.
Jack Reid, Digital PR and Creative Team Consultant,
Goldmine Media
