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Archives for January 2012

Financial Services: Increase New Accounts & Acquisitions via Web Analytics

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Countless industries have made dramatic increases to their web-based marketing efforts as of late. In 2011 alone, budgets usually allocated to print-based efforts were diverted to online ad spending. The Internet Marketing space has proven to be an efficient means to market to specific clientele via various forms of targeting. However, as with almost every instance of change throughout history, there are still those who lag behind in adapting to the circumstances.

In the financial services industry in particular, we have noticed a sizable population of organizations that either lack in marketing in the digital space or are not monitoring their marketing channels effectively (if at all). Large portions of marketing budgets are still being alotted to traditional efforts like print or billboards, which is fine: But how accurately is return-on-investment for these channels being monitored?

If implemented properly with solid policies and procedures, Web Analytics can shine quite a bit of light on the performance of your web efforts as well as how much return traditional channels are really generating. Here’s 3 ways Web Analytics can help:

  • Optimization for Increasing Loan Applications & New Accounts: In many ways, your institution’s website is as important as your branch tellers and representatives. It is client-facing, has to serve up the information your customers are looking for, and get them to bite on additional products and services you offer. Web Analytics can help shine light on how well the site does at cross-selling and up-selling your clients and point out where improvements could be made.
  • Identification of Seasonal Trends: Different seasons yield different trends with consumers. This is old news to anyone in marketing. Monitoring what non-branded search phrases people are using to find the website on search engines can uncover gems to base marketing strategies on in the next month.
  • Monitoring Effectiveness of Traditional Channels: Web Analytical platforms’ visibility can extend beyond the website. Want to determine how much of a return that shiny new billboard your organization has on the interstate is really generating? Using a combination of vanity numbers, URLs, and unique landing pages, you can measure its effectiveness at creating new banking and investment customers right alongside your website’s data.

The list of benefits extends well beyond these alone. Not only can you optimize your institution’s website, but you can also measure return-on-investment on other channels of marketing as well. Gone are the days of remaining blind to performance and the inability to compare and contrast channels. Use Web Analytics to increase sales and new accounts.

Want an example of how Web Analytics actually helped a Financial Services Institution? Check out this Case Study. Also be sure to Follow Us on Google+ to receive the latest news & tips on Web Analytics, Internet Marketing, SEO, and more!

SEO Results for Regulated Industries in 2012

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There have been numerous predictions on what changes will be seen in 2012 for SEO. We are predicting that more companies in highly regulated industries such as Credit Unions, Banks, Pharmaceutical Companies, and Independent Insurance providers will start to proactively engage in SEO, Social Media Marketing and measurement of internet marketing tactics. Major factors determining marketers’ budget allocations to these initiatives will be the economic conditions and the marketing managers’ abilities to demonstrate the positive influences on ROI.

SEO & Social Media in 2012

As many have predicted in 2012, the days of implementing SEO campaigns without a thought or allocating resources to Social Media are over. This should be the catalyst needed to encourage Banks & Pharmaceutical companies to consider their presence online. Last year, SEOmoz and other industry internet marketing blogs displayed a correlation between high ranking companies and social media metrics. We assume the launch of Google + as well as the modifications to Facebook and Twitter promotions will be more relevant to the equation in the future. Metrics from these platforms have even been added to SEO software as a result.

Figure 1: SEOmoz Facebook Metrics Report

Internet Marketing Challenges for Regulated Industries

One of the biggest challenges for these industries is the interpretation of the financial services laws or the lack of a specific guide by organizations such as the FDA. There currently is a list a specific list of dos and don’t for online marketing provided by the governing organizations. In addition, privacy of customers’ or prospective customers’ information will continue to be a challenge. It is highly recommended that you have someone with marketing experience within the industry overseeing the marketing efforts who understands internet marketing tactics, and has a history of ethical practices. Otherwise, you will increase the probability of experiencing issues and public scrutiny.

Measurement & Privacy go Hand-in-Hand

The measurement of internet marketing is a cause of concern within these industries as well. All of the backlash from retargeting campaigns, the collection of personal information and the use of 3rd party cookies is understandable. But it is critical that all of the internet marketing tactics be measured and aligned to the organization’s goals and objectives. Otherwise budgets and personnel will be cut, because without measuring the marketing efforts there is no way to show how they impacted ROI.

In the case of Banks and Credit Unions, many of these organizations have websites with two different sections that included a secure domain for applications and an unsecure domain for product/service offerings. Many financial service companies do not track the secure domain due to privacy concerns. Generally speaking, as long as you are not collecting personal information within the analytical solution, you legally can measure if visitors completed a specific task (i.e. loan application submission). Since you can accomplish this, you will be able to measure the impact on ROI and demonstrate to senior leadership the value of your internet marketing tactics.

Figure 2: Even Google Analytics has the able to track secure pages.

Remember that SEO results go beyond keyword ranking. Consider the impact that SEO has on new visitors, on-site metrics, landing pages, and other marketing tactics such as PPC cost. Part of the process of SEO for regulated industries is to educate those that are less informed. As marketers, we do not just deliver reports; we must deliver the message and insights, as well as show ROI in a form that senior management can understand.

The Cost of a Low Quality Score

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Quality is important in advertising, but even more so in PPC advertising. Google AdWords gives the top Ad Position to the highest Ad Rank, and Ad Rank is Max CPC Bid multiplied by Quality Score. This means that there are two factors that decide what position your PPC ads are shown – 1) How much you Bid (CPC) and 2)What your Quality Score is. A Quality Score can range from 1 (terrible) – 10 (excellent), as shown below.


In order to clearly see the Value (or Cost) of Quality Score, let’s walk through an example. First, assume a competitor is Bidding $0.75 with a Quality Score of 7. This means their Ad Rank is 5.25. The Table below reveals the CPC Bid that is needed in order to achieve the same Ad Rank depending on your Quality Score.


As you can see, a Higher PPC Quality Score can actually save you money, while a lower Quality Score could cost you $1.00 or more of additional cost per click (CPC.) Let’s continue with this example and assume 100 Clicks in a month. The below Table shows the additional and total savings/cost due to Quality Score.


The Yellow Highlighted Row is your competitor. The Green Highlights show the possible savings per click, and how you could be paying less than your competitor, if you have a higher Quality Score. However, the Red Highlights reveal that a low Quality Score could cause you to pay more than double your competitors per click. Now you should be able to clearly see how a Low Quality Score will greatly increase your Cost per Click, which in turn increase overall Cost, but also how a high Quality Score could lower you Cost and increase your Bottom Line.