There was once a time when the financial sector was marketed on more traditional terms. Word of mouth and advertisements in the Yellow Pages were how most would drum up their majority of business.
But as the need for businesses having an online presence intensifies, thoughts will inevitably turn to how bridging finance companies can use modern marketing methods to their best advantages. One option that immediately springs to mind is the use of social media.
Customers are online more than ever and are almost certainly going to look up a business' profile on the internet before they make an informed decision. Very few investors will look through traditional sources nowadays and, even if they do, these methods are not very informative to begin with.
The benefit of using social media as a marketing tool is that any amount of company information and shared media can be shared instantly, for free, to a network of customers that has been built by the company themselves. This means too that customers are able to get to know the company on a more personal level as well as learning the crucial information they were initially searching for.
Examples of this can include when something exciting happens within the company's inner circle that they may wish to share. For example, Preston based bridging financier Mayfair Bridging tweeted about how one of their directors attended the fight of the century between Mayweather and Pacquiao, which garnered a number of retweets and social media activity for the company as followers and potential customers all took interest.
Crucially social media is helping customers to understand the industry on their own terms. For first time customers, aspects of bridging finance can sometimes appear to be complicated and untranslatable to those outside of the sector. Social media provides a familiar platform to customers from which to learn about the company as content there is generally kept simpler.
Whilst this new shift point of contact with customers might appear to be simple for some and a daunting prospect for others, there are some steps which can be taken that those companies already adept with social media have in common.
Multi-Platform
It appears that all successful bridging finance companies are on at least two separate social media platforms. Most common are Twitter and LinkedIn, with some extending to Facebook and YouTube. This enables customers to more easily find the company through genetic searches and enquirers.
Frequent Usage
There is little point in having various online accounts if the company fails to use and keep them updated. Most accounts gain a new post every day, or at minimum every two or three. This can range from anything from breaking news with the industry or a thought for the day to upcoming company events or just what is happening in the office that day.
Both Topical and Reachable
The key for any optimum use of social media is to find the right balance between keeping all social media posts and shares both relevant to the company and the industry, but also make it accessible for potential customers to understand and take an interest in.
It is through these methods and consequential benefits that bridging finance companies are being to see social media as the main stage from which to promote themselves and build a network of customers they hope will bring them future success.