Digital Marketing
In today’s environment, it is crucial that advisors have some form of a digital marketing strategy. Referrals, seminars, and word of mouth are all still relevant for gaining new clients, however, without a digital marketing strategy, you are missing out on a large pool of prospects. And even if you are very successful with more traditional methods of marketing, digital marketing still has a role to play—it can enhance your current marketing mix, making your activities more efficient.
Here are the top 5 things every advisor or agent should have in their digital marketing strategy.
A Modern, Fully Developed Website
Advisors often skimp on their website. This happens for several reasons, such as:
- It is easier to use something templated
- Web development seems difficult
- There’s not enough time to build
But a robust website with responsive features, quality content, and attractive design elements goes a long way in conveying who you are and what you do.
An outdated website can make it difficult for your client base to quickly access relevant information about you and your company. Your site should have clear, easy to follow information and adhere to design basics. Large buttons, uncomplicated fonts, and high-resolution visuals enhance the user experience for all consumers types.
Some advisors will seek out design services to obtain a website. There are two big drawbacks to this approach. First, most design services are good at making websites for a broad range of businesses but may not have experience in the financial services space. Second, many of these design firms charge monthly or yearly subscription fees without providing much maintenance or ongoing care.
At The Annuity Consultants, we have design expertise in the financial services space and do not charge subscription fees for websites.
A Content Strategy
Advisors often struggle with making heads or tails of content marketing. With so many platforms and channels, each with their own style of engagement, it can seem daunting. While there are advanced technical strategies, the core of content marketing is pretty simple: educational articles on topics relevant to your target market are syndicated across your digital platforms. The key to a successful content marketing strategy is regularity. Consider the types of information you would like to present to your audience and how frequent you can commit to producing articles and posts. How does the information intersect with your services and expertise?
A good content strategy will employ a mix of formats and topics. For example, short status updates, brief blog-style posts, longer in-depth articles, and leveraged content from other sources. While you may have a specialty or focus, create posts that address a variety of topics. Financial planning has many different areas that can be covered—consider who your audience is.
Developed and Active Social Profiles
Advisors are sometimes surprised at the role social media can play in their business. We’ve worked with numerous advisors who’ve successfully incorporated social media into their marketing. Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and, to an extent, Twitter, connect you to your target market in the spaces where they already congregate. Even if your approach to social media is more passive, there are benefits to having active profiles. A profile with recent posts and current information can convey credibility with clients who may be searching for information about your company.
Because your potential clients may develop an impression of you based on your digital hubs, you should take extra effort to ensure that your profiles are complete, with high-quality branding. Add personal touches by incorporating a portrait of you or a photo of your offices. Too often advisors will simply use a low-res copy of their logo for both profile pictures and banners. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, all give you many opportunities to present yourself visually, so take advantage of this.
An Email Marketing Funnel
Whether you realize it or not, you have a sales funnel. This simply refers to the process in which your clients first become aware of you to becoming a client. An email marketing funnel can be an important aspect of your overall sales funnel. Essentially this gives you the means to drip content and messages to prospects as they move toward client conversion. The best part about an email marketing funnel is that so much of the activity can be automated.
Digital Ad Campaigns
Display ads are available on many digital platforms, such as Google (AdWords), Facebook, Twitter, and even LinkedIn. While the actual implementation of ads can be less than intuitive, these platforms generally offer inexpensive entry points for their PPC campaigns. Your display ads should be eye-catching, relevant, and smooth-looking. There is certainly some difficulty in crafting effective display ads, given how little space you generally have to work with, which is why you may want to run two or three ad variations.
Reach out to us to help you with your digital presence.