Financial Advisor Quiz: Is Digital Marketing Right For Me?

I know I shouldn’t start a blog article with a negative, but I can’t help but ask: If you don’t use digital marketing to add new clients, what will you use to expand your firm in the future? Cold calling is an outbound marketing strategy that is largely obsolete due to new technologies - for example, Call ID and business practices.

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If these outbound marketing tactics are obsolete, what will take their place? Have you considered inbound marketing? That is, investors using the Internet to find, research, and contact financial advisors.   

In the current digital marketing era, a click of a button can either make or break your business's online visibility and website traffic. Consequently, thousands of financial advisors have arrived at a major marketing crossroads. Which direction (strategy) do they commit to for marketing their firms in the future? 

The digital marketing world is enormous, presenting a cornucopia of opportunities to those who dare to navigate its complexities. But is digital marketing the right path for every financial advisor? I am going to say no. Some advisors are simply not competitive compared to other financial advisors and digital marketing can’t fix that.

The decision to embrace digital marketing requires a commitment to a strategic plan. It's not merely about having a website because every financial advisor has a website, it is about leveraging a digital platform to build online visibility, credibility, and trust among your target audience(s). This journey towards integrating digital marketing into your business model requires a thorough understanding of the requirements that will mold your strategy and expectations.

At the heart of this exploration are two fundamental questions: Will digital marketing help you achieve your goals for growing your financial advisor firm? Does digital marketing align with your current marketing objectives and new client acquisition strategies? Digital marketing is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It requires a tailored approach that respects the unique differences between financial advisor business models. 

A common goal is to build a digital marketing footprint in a way that resonates with the financial needs of your ideal types of investors. This goes far beyond simply having a website. Websites are a basic necessity, akin to a business card. 

It's the minimum requirement that establishes your identity on the Internet. Digital marketing, however, is about actively engaging with your audience, utilizing tools and platforms to ensure your message is heard amidst all of the noise.

Before diving headfirst into digital marketing, financial advisors should pause and reflect on their current position and aspirations. It's essential to consider what is holding you back. Is it a lack of understanding of digital marketing's benefits, or perhaps a misconception about its complexity? 

Are you under the impression that your current methods are sufficient and you're already as competitive as you need to be? Understanding the distinction between merely having a website and employing a comprehensive digital marketing strategy is crucial. Digital marketing encompasses a wide array of activities - from content creation and SEO to social media engagement and email campaigns - all designed to build that crucial trio: visibility, credibility, and trust.

Top 10 Questions Financial Advisors Should Be Asking Before They Invest In Digital Marketing.

• Do I fully understand what digital marketing entails and its potential impact on my business? It is a lot more than a website and a blog article. It is using the Internet to build online credibility, visibility, and traffic for financial advisor websites.
  
  
• What specific goals do I want to achieve through digital marketing? Is it investor engagements, acquisitions, brand awareness, or something else? This is a key question that impacts the achievement of a broad range of marketing goals.
  
  
• Do I have a clear understanding of my target audience(s) and the digital platforms they frequent when seeking financial advisors? Digital marketing is very persona-based. It pays to target your ideal types of clients in all of your digital marketing endeavors.
  
  
• Am I prepared to commit the time and resources needed to develop and maintain a digital marketing strategy? You can do the work yourself, hire an in-house professional, or outsource the work to a digital marketing agency. It makes sense to outsource to an agency that is experienced working with financial advisors in a regulated industry.
  
  
• Do I have a marketing budget and the staying power to give digital marketing time to work for me? It takes time to build a multi-faceted digital marketing platform. Then it takes time to build your online visibility and website traffic. Your budget should give digital marketing time to start producing results.
  
  
• How do I perceive my current competitive stance in the marketplace without digital marketing? Do I believe I need to enhance my competitiveness? Let’s say you have a flawed business model or a lack of focus. Digital marketing cannot fix broken models.
  
  
• What content can I offer that provides value to my potential clients, thereby establishing my credibility and trustworthiness? You want to be a fountain of knowledge for current clients and prospective clients. The higher the quality of your content the higher the probability investors will reach out to you.
  
  
• Am I comfortable leveraging technology, for example, AI, for financial advisor marketing purposes, or should I seek assistance from digital marketing experts? Most financial advisors would be better off using the services of a specialized digital marketing agency. The exception would be substantial financial advisor firms that have staffed up to do the work themselves.
  
  
• How will I measure the success of my digital marketing efforts? Do I understand the metrics that matter? Since this is a data-intensive marketing strategy, there is a lot of information you can review each month to monitor your results.
  
  
• What is holding me back from embracing digital marketing? Is it a lack of knowledge, fear of the unknown, or concerns about ROI? A high percentage of financial advisors judge their digital marketing success based on the performance of their websites. Most websites are online sales brochures and their main problem is a lack of online visibility and website traffic.   

In considering these questions, financial advisors can gain clarity on whether digital marketing will align their business goals and resources.  It's not merely about jumping on the digital bandwagon but making an informed decision that helps you achieve your business goals. 

The foundation of digital marketing is a presence on the Internet that investors can visit to learn more about financial advisors. A higher purpose is building online visibility that produces traffic for financial advisor websites. It takes traffic to produce opportunities for websites to convert visitors into engagements with investors.  In fact, digital marketing is a key part of a sales funnel that starts on the Internet and ends when investors sign the service agreements of financial advisors. 

Digital marketing is a pathway to expand your reach and solidify your presence on the Internet, but it requires commitment, strategy, and most of all, a willingness to evolve into the digital age.

Clinging to obsolete marketing practices will not get the job done. Investors are already using the Internet to find, screen, and contact financial advisors. And they already know this inbound marketing process gives them more control over their results. It is time to get on board or get left behind.

About Paladin

Paladin is a team of digital marketing professionals with more than 100 years of collective financial industry experience marketing our clients' services to individuals, institutions, and financial advisors. Paladin is a boutique agency that was founded in 2003 to provide game-changing digital marketing services to a limited number of firms and professionals in the financial service industry. Our services range from designing and developing custom websites to providing SEO, SEM, and Fractional CMO services. Want more information about our digital marketing services? Email your request to Paladin’s CMO: Jack@PaladinDigitalMarketing.com.