Financial services marketing has come a long way from the mass marketing of the 1970s, through the development of brand marketing in the 1980s and target marketing in the 1990s. It’s clear that the ‘noughties’ will be remembered for the dawn of digital marketing. Despite being told by one financial services CEO in 2000 that it would be ‘just like CB radio’, I think that the internet might just be here to stay, along with email, texting, tweeting and other digital communications.

Television and print media have become increasingly less cost effective over the last decade as online communications such as Money Saving Expert have become the place where most people look for genuine advice. This search for truth will characterise financial services marketing in the next ten years.

We have lost our faith in financial institutions and now seek independently approved experts in whom we trust.

Marketing needs to concentrate on providing expert opinion to customers so that they can rebuild their trust over time. It will not happen overnight but it does need to start now.

(this ’60-second strategy’ was first printed in the Winter 2010/11 issue of Argent, the journal of The Financial Services Forum)

Although half of UK companies have no social media strategy at all (according to a LinkedIn poll of more than 100 UK marketing directors) 2011 could be the year when B2B organisations finally wake up to the potential that social media has for their business.

Of course, it would be nice to think that the move to using B2B social media was a strategic decision, but in these budget-unfriendly times it will probably be more to do with the tactical value for money that such an activity promises. Like most things that appear ‘free’, however, the hidden cost is the time it will take the marketing/communications/PR director to work out what the ‘Dos and Don’ts’ are (e.g. do use Twilerts and Google Alerts to track keywords by email, don’t use social media for advertising or just plain branding.)

Here is a very simple explanation of how social media can work most effectively – for a B2C or a B2B organisation.

It all starts with informative, relevant content of course – but the correct use of social media will enable your message to reach a wider audience, raise your profile and establish credibility.

Just published online by Mortgage Solutions – read the article here.

I spoke at the CML’s conference on Thursday 18th November on ‘The New Marketing Environment For Mortgages’ and I will be presenting the ideas I put forward at that event in a series of blogs between now and Christmas.

In the meantime, here are the presentation slides. The slide on integrating your social media activity (11 of 13) is well worth looking at.

Good PR is all about telling stories. Not ‘stories’ as in lies, obviously; that just destroys both the messenger’s and the client’s credibility and reputation. In the financial services industry, lies do not stand up to close scrutiny by personal finance journalists and, ultimately, regulators.

No, this is about the art of story-telling, the way we like to be told about something new and interesting. You would be surprised by how many PR professionals have forgotten how a good story goes.

Next time you are looking at a blank piece of paper, wondering about how to communicate something on your company’s behalf to the financial press, here is a handy approach that works for me; SPQR.

Its original Latin meaning is Senatus Populusque Romanus (“The Senate and Roman People”) referring to the Government of the ancient Roman Republic.

But here’s a new use for it as an acronym to aid the structure of a press release or similar PR communication. My thanks go to Sue Smith Training, whose excellent course in conference speaking (‘Stand and Deliver’) I was lucky enough to attend last week, courtesy of the Council of Mortgage Lenders. (I will be speaking at the CML’s MICE conference on 18th November, looking to use all the fascinating tips I learned on the course.)

Situation:    Once upon a time……..

Problem:     Something happens or complicates the situation in an interesting way…..

Question:    The reader immediately wants to know how it turns out……

Resolution:  The answer illustrates the point you are making.

If you can structure your press release headline, sub-heading and first paragraph in this way, you will have earned the right to be read further.

Yes, I have returned from walking, scrambling and even climbing up and down the Pyrenees for 4 days, in and out of France and Spain. 3 nights spent in huts on the mountain, sleeping for a few minutes at a time and then trying to find a hole in the ground with a headtorch. 2 men at 3000 metres, on a mission to explore the Cirque du Gavarnie, the Breche du Roland and the Val d’Ordesa, some of the most amazing landscape to be found in Europe. 1 minor incident involving a rogue Garmin GPS satnav, 10 metres visibility in the cloud - and a 200 metre drop into the glacier below.

If you wish to support my efforts to raise money for a deserving cause, please visit the Just Giving site I have set up at http://www.justgiving.com/lostinthepyrenees. Thank you!

Please click here for the full report. I also presented a summary of the research at the British Mortgage Senate on 29 June 2010.

In my recent role as interim Head of Marketing at Openwork, the leading financial adviser network, I helped develop professional, well structured and organised marketing processes, as well as reviewing and developing key elements of marketing activity, including the new Openwork website. The role involved coaching and developing existing staff, recruiting new staff and managing internal clients and external agencies to help achieve Openwork’s corporate objectives.

I am working on an increasingly regular basis for a number of small and medium-sized clients as their ‘virtual marketing director’. In these uncertain times, clients want to grow their businesses with as little risk as possible. I provide my services on a ‘virtual’ basis – combining regular visits to the office with remote support across the month – so that they have constant access to my knowledge and support, without having the fixed cost of a full-time senior hire. This is proving to be a popular business model for SMEs.

• Mortgage Solutions – What Remortgage Opportunities Are Out There?
• Mortgage Solutions – Hire Straits
• IFA Online – Broker Shortfall Looms
• Mortgage Solutions – Look To The Future
• Mortgage Solutions – Broker Marketing Makeover Service
• Mortgage Strategy – Money Spinning
• Mortgage Solutions - Why Is The Mortgage Industry Like Gary Barlow?
• Mortgage Strategy - Launch
• Mortgage Introducer - Launch
• Financial Adviser - Launch