Overview:
Mint.com is an online banking service helping college students and graduates reach their goals through tailored insights, custom budgets, spend tracking, and more. While personal finance can seem boring, Mint begs to differ.
So What?
While many marketers tend to focus on showcasing a solid product, Mint’s case portrays how a strong content marketing strategy needs to accompany a strong product to propel consumers to brand loyalty.
Introduction:
If you think you’re in a “dull” industry with minimal potential for customer engagement through content marketing, you’ll want to think again. And yes, we mean even those that are very technical and niche.
In fact, you have it better than crowded industries, since not all of your competitors will be using content as a strategy to penetrate consumer markets.
In this article, we’ll showcase a live example of a personal finance software service, Mint, that’s been smashing it when it comes to employing a stellar content marketing strategy.
What’s more, we’ll give you a rundown of how Mint’s success can apply to your business by providing you with actionable tips and takeaways.
Put Yourself In Your Readers’ Shoes
Mint does an exceptional job of educating its audience through an informational blog with a mission of “teaching everyone about personal finance.”
Consisting of categories ranging from budgeting and financial planning all the way to the minimalist lifestyle, food budgets, money etiquette, and everything in between, Mint’s blog is all-inclusive when it comes to information.
And we’re not talking about a once-per-month type of blog – it’s a blog that’s constantly being updated by professional finance experts. Mint is even always on the lookout for partners and collaborators to help support its goal of making people smarter about money.
Simply through its content, the company shares knowledge about what it does best: personal finance. It catches its audience at the moment in their lives when they need guidance the most.
Find a Creative Angle for Your Industry
Mint focuses its content on college students and recent college graduates. Rather than trying to cater to every consumer with every financial need, they focus on a segment they can “own.”
Since college students and recent college graduates are the most burdened by a massive amount of debt and find themselves at a near “life sentence” post-graduation, Mint saw an opportunity. Through its blog, these individuals learn how to manage their money regardless of their current financial situation.
Tackling topics such as “Paying for College: How to Compare Private Student Loan Lenders” and as “Budgeting With a Part-Time Job”, Mint proves that it has its customers’ backs, every step of the way.
Simply stated, Mint finds its way to its customers’ hearts through relatable stories with mountains of actionable data to help navigate life. You can do that, too, no matter what your brand is.
Market Your Business Without Overselling
On the Mint blog, you’ll barely find a mention of Mint itself (other than a mini-ad at the side of the main blog page) — unless you scroll down to the bottom of the website, where you also find out that Mint is powered by Intuit.
Instead, the blog focuses exclusively on educational content and customer engagement with the aim of a positive experience for website visitors. No branding, no selling, no app promotions.
And that’s quite smart because when it’s time for paid accounting software, Mint will be top of mind for its customers.
That’s the impact of content on purchasing dynamics – you’re subtly presenting yourself as the guru of your industry without saying it up front. You’re doing it through educational content instead.
Tie Your Blog To Current Events While Keeping It as Evergreen as Possible
A further hook Mint uses to draw customers in is to tie in breaking news, making the content not just relevant but also timely.
For instance, in this blog post, Mint talks about hikes in car prices and provides practical tips on avoiding breaking the bank when buying a car. Similarly, when COVID-19 restrictions started to get lifted, Mint developed a blog post on how to earn rewards as travel, gym, concerts, and more resume operations.
It’s always a good idea to keep up with the latest trends in your industry, but keep it as evergreen as possible. You don’t want to invest your marketing budget on content, only to have it feel dated after just a few weeks.
Media Shower Can Help!
As a business, providing the right content for your customers can attract them to your brand. We can help, just like we helped Mint.
Get a free trial with no strings attached, to get a glimpse of how we can constantly provide you with a pipeline of fresh content to help you stay creative and connect with your customers.
