How Financial Service Providers Use Landing Pages

By 2023, digital advertising spend in the financial industry is expected to reach $30.75 billion, this also includes financial landing pages.

But today, adopting an online strategy alone in isn’t enough.

According to experts like Melissa Musgrove of Regions Financial, in 2022, financial services customers crave an individualized experience that a one-size-fits-all strategy can no longer provide.

“Successful digital marketing is rooted in customization. Delivering the right message to the right customer at the right time can only be achieved through personalization. Every search, social media interaction and website click contributes to a customer’s Digital footprint. They’re telling us exactly who they are and what they want and need, so it’s our job as Marketers to use the best tools, applying solid strategy and optimizing over time to reach them.”

Today those “best tools” she refers to include CRM software, automation technology, email, and analytics programs. And one that complements each one of these is a tool that financial businesses of all sizes are increasingly using to deliver hyper-individualized customer experiences:

What is a landing page?

A landing page is a standalone web page designed for one purpose: conversion. It uses persuasive elements like social proof, scarcity, and benefit-oriented copy to persuade visitors to take action. Among others, this action could be to sign up for an e-newsletter, register for a webinar, or download an app.

How businesses can use financial landing pages

With 75% of financial marketers saying their primary goal for creating content is lead generation, landing pages featuring lead-gen forms aren’t a tool they can afford to overlook — especially when they can be used to drive action with every type of content marketing tactic financial businesses use:

Here’s how they can use landing pages to complement their content:

Articles on your website and blog posts

Use a call-to-action at the end of each blog post to drive readers to a dedicated landing page where they can claim a piece of content related to what they just read.

E-newsletters

Create a squeeze page (a landing page designed to capture just email and sometimes name) that explains why users should give you their email to receive updates from your company. Will you give them valuable investing tips from pros? How about teaching them how to manage their money better? Will you update them on important news that impacts their retirement plan?

Check out how Nial Fuller uses a squeeze page to drive e-newsletter signups by promising to deliver professional trading lessons for free:

In this squeeze page the word “professional” implies expert information, “free” conveys the no-cost nature of the offer, and “over 250,000 readers” uses social proof to convince visitors that others find the offer valuable. On top of all that, the two-field form makes converting a breeze here.

Young and the Invested whenever a reader clicks an affiliate link on his site. This filters out bot clicks from his data, providing a more accurate view into my site’s performance while providing a unified user experience to understand they clicked a link that is sending them to another location than his site.

In-person events

Build an event landing page that describes what your prospect will learn at your conference or meetup, then make it even more persuasive by name-dropping all the industry authorities you’ve invited to speak there.

Social media content

Use both organic and paid social media methods like sponsored Tweets and Facebook ads to drive your audience to a landing page that offers content relevant to their needs, like Online Trading Academy does with this ad/landing page combo:

In this Facebook ad, the phrase “learn the truth” and the word “secret” imply that by clicking, the user will gain some little-known information they can use to get ahead of the competition. “Free” in the description and on the ad image gets prospect attention by promising the resource at no cost (who doesn’t love free stuff?), while the reference to Wall Street implies expert insight:

This corresponding landing page works well because it has no navigation menu for visitors to escape through. Also, it displays company logos to boost authority, and it only requires a zip code to get started.

Videos

Take advantage of gates, pop-out CTAs, and YouTube annotations to boost lead generation before, during, and after a video on your landing pages. Or use video to explain your product or service in a visual, easy-to-understand way.

Here’s an example from Alpha 7 of how to use a video landing page:

Alpha 7 gets it right here by using a short form to convert visitors, including the word “free” in their CTA, offering to turn their prospects into experts who generate high profits like the pros, and using a bright color for their CTA button to attract attention.

Webinars, webcasts, and online presentations

Webinars have emerged as one of the best ways to engage audiences online. The average live viewing time reaches a staggering 56 minutes. Use a webinar landing page to get your visitors to register for your webinar, or to capture their information to watch a recorded version if they’ve missed it.

Here’s an example from Wealth Enhancement Group of how to do it the right way:

They use bulleted copy to quickly convey the benefits of registering for the webinar, include the speaker’s name, headshot, and title to demonstrate authority, and the phrase “step-by-step” to imply viewers will learn a replicable way to navigate their financial plan.

White papers

White papers are nearly irresistible to visitors because of their easily digestible but equally informative content. Build a landing page to capture the information of prospects in the middle of your marketing funnel by offering up a valuable tip sheet that they can use to implement changes in their lives quickly.

Here’s a landing page from Patch of Land, offering information on how real estate crowdfunding works:

Patch of Land omits their navigation menu to leave no escape for prospects while requiring only name, email, and “area of interest” to download this whitepaper. Along with the bright “Download Now” button, this landing page is one with persuasive power that’s hard to resist.

Illustrations, photos, and infographics

Humans are visual creatures, capable of better understanding concepts when they’re presented in image form versus text. On your landing page, use infographics like charts and graphs to get your point across more easily.

Research reports

Use a landing page to capture prospect information in exchange for a valuable report, like Innovative Wealth does with this resource that teaches those planning for retirement alternative investment opportunities:

The bulleted, benefit-oriented copy, combined with a bright CTA button promises instant access. Plus, the short form, makes this financial landing page one that’s hard to abandon without converting on.

Using financial landing pages without content

Keep in mind, you don’t need content to create a financial landing page. In fact, many of the landing pages we found when searching for examples didn’t include a content-related offer. They were used to offer services like the following:

Offer a quote

Many insurance-related businesses like Amica and SelectQuote use landing pages to offer a quote for their services:

Insurance service, Zebra, uses landing pages for a similar purpose. Instead of offering a quote themselves, they let visitors compare quotes across various providers:

While Amica presents the entire quote application in one go, the Zebra breaks it up into a step-by-step process. This is effective when converting takes a lot of work on the prospect’s part.

Open an account

This landing page from online brokerage, Motif, allows customers to easily open an IRA account via the internet:

Motif uses bulleted copy, a bright CTA button, and testimonials to convince prospects to convert on this landing page.

Apply for a product or service

Landing pages from credit card companies, banks, and loan services often allow visitors to apply for loans and lines of credit via the web, like these from Sallie Mae, Kabbage, and Bank of America:

Sallie Mae uses a click-through landing page to convert prospects. While Kabbage uses a short form, and Bank of America lays it all out front and center. All three use bulleted, benefit-centric copy and leave out a navigation menu to keep prospects from abandoning the page.

How will you use financial landing pages?

In the financial industry, it’s becoming clear that personalization is key. With the help of landing pages, you can deliver the right message to the right people at the right time.

How you send that message relies on continuous testing. Will you use a short form or a long form? How about embedding a video or an infographic? Will a click-through post-click landing page work better than a lead capture post-click landing page?

Test, optimize and re-test — but start building your own financial post-click landing page. Sign up for an Instapage Enterprise demo today.