There are several key metrics that measure the success of financial advisor webinars. How many investors:
- Did you invite to the webinar?
- Registered to attend the financial advisor webinar?
- Attended the financial advisor webinar?
- Stayed for the entire financial advisor webinar?
- Agreed to meet with the financial advisor after the webinar?
The most important metric is the last one. Did the financial advisor’s webinar create leads and contacts that financial advisors converted into qualified prospects for their advice and services.
A free financial advisor webinar is a means to an end. It is a way to get advisors’ names in front of large numbers of investors and convert them into qualified prospects and future clients.
This presumes the financial advisor’s goal is not just educating investors about financial topics. The financial advisors’ goal is to convert webinar attendees into prospects that are subsequently converted into revenue-producing clients.
Two Types of Financial Advisor Webinars
There are two primary types of financial advisor webinars.
First is the live webinar that is scheduled for a particular time (3 PM ET). Most live financial advisor webinars create the opportunity for the host and the attendees to interact in a virtual environment.
Second is the on-demand webinar that is usually unscheduled. Investors can visit an advisor’s website and view the webinar when it is convenient for them. A side benefit is the financial advisor webinar produces traffic to the advisors’ websites.
Both types of financial advisor webinars have their pros and cons, but that is not the purpose of this article.
This article provides 5 tips that will increase the attendance of financial advisor webinars:
#1 Pick the Right Topic
You should pick a topic that is relevant and timely. Relevant topics will vary based on the ideal types of investors that financial advisors want to reach with webinars.
For example, if financial advisors specialize in working with pre-retirees they should pick webinar topics that have some relevance to pre-retirees. These financial advisors would not pick webinar topics that have more relevance for millennials. The financial advisor webinar may attract attendees who do not fit the profile of an ideal client for their firms.
Let’s take financial advisor webinar topics one step further. When people read newspapers, they scan headlines to determine which ones they will spend time reading. The same process can be applied to financial advisor webinars. The titles and brief descriptions of the webinars should grab the investors’ attention.
An attention-getting headline in an advertisement is an important element in creating more attendance for financial advisor webinars. It has to convince investors to commit time to attend the webinar.
#2 Solve a Financial Problem
The best topics for financial advisor webinars solve real financial problems. The bigger the pain point that is solved by the webinar the greater the attendance.
For example, what are some of investors’ biggest fears when they think about retirement:
- Can they afford to retire when they want to?
- Will they be able to maintain their desired standard living for life?
- How will rising longevity impact their retirement plan?
- Will they run out of money late in life?
The best financial advisor webinars will describe the problem and allocate most of the time to describing a solution that is available from the advisors’ firms (without being overly promotional).
#3 Time Limitations
Financial advisor webinars should not ramble on. They should be clear, concise and to the point. This becomes a key feature that financial advisors use to promote attendance for their webinars. For example, in 15 minutes investors will increase their understanding of the problem and learn more about possible solutions.
Why promote time limitations for financial advisor webinars? There are four reasons why this strategy increases attendance:
- Investors are busy people
- Advisors have to compete for their time
- The attention span of investors may be limited
- Time may be a difference-maker
The good news is a high percentage of investors prefer to learn watching a video versus reading an eBook or some other type of document.
#4 Interaction
In an ideal world, investors would like to interact with financial advisors during or after webinars while maintaining their anonymity. Most investors want a good reason to give up their contact information.
What are they afraid of? They are concerned financial advisors will use aggressive marketing tactics to solicit them. Why does this fear exist? The financial service industry has used these marketing tactics for decades to sell investment and insurance products.
Financial advisor webinars will have higher attendance if they describe how investors can interact with the professionals and protect their right to privacy at the same time.
#5 Promote a Free Offer
Attendance goes up when financial advisors promote webinars that have an associated free offer. The free offer can be made available to investors who:
- Sign-up to attend the webinar
- Attend the webinar
- Attend the entire webinar
This is very similar to a “must be present to win offer”. However, in this case, everyone who attends the financial advisor webinar or stays to the end will receive the free offer.
Let’s say the free offer for attending the financial advisor webinar is an eBook that documents the solution that is the focus of the webinar. By announcing the offer in advance, the attendees know they do not have to take notes.
Conclusions
Financial advisor webinars are an effective strategy for reaching large numbers of investors on the Internet.
Financial advisor webinars are part of a bigger digital marketing strategy that produces qualified prospects for the services of financial advisors.
To be effective, the webinars have to be carefully thought-out to produce the right types of prospects for financial advisors.
Webinars are a great way to boost brand awareness and traffic for financial advisor websites.
Follow the tips in this article to increase the attendance for financial advisor webinars.
