When businesses are looking for ad agencies specializing in financial services, there are a few things that have to be kept in mind.  Even though some of these may appear intuitive on the surface, there are layers of depth behind them that come together in a sort of comprehensive whole that can, at first blush, appear circular.  Each is necessary to ensure that a business with financial services to offer hire the right ad agency to promote those services. 

Are they a good fit?

When considering an ad agency, do your research on their most successful works, and schedule a meeting to see if the ad agency specializing in financial services is a good fit.  Also, ask to speak to the team lead as well as the sales team – this will give you an idea of how your business will be treated, and how high on the priority list your business is likely to be.  One way to figure this out is to ask yourself if they can do the job, and if you would like working with them (Forbes calls this the “beer test”).

Do your homework, and Request for Proposal

A request for a proposal is something that describes a little about your business and product, while trying to share your business’ vision and the scope of your required campaign.  It may be worthwhile to draft a request for proposal and submit it to the prospective agency to see what they can do. If you have done your homework, you will already have a good idea of the agency’s recent and most successful work, which will help you enter your meeting prepared.  Ad agencies specialising in financial services are going to do their research on you to make the most appealing pitch; you’re just keeping the field even.  Coupled with your research should be an understanding of what your business needs, and what sorts of things your business will consider mandatory for the campaign.  This will enable you and/or your team and higher ups to determine if that particular ad agency is the best fit for your business.

Integrated marketing teams

Another thing to consider is whether your business has any integrated marketing teams, and what you would require from an outsourced company.  If your business already conducts online/interactive, point-of-purchase, media planning, and/or public relations advertisement, you may not require a full-service ad agency.  Regardless, ad agencies specializing in financial services should either have integrated teams that understand, plan, and conduct these strategies on their client’s behalf, or a solid understanding of how to incorporate your integrated teams into their strategy. 

If the ad agencies that your business is looking into have integrated services, they can address your request for proposal in-house and comprehensively, as compared to having to wait for outsourced options.  Since you already know what you want, at least conceptually, you can evaluate the ad agency’s presentation against these needs/wants.  Comparing which ad agencies that specialize in financial services rely solely on their portfolio and presentation could lead to problems down the road, so it is advisable to understand the proportionate ‘weight’ of your business’ requirements when evaluating agencies.  

Balance

Another consideration is the approach of the ad agency specializing in financial services– specifically, if it’s a balanced approach instead of myopically adhering to a singular approach they may feel more comfortable using.  Dismissing the needs and desires of your business in favor of what is most comfortable to the agency doesn’t do your business any good.  And, considering today’s financial environment and continually shifting landscape, just because what they did before was successful doesn’t mean that it will work that way again.    

Don’t settle

And finally, don’t settle.  Be thorough in searching for ad agencies that specialize in financial services.  Ask around and find the best, and investigate those best suited to your business’ needs and capabilities.  Although this search may be long, spending the extra time ensuring the best fit is likely to save you time and headaches later if (and, according to Murphy, when) something goes wrong.  The ad agency you choose should enable your business, not hamper it, so take your time and choose wisely.

With so many new voice-activated technologies available and under development, it’s like living in science fiction today!  You can control many things in your home just by your voice (through an appropriate voice activated device), controlling your heat, lights, sockets, and appliances using simple voice codes. The advent of voice assistant technology (devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home, or assistants like Alexa and Siri) has influenced how people perceive and interact with the Internet, from conducting their information queries to their personal shopping. A good, targeted voice marketing campaign, set forth by a voice marketing agency, will help your business take advantage of this tech and the associated trends.

What you need to know about Voice Marketing in Agency

What is voice marketing?  Beyond what’s mentioned above, voice marketing is essentially incorporating and integrating the use and optimization of voice activated assistance devices into businesses’ marketing strategies in order to reach these users that may be interested in your business, services, and/or products.  Capitalizing on this is how businesses interact and develop their strategies, empowered by a voice marketing agency, through both the business’ plan, and the consumer’s use.   It’s more than simply transforming a business’ current advertising process from a webpage to an optimized voice-read webpage; it also provides the opportunity to include your own voice in your business’ copy.

Current/Projected Patterns

Reports indicate that 58% of consumers used voice assistance to find local business information between 2017-2018, and others state that 62% of those with voice enabled speakers used them to make a purchase (Annalect image below).  Currently, nearly 30% of North American families having voice assistant devices in 2019 (significantly higher with voice assistance through their mobile devices), and forecasters predict that overall adoption of this tech will increase as voice recognition tech continues to improve, some assessing that nearly 70% of North Americans will adopt this technology by 2022. Presently, almost half of these use them to search for businesses, products, or services.  Utilizing a voice marketing agency will enable your brand to capitalize on this trend.

