Mobile and social are your cash cows

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.

Google leads the charge in financial conversions with a 10.7% conversion rate

Conversion rate by paid search traffic source

Multiple social channels are converting at 10% or more

Conversion rate by paid social traffic source

Mobile traffic converts 27.8% better than desktop

Conversion rates for mobile vs. desktop visitors

The simpler the copy, the better the conversions

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.