The marketing of financial advisory firm services is transitioning away from traditional outbound mediums such as cold calling, direct marketing, and networking. In recent times, financial advisor digital marketing is the most effective way for financial firms to generate new prospects and revenue producing clients.
Financial advisors who fail to segue from traditional outbound marketing tactics to the web will gradually begin losing market share to more innovative competitors.
Keep in mind that merely maintaining your current client base will not suffice over time. Static client bases will shrink as clients pass away, relocate, get divorced, and change financial advisors. Firms that implement digital marketing will bring in that many more clients moving forward not only to maintain current revenues, but also continuing to grow.
The Vast Reach of Digital Marketing
Digital marketing makes use of numerous online platforms ranging from social media platforms such as Facebook to Google’s search engine and beyond. Even email falls under the umbrella of digital marketing. Though some seniors still refuse to make the digital shift, the vast majority of people are tuning out radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines in favor of the internet.
In particular, people are using search engines and social media at a higher frequency. Financial advisor firms that advertise on these digital channels will reach those in need of their services, generate important inroads, and ultimately win their business.
Even if your financial advisor firm does not want to spend for banner ads, pay-per-click advertising, or implement an email newsletter, merely spearheading a search engine optimization (SEO) push and being active on social media will produce results. These digital mediums connect financial advisors with untold numbers of investors without the exorbitant expense of conventional marketing tactics using TV commercials, radio spots, and magazine/newspaper ads to reach potential clients.
Social Media Will Continue to Grow in Importance
When social media first debuted, it was a web-based digital social platform primarily restricted to college students. Social media is clearly changing as time progresses. In fact, some argue the primary purpose of social media has morphed into the generation of sales opportunities.
The rise of online marketing in this age of entrepreneurship combined with the ability for financial advisors to establish social media accounts sets the stage for its use as a valuable sales platform.
Though some social media users tune out business messages, primarily focusing on digital relationships with friends and family, most are at least willing to read the content posted to social media by financial advisor firms and other businesses.
Financial advisor firms have been somewhat slow to hop on the social media marketing bandwagon. In many cases, they have been held up by their broker/dealer compliance departments. In some respects, the financial service industry has veered away from the likes of Facebook, assuming a presence on the site and similar sites would jeopardize its reputation and provide minimal return on investment. However, this way of thinking is largely obsolete. Financial advisors and every other type of professional service provider (lawyers, CPAs, architects, doctors) should have a presence on multiple social media channels.
Even if a financial services provider merely updates the company’s social media platform on a monthly basis and responds to questions and complaints, it is well worth the effort. After all, it only takes a single day for a complaint about a business posted on social media to go viral.
Viral content should work in financial advisor firms’ favor rather than against them. A short video, insightful blog post or the touting of a special promotion on social media really does have the potential to spread like wildfire across the digital landscape, shining the spotlight squarely on the financial advisory firms that sponsored them.
If you question whether organic content posted to social media will make a meaningful impact on your bottom line, consider overt advertisements on these platforms. Facebook has a particularly high return on investment for ads posted to the platform. Advertise either overtly or covertly on social media, take advantage of the shift away from TV to the internet and it won’t be long until your financial advisor firm’s client base grows.
Online Video is Replacing TV Commercials
As time progresses, more and more people are cutting the cord on cable Television. People are drifting toward YouTube, videos embedded on Facebook, and other video content on the web. Financial advisor firms should have a YouTube page, video embedded on their social media and even video embedded on their website. Online video really is the perfect complement to the written word. Or, it is vastly superior when investors can learn my watching and listening.
Studies show nearly 50% of consumers are more inclined to learn about a product after seeing it on a web-based video. Even a low-cost DIY video has the potential to boost your firm’s inbound marketing results. However, video content should be capped at a couple of minutes in length to maintain viewer interest.
Do Not Forget About Email Marketing
Nowadays, email marketing is often overlooked simply due to the rise of social media and SEO. However, people still check their emails on a regular basis. Current clients and prospective clients are willing to click and read messages from financial advisor firms if those messages contain helpful information.
Provide unique insight in your email messages, consider including a discount for email subscribers, and your email marketing really will make a meaningful impact on your target audience. As long as your email correspondence is fully compliant with industry regulations and you space out the messages to once a month, your email marketing effort will pay considerable dividends.
Digital Marketing Provides an Opportunity to Personalize the Message
Salesforce research indicates that nearly 80% of consumers are willing to share their information for engagement that is provided in a contextualized manner. Furthermore, nearly 90% of those surveyed are willing to share information in return for personalized offers. The message is clear: people are looking for personalized marketing as well as custom-tailored financial service solutions.
Find out what your target clients are looking for in terms of both services and financial information. Interact with these individuals through the internet’s numerous social media platforms by responding to questions, criticisms, and comments. Anticipate target clients’ needs and desires, respond accordingly and your financial advisor firm will stand a much better chance of winning new clients.
