Running a financial institutions is never easy. However, one problem that comes out ahead of all the others is attracting customers to your brand. This chart below reveals financial institutions’ primary marketing challenges. Generating traffic comes out as the number one issue.
For this reason, many financial institutions have started to realize how important digital marketing can be.
Using social media platforms and creating blogs has become the standard practice for many financial institutions. However, not every blog is equal. With this in mind, how can you make sure readers of your blog aren’t simply reading then looking elsewhere? How do you make sure those readers become paying customers?
All financial institutions need inbound traffic. Potential customers will find your organization when carrying out online searches for solutions to their problems. However, you also have a part to play in the equation.
You cannot expect readers to become paying customers immediately after finding your blog. Rather, they must get the information they’re seeking by clicking onto a post. More importantly, you need to convince them you’re an authority in your industry with everything necessary to solve their problems.
To achieve this, you’ll need to have a clear understanding of how to draft blog posts that are highly converting. So, here are seven top tips that will help you maximize your blog’s full potential.
1. Understanding Your Readers
The audience for whom you have created your blog should dictate both the topics and style to drive conversions. However, frequently, institutions have created blog content with language and subject matter that appeals only to those writing it. This may not necessarily be appealing to the target audience.
It can be difficult to choose a subject matter to cover in your blog that’ll allow readers to convert to customers. You first need to find out as much as possible about your potential customers’ pain points.
The above chart represents research that looked into the pain points of banking customers. These are an ideal place to start when looking for valuable blog content. Essentially, you must find out what your potential customers require from your financial institution. In which ways can you solve their issues and make positive impacts on their lives?
To achieve this, you must understand the people who are likely to act after reading your blog. Creating buyer personas helps with this process.
The above infographic shows a sample buyer persona. By determining the ages, genders, professions, interests, and marital statuses of potential customers, you’ll have enough background to start. With this information in mind, you can begin creating content that contains the appropriate subject and has the correct tone.
Topics that center around the pain points of your potential customers drive up conversions. This is because they target readers who require solutions for their issues. They are already in the mindset to become customers. But do not give all the answers within the posts. Giving useful information they can act on is important. However, you must leave some room for CTAs (calls to action) to encourage your readers to learn more.
2. Making Content that Fits the Buying Cycle
The infographic shown above reveals how customers progress through the buying cycle before purchasing products.
The initial stage is awareness. Customers are aware they need something, but they are unsure of what it may be. Next, they move onto searching for information. They’re seeking solutions at this point and begin carrying out research. Once they’ve found solutions to their issues, they progress to evaluating alternatives. When they have reached this step, they are simply choosing a provider for their chosen solutions. When customers reach this stage, they are ready to purchase.
When converting readers to buyers, you have to target them when they’re in the research stage. Potential buyers seeking information about solutions are ripe for conversion. You, therefore, have to supply the answers they’re looking for. Not only that, but you must also create persuasive content, and that gives them confidence in the brand. This allows them to progress into taking the final step of making a purchase.
So, how are you able to guide readers appropriately through the purchasing funnel?
You must create content that will spark the readers’ interest and will entertain and educate the audience. Encourage readers to return in the future by asking for their email.
You will then be able to continue guiding them on their sales journeys with personalized, targeted content. This will include case studies, how-to guides, white papers, etc.
Prioritize creating content that is readable, compelling, and, above all, valuable.
3. Choosing the Right Format
Formatting has a vital part to play. Readers have a limited attention span. This means you need to create content that caters to all types of readers, including those who just skim through. You must draw their gazes to key sections of the text.
Fortunately, this needn’t be difficult. There are certain rules to follow:
- Make sure your paragraphs are short.
- Use numbered lists, subheadings, and bullet points.
- Choose a legible font.
- Use images that break up the text while illustrating your main points.
4. Capitalize on the Readers’ Emotions
Consumers’ emotions drive a lot of purchasing decisions they make. Although most people begin the buying cycle with logical thinking, their feelings usually dictate their end choices. Smart marketers can play on this as they create content that converts readers into buyers.
Marketers can achieve this goal by:
- Using language that evokes a positive emotion in readers
- Building positive relationships with readers
- Telling stories
Written testimonials can increase conversions by as much as 34 percent. You should, therefore, use them liberally in your blog posts. But, to get maximum impact from them, you must fully incorporate them into your story. Use quotes from customers to give your stories an alternative voice. This will make your message more legitimate and will give readers confidence in your claims.
