Over two years beyond the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the finance industry continues to experience major consumer shifts. Among these consumers, shifts have been a growing demand for new online banking tools, faster payment methods, and smarter investing apps. When comparing the last two years to one another, the install rate for apps in the financial services industry grew by 85% globally. Although most consumers are no longer limited to only managing their finances at home, this trending market has only continued to expand in 2022.
In order to capitalize on this growing demand, finance marketers who have not already embraced affiliates should strongly consider doing so ASAP. If you’re a finance marketer who is ready to tap into the affiliate marketing channel but you’re not sure where to start, read on for Perform[cb]’s top three expert tips that will help you set up your brand, service, or app for success in the finance vertical.
Maintain Peace of Mind with Marketing Compliance
Finance brands are required to enforce an in-depth vetting and compliance process to satisfy FTC and Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) guidelines. It is a common concern amongst finance marketers that they may be sacrificing compliance and putting their brands at risk when contemplating affiliate, but the responsibility doesn’t fall only on the marketer. With the right affiliate network or agency, the potential burden can be greatly lightened.
Marketers can access some of the best compliance and regulatory measures the affiliate industry has to offer – as long as you’re working with the right people. At Perform[cb], our finance marketers can have peace of mind due to our 24/7 compliance monitoring, partner vetting process, and anti-fraud technology with campaign management. For example, credit monitoring, debt relief, and mortgage ads can oftentimes be mistaken for fraud, meaning that many interested consumers prefer to speak to a representative over the phone before entrusting their personal information or finances to a service provider. Because of this, many of our clients in the finance vertical continue to experience growth through the pay per call channel. With Perform[cb]’s call keyword review technology, our Compliance team assures that every call is recorded for compliance monitoring purposes. This is to ensure that all affiliate partners’ conversations are carefully monitored to catch any who may have made incorrect or false claims during calls, thus keeping our marketers protected. Curious about pay per call? Contact us, or learn how Perform[cb] optimized a finance brand’s pay per call strategy to increase conversions by 43% quarter-over-quarter.
Working with a trusted network that can deliver compliance is not only for your brand’s sake – consumers want to work with brands that they can trust and that they know will provide a transparent buying experience, especially as financial security continues to be top-of-mind.
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Understand Your Ideal Consumer’s Wants and Needs
At what point of their financial journey are your target consumers? Are they young adults fresh out of college stepping into the corporate world and looking for an app to manage their budget while paying down college loans? Or are they nearing retirement and looking for financial freedom and investment planning services? Either way, financial marketers like yourself should be asking these questions and more to ensure your advertising efforts are reaching the ideal, qualified consumer.
96% of consumers say customer service is one of the most important factors regarding brand loyalty. Customers want to put their trust in a brand that understands their specific needs and values, especially when it comes to managing their finances. Lucky for you, the targeting and tracking capabilities available across the affiliate marketing industry are unmatched.
Many finance brands prefer to work with an experienced affiliate network on a pay-for-performance model, meaning access to proprietary tracking and optimized targeting features that will result in only paying for desired customers or users. The cost-per-install (CPI) pricing model tends to be the most profitable for finance apps, meaning only paying once a qualified user installs your app. Testing and running campaigns with a leading CPI network can create valuable insights into your user base, what they value, and what they engage with most. At Perform[cb], we utilize our proprietary technology’s enhanced targeting and offer segmentation tools so that marketers can target traffic positioned to yield the highest customer lifetime value (CLV). Marketers can segment traffic by a number of values including traffic channel, device type, and day-of-week, and can assign values to specific fields captured in their forms.
Strategically Increase Ad Spend Across New, Engaging Digital Channels
As more consumers look to manage their finances digitally, it would be wise for marketers to invest and test new advertising channels to both educate and convert new customers. Given the highly competitive environment, it is no surprise that brands are looking to increase their digital ad spend to over $20 billion in 2022.
The financial services industry is highly competitive – which is why many brands are looking to build brand awareness and recognition through the latest offers such as cashback rewards, access to “Shop Now, Pay Later” payment services, and loyalty programs. 68% of consumers, regardless of income level, look for cashback offers when selecting a new credit card. With more cashback and loyalty publishers in the affiliate space than ever before, financial advertisers have limitless opportunities to reach new audiences with the offers they value most.
Upon leaving a competitor network to work with Perform[cb], a leading personal finance brand was able to increase their revenue by 1,804% year-over-year. By testing creative performance across new traffic channels and utilizing SubID tracking, our curated affiliate partner marketplace and team of acquisition experts were able to use the brand’s user insights to dial in traffic and reach desired KPIs. Results like these are hard to find, but not impossible – learn how Perform[cb] can optimize your current customer acquisition strategy to exceed your ROI dreams.
The Cherry on Top: Guaranteed ROI
As finance marketers race to keep up with the digital wave, it’s important to take a step back and reflect on whether your advertising strategy is aligned with your brands’ overall goals. Are you ready to invest in the affiliate channel but not sure what your next step should be? When looking to partner with a CPA network, you should always look for one with marketing compliance technology, granular audience targeting capabilities, and expertise across new digital channels.
Need help uncovering new optimization opportunities for your finance brand? Connect with one of Perform[cb]’s customer acquisition experts today.
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