Why are these likely to be increasingly adopted?

Reasons vary for why this tech is likely only going to continue to rise in popularity; however, considering people speak nearly three times faster than they type, consumers are using this technology in part because it emulates how we already communicate – interactively.  With this increased convenience, and with our interaction with voice assistants reflecting our interpersonal communication process, a voice assistant is likely to become more often employed in a household for both functional and recreational purposes. Ensuring that consumers get your business in the response is predicated on search engine optimization, and a business’ voice marketing should capitalize on making their product copy simple, optimized, and interactive if they want to have their answers at the top of the list. And, of course, by employing the expertise of a voice marketing agency.

Considerations

Currently, voice recognition technology is about 90% accurate, with continued advancements.  Many argue that mass adoption of the tech is on the horizon, likely by around 2020/2021, based on current projections of the tech reaching 95% accurate and higher.  Early adoption of this technology enables a higher presence in voice marketing, and it can also enable early problem solving and trend identification. Other considerations revolve around understanding how, when, and where your business’ audience turns to their voice assistant devices for what they’re looking for.  A voice marketing agency should recognize that most consumer questions will revolve around their desire to know, to go, to buy, or what to do, and generally for the latter three, they’ll want to know the nearest options to them.

Also, recognizing what consumers are asking and how they are asking it enables specific customer questions to be addressed and optimized for your business’ answer; something as simple as your business repurposing an online FAQ page into an audio-friendly format, or even having a real voice provide the answer would enable a more interactive feeling to the exchange.  A voice marketing agency can enhance your brand by giving it a literal voice!

As technology evolves, businesses will need to adapt to how consumers use it in order to optimize their brand.  Voice marketing agencies provide the marketer with more direct interaction with the consumer who is looking for their products.

The value of social media marketing is not limited to one or some countries. These social media sites have a crucial role in shaping up the contemporary social, political, and cultural milieu across the world. Of late, the supportive role of the social sites has stretched out even to the marketing activities of companies. This marketing activity is a success-guaranteed method, and companies can effectively promote their products and services. It is possible to create strong brand awareness among the various customer segments by prudently prompting through these sites. However, practical participation in these sites is a must for marketing success. Here, the professional expertise of an experienced digital marketing agency becomes an imperative element. Hence you must examine all the relevant points such as the experience, expertise, and reliability while selecting a company for digitally marketing your products and services.

Social Media Marketing

It will be an underestimation to portray China as just a potential or large market, which will bring your business a mere success. When you take into consideration the overall traffic of social sites like WeChat and Weibo, you will be able to comprehend the practical vitality of the Chinese market. If you can formulate and implement the right digital marketing tactics, for sure, your business will have a bright future in this lively market. However, it is highly significant that for attaining this situation, companies will have to get the professional support of practiced SEO managers. They will have thorough knowledge about the best suitable SEO practices relevant to China.

The best practical method to reach potential customers in China is by maintaining a fruitful interaction with them through the top social sites such as WeChat and Weibo. These social sites give you leeway to target particular customer segments by taking into consideration the demographics, social interests, and customer behavior. Some popular and effective ways are social media marketing methods in China are WeChat Moment Ads, WeChat Banner Ads, and Weibo Fensitong Advertising. Nevertheless, for effective social media marketing in China (adstochina.westwin.com/social-media-marketing-in-china), companies must work with an expert digital marketing agency that is familiar with the geographical, cultural, and overall social backgrounds of the country. These points will be practically helpful in keeping beneficial interaction with the participants, which in turn will be of great help to boost up your brand among the varied customer segments.

 Businesses can enhance the visibility of their brands through effective participation. However, persistent participation is a must. The communication must be educative, as regards the service or the product promoted.

 As both these social sites are popular and always have active people participation, your message will reach millions and thereby will enhance the spread of the brand name.

 There will not be any vague traffic. Almost all the visitors that flow into your website will be the people who are interested in your company products. Hence, you can be sure of achieving the desired level of traffic conversion.

The best form of social media marketing in China is through the social sites of WeChat and Weibo. You can build a lively community through these social media sites. Though the process is simple, keen observation and the right intervention are the key points that will make your endeavor a grand success. An active social media community will generate leads. You must provide valuable and original content in a clear, satisfying manner, and this will indirectly enrich the traffic to your site. One main thing to note here is that one should apply the utmost care while participating in these social sites. There will be present and probable clients in the crowd, and you must take this point into account. Once you get a lead, you must not lose it. In short, client retention is equally important to gaining new clients. The guidance of an experienced SEO company is vital here for carrying out apt and professional social media interaction. Hence, companies must take utmost care and caution while selecting an SEO agency. One can count on the recommendations and reviews given by the customers for assessing the professional capacity and integrity of the company.