Testimonials in content prove your expertise in your industry. You need to give your audience something to win their loyalty, and this is what you’ve created the content for. Over time, readers begin to develop loyalty toward a brand. Eventually, they will convert from reader to buyer.
One way of playing on the emotions of the reader is to create a feeling of urgency. Everyone has bought a product at some stage because there was just one left in the store. This is a phenomenon known as Fear of Missing Out or FOMO. It is an effective sales tool.
If we can only obtain something we desire for a short period, there is more persuasion to purchase it. This will apply even when that product isn’t necessarily something we need or want. It’s easy to see, then, why creating a sense of urgency is a helpful strategy when creating content.
You can use language that invokes feelings of immediacy to create a feeling of urgency in your content. You can do this by incorporating examples backed by data to demonstrate why consumers need to buy now.
You must also write with urgency. You do this by beginning the content in a normal way. But, when you get closer to the end, you can use shorter paragraphs and shorter sentences. This helps the reader to read more rapidly. As a result, this increases the urgency of the text. It increases the chance of readers acting.
Finally, you can also incorporate urgency into your CTAs. Offer time-sensitive deals, bonus gifts, or suggest only a limited number of products are available. All this is helpful in the conversion process.
5. Reduced Distractions
When creating blog posts designed to convert the reader to a buyer, you must choose a focus. You must then stick to that focus. You should always try to focus on just a single point. Whenever possible, the content should not divert from this point.
Imagine your blog post is a road. It should be straight and unswerving. You should avoid connecting roads leading to other destinations. Instead, you must line the road with information that guides the reader toward the end of the journey – conversion.
When you ask readers to do many things in a single post, they will almost certainly do nothing. Too many badges, social media widgets, and outbound links are just too confusing.
Instead, you need a layout that puts the focus of the reader primarily on your content. Include links to helpful targeted pages on your site, use clear banners, and avoid sidebars. Your readers must be entirely clear about the actions they must take.
6. Don’t Sound Too Promotional
Of course, the whole purpose of creating a blog is to boost sales. However, you mustn’t allow that goal to be obvious to your readers. Focusing too much on sales could alienate potential customers. It could also destroy your credibility.
Advice is the main basis for the ideal sales post. While selling should be a key component within the post, this is not in terms of space but of impact.
Buyers only choose services and products from brands they can trust. You’ll only be able to gain that trust by giving them information and advice that reinforces your industry authority status. Once readers feel confident that you know about your industry, there is a greater chance that they will convert.
It’s impossible to inspire the confidence of the reader in just one blog post. Readers need to come back several times and recognize the value they get from the content. This will lead to the development of trust. If you can persuade them to subscribe to notifications and mailshots, this is a step toward that goal.
Developing a strategy that is consistent and persistent will eventually allow your audience to grow. It also helps create loyalty in the long term among your readership. Over time, your readers will come to appreciate your steady presence and become buyers, not just readers.
7. Using Strong CTAs
It’s vital to realize the importance of CTAs in your blog posts. Converting readers to buyers is almost impossible without clear calls to action. Consumers do not automatically know what they need to do. You have to let them know explicitly.
You must correctly implement CTAs, though. The balance must be right between being too casual and too pushy. CTAs must stand out; however, they mustn’t affect your post’s readability. If consumers become annoyed by calls to action, they’ll never convert. Make sure that CTAs are visible but not obtrusive.
Creating Perfect Blog Posts to Convert
Blog posts are an effective way to win over your audience’s attention with properly targeted content. This is why you need an in-depth understanding of how you can create high-quality content for your organization’s blog. You must understand buyer personas, be able to define the readers’ problems, and identify the solutions you can offer.
You must also learn as much as you can about the interests and needs of your readers. This will allow you to create effective, powerful content that achieves your conversion goals.
However, it can be challenging to create content that is valuable and engaging. This is especially the case when it is paramount to convert readers into buyers. For this reason, using professional content writers is beneficial. Thanks to their expertise in the industry, content writing companies can tailor posts to your specific needs. If you require content designed specifically to convert, an experienced team can make all the difference.