We see it year after year. For the financial industry, the most crucial season of the year to build, align, expand, or refresh components of marketing is in autumn, from September (when everyone is returning from vacation) to November (right before the holidays are in full swing).
Fall is the busy season for trade shows and industry events and is often when newly launched financial, investment, and trading products and services are introduced. The problem is that many financial firms and brokerages ignore their marketing planning for the busy fall season all spring and summer.
It is the quintessential Aesop fable of the grasshopper who sang all summer. Once autumn arrives these financial firms realize that they are unprepared and the marketing panic sets in and they are left scrambling. Why didn’t they use the slower hours of summer to plan?!
Inevitably, during this mad rush to scrape together a marketing strategy that is often ill-planned, sloppy, inconsistent, or poorly executed, they do more harm than good in conducting half-baked marketing, reflecting poorly on the product or service…and the company.
Perhaps the firm spent the previous winter, spring and summer putting a ton of time and energy into developing a great new financial service or product, fintech platform, or alternative investment database… only to blow the opportunity of making an effective first impression in announcing and marketing it come fall.
The most successful marketing plans are neither rushed nor crammed in at the last minute. They are carefully planned, strategically scheduled, and calmly and expertly executed across multiple channels and mediums.
So, what can you do NOW to prepare for fall?
Marketing Planning & Pre-Marketing
Financial firms coming out with new products, services, or announcements in the fall can start to build up excitement around their official fall marketing launch by conducting planning and pre-marketing activities now.
We recommend outlining a weekly content calendar of activities, themes, and tasks that will support your fall marketing initiative for the upcoming months.
These activities can include content marketing of blog posts and articles that address the key challenges that the new financial product or service will solve, creating a campaign for existing clients to get exclusive access or a first look at your new financial solution prior to its public release, or conducting polls and surveys through social media to “test the waters” for your upcoming initiatives.
Need an Editorial Content Calendar Template?
Download a FREE 2017 Content Marketing Calendar from Gate 39 Media.
This weekly calendar will help you visualize, itemize, and organize your marketing tasks, activities, and your planned strategies leading up to fall.
Whether your website needs to be refreshed, you need a pitchbook for a new investment program, or promotional offers for a new financial education whitepaper or book, Gate 39 Media can help you develop an effective roadmap.
Start getting ready for the fall marketing rush by preparing now – don’t wait until it’s too late as you’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression.