FINANCIAL SERVICES
Mobile and social are your cash cows
OVERVIEW
Key conversion rate insights for financial services
The financial services industry is bucking some of the trends we’re seeing in other industries, so keep a close eye on which channels are most effective and you’ll be on the road to maximizing finance and insurance conversion rates.
Mobile takes the lead, but desktop needs love
Most industries are underperforming on mobile, but financial services is opposing that trend with desktop visitors converting 22% less than mobile. It's time to give your desktop experience a little extra TLC.
TikTok and Instagram: Social’s conversion powerhouses
When it comes to paid social traffic, TikTok and Instagram are the stars of the show, consistently converting at 7% or higher.
Paid channels are pulling their weight, but email falls flat
Paid search and paid social are converting significantly more visitors than other industries typically see, but email is falling flat.
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Access the full Conversion Benchmark Report for detailed industry benchmarks, in-depth conversion rate insights, top-performing channels, and more.
KEY INSIGHT: INDUSTRY SUBCATEGORIES
Insurance soars at 18.2%, investing slumps at just 3.9%
The conversion rate in the insurance industry is absolutely crushing it at 18.2%, converting 119% more than the overall financial services
median conversion rate of 8.3%.
median conversion rate of 8.3%.
On the other hand, investing is struggling to keep up, with a conversion rate of just 3.9%—well below the financial services median. Even the top performers in this subcategory only reach up to 20.6%.
Credit and lending are sitting comfortably in the middle, with an 8.8% conversion rate that slightly edges out the industry median. Their top pages perform solidly, too, with conversion rates as high as 55.8%, making this subcategory a strong, steady player in the financial services game.
Conversion rates by industry subcategory
Take a closer look at the funnel stage
Insurance is converting well, but it’s worth examining where the action is happening throughout the funnel. Since insurance is an essential (and personalized) service, it’s possible that most of the conversions are happening at the bottom of the funnel, leaving some opportunities at the top of the funnel.
Tip: Try to boost the top-of-funnel conversion rate by converting more people who are looking for insurance. Use Unbounce’s AI optimization feature to automatically send visitors to the best page variant for their device type and geographic location.
Key insight: Overall traffic channels
Paid search (10.1%) and paid social (9.3%) are beating out email (7.9%)
Paid search is a standout, with a median conversion rate of 10.1% that’s around 50% higher than the industry benchmark of 6.7%, proving that targeted keywords are driving real conversions. Paid social is also excelling, with a median rate of 9.3% that soars above the all-industries median of 5.2%, making it a crucial channel for building trust and boosting finance and insurance conversion rates.
Email campaigns (7.9%) are underperforming compared to paid search and social, but they’re still doing better than the industry benchmark (6.7%). That means emails are driving decent conversions, so consider giving your email campaigns a bit more attention and diversifying beyond paid media.
Conversion rate by traffic channel group
Paid media is dominating, but email still has value
Paid search and social are delivering strong results and should be prioritized in your financial services campaigns. (For expert tips on how to best use paid media, check out our webinar.)
But that doesn’t mean you should ignore email. Since the email conversion rate is dominating in most of the other industries, there’s a lot of opportunity there. Focus on squeezing as much value as you can out of your audience’s inbox with these email conversion-boosting tips.
KEY INSIGHT: PAID SEARCH TRAFFIC CHANNELS
Google leads the charge in financial conversions with a 10.7% conversion rate
With a median conversion rate of 10.7%, Google ads outshine both Yahoo and Bing by a significant margin. What’s even more impressive is that Google’s top-performing pages convert at up to a mouth-watering 54.2%.
On the flip side, Yahoo and Bing lag behind, with median conversion rates of 4.9% and 4.2%, respectively. While they still offer some value, it’s clear that Google is where you should focus most of your paid search efforts.
Conversion rate by paid search traffic source
Google is the obvious choice
If you’re looking to improve PPC conversion rates and maximize ROI on your financial service landing pages (which of course you are), doubling down on Google might just be your golden ticket.
Tip: Use Unbounce’s dynamic text replacement feature to align your landing page’s keywords with the ones customers are searching for. When they arrive on your landing page, they’ll get exactly what they’re looking for and be more likely to convert.
Key insight: Social traffic channels
Multiple social channels are converting at 10% or more
Who knew that financial services could convert so well on three different social media channels? (Well, now you know, after reading this.)
Instagram isn’t just for selfies and influencers—it’s also a social media powerhouse for finance and insurance conversion rates. With a median conversion rate of 15.5%, Instagram dominates the other platforms. Some of its top-performing pages have reached conversion rates of nearly 99%, showing an incredible potential for financial marketers looking to maximize ROI.
TikTok and Facebook also bring solid conversion consistency to the table. While TikTok leads with a 10.8% median conversion rate, Facebook isn’t far behind, boasting a solid 10.1%.
Conversion rate by paid social traffic source
Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are money in the bank
If you’re looking to hit that sweet spot between consistency and high performance for your financial services conversion rates, Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are where you should be placing your bets.
KEY INSIGHT: MOBILE VS. DESKTOP
Mobile traffic converts 27.8% better than desktop
In a twist that bucks the trend across most industries, financial services is one of the few industries that’s seeing better conversion rates on mobile than desktop. With an average conversion rate of 11.5%, mobile traffic is surpassing the all-industries median of 11.2%. This makes it clear that mobile is more than just a convenience—it’s a crucial player in the financial services game.
However, desktop isn’t keeping pace. With a financial services conversion rate of 9%, it’s trailing behind the all-industries median for desktop visitors (12.1%). This gap signals a need to optimize your desktop experience.
Conversion rates for mobile vs. desktop visitors
Mobile is going strong while desktop needs a boost
Mobile is performing well, so keep hitching your horses to that particular wagon.
On the other hand, desktop deserves some love. Not only is desktop trailing behind mobile, but the financial services desktop conversion rate is about 26% lower than the desktop conversion rate across all industries.
This means there’s a considerable amount of opportunity to squeeze more conversions out of your desktop traffic. (And here are 101 landing page optimization tips to get you started.)
KEY INSIGHT: READABILITY
The simpler the copy, the better the conversions
When it comes to the messaging on financial service landing pages, simplicity is a conversion powerhouse. It goes to show that words (preferably easy-to-read ones) are a key part of the conversion process.
Simplicity in language is the key to greater conversions
Pages written at a 5th to 7th-grade reading level boast the top median conversion rate at 18.1%. It’s kinda obvious why: The easier the content is to digest, the more likely visitors are to convert.
As reading difficulty increases, conversion rates plummet. For instance, content at a 10th to 12th-grade reading level sees conversions drop to 9.3%, while college-level material struggles with a mere 7.1%. There are some outliers, though: 8th and 9th grade level writing is the lowest at 6.5% while professional-level conversions buck the trend by rising to 14.4%.
This indicates that certain customers may be looking for different levels of expertise from their financial service provider. For example, someone who is already financially savvy and is looking for investment services may value more professional-level language, whereas someone looking to borrow money for the first time may appreciate simplicity. Either way, it’s always best to test.
Conversion rate by reading ease score
Speak your audience’s language
If you’re looking for first-time borrowers or financial newbies, skip the jargon and keep your content as accessible as possible. But if your target customers are already fluent in finance-speak or looking for an expert to guide them, they might appreciate more professional-level messaging.
Convert more by hitting the sweet spot in word count
When it comes to landing pages, it’s not just what you say—it’s also how much you say. Financial service pages that hit the sweet spot of 195 to 715 words see the best conversion rates, around a median conversion rate of 8.3%.
But here’s the kicker: Keeping your language simple is just as crucial. Stick to a maximum of 35 to 125 difficult words (i.e., words that have three or more syllables), and you’re more likely to maintain or even exceed that median conversion rate.
Conversion rate by word count and number of difficult words
Don’t be too wordy
Overloading your content with complex words or going on too long can send potential customers packing. So, if you want to see those conversions climb, keep it concise and clear. After all, no one ever complained about a financial services landing page being too easy to read.
Tip: Use the “summarize” function in Unbounce’s AI copywriting tool, Smart Copy, to shorten your long paragraphs into digestible chunks.
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