The answer - yes and no. Simply put, no - every piece shouldn’t be a hard sell, but even the pieces that are more organic, or more so fun, should play as inadvertent supporting sales material.
Here’s a breakdown of how to tactically position yourself to convert on your social media channels.
Your organic, non-paid, content efforts should not be equivalent to product billboards. Instead this content should include fun supporting pieces that can personify your brand to a potential customer and engage your current loyal customers. Your organic content can include pieces such as:
This content is supporting sales material because it personifies your financial institution and puts names to faces. It builds trustworthiness for potential buyers and keeps returning customers engaged.
Does that mean you shouldn’t post your latest low interest personal loan offering on your organic timeline? No. You can share these details as well, but we recommend you keep that to an absolute minimum because in reality sharing interest rates on social media really isn't all that effective anyway.
Up your social media skills with our free eBook - Winning with Social Media Marketing for Banks & Credit Unions
Pay-per-click (PPC) is where your product offering meets a potential shopper that is directly in the market for your product, or a similar one because they are actively searching on Google for terms that relate to your business (i.e they may be looking for a new credit card but your latest personal loan offering could be the better option for them).
For this reason your direct sales efforts should be focused on the traffic generated by your PPC campaigns. Google ads and warmed up audiences on social are the channels where it is appropriate to market all your best product offerings and the enticing details like low interest rates. This is the time to try to entice in-market shoppers to click links to your product pages to learn more and potentially even convert into a new account or sale.
In the grand scheme of your financial institution’s sales and marketing strategy, both organic content and PPC content are legitimate sales channels. They are complementary channels that work together to convert. But, how?
Let’s say I’m a potential customer in your area looking for a a way to lower my car payment by refinancing my car loan. I’ve been seeing ads from your institution and your competitors, so I’m conflicted because they’re very similar offers. At this point a potential customer will resort to “supporting sales collateral” such as:
With all that said, if you're not sure where to get started or if you've already started but aren't sure of the best way to streamline your efforts and fine-tune your current strategy -- we're happy to help! Let us know in the comments below.