If your custom website and financial advisor Digital Marketing plan are working correctly, then you should be receiving a lot of financial advisor leads. But how do you filter these leads into categories such as: “potential clients,” “investors not likely to use your services” and “good prospects who aren’t ready to take action yet”?
Paladin Digital Marketing has been assisting RIAs and IARs with their Digital Marketing needs since 2003, and we have a few tricks up our sleeves on how to do this correctly.
A lead is a lead, and no lead should be ignored. But how you respond and the amount of time you take to nurture a lead should depend on the likeliness that they’ll actually become a client. So, we suggest setting up a process that filters leads into different groups, guiding them down a path that best fits their situation. We call these paths “workflows,” which are essentially automated nurturing processes. A Digital Marketing firm with expertise in the financial services industry, such as Paladin, should be able to establish these workflows for you.
Here’s a typical scenario for when a lead first comes to your firm:
- A lead visits your website and clicks on a Call to Action, submitting their contact information for a free offer, such as an eBook.
- You receive the lead’s contact information and reach out via phone and/or email.
- You enter the contact’s information into a lead-nurturing workflow so they receive occasional emails from you, such as a monthly newsletter with your latest blog posts.
Here’s how you can better streamline that process:
- At the point when a lead is entering their contact information, include a question for the contact about their step in the buyer’s journey. Or ask a qualifying question, such as the amount of investable assets they have.
- According to the answer, direct the lead into a specific workflow. For example:
- If the lead indicates that they have $X of investable assets, and that meets your minimum, enter them into a workflow that triggers emails about your services that will help them take the next step to hiring you for your services.
- If the lead indicates that their investable assets are lower than your minimum requirement, enter them into a different workflow that will email the lead a recent blog post and then subscribe him or her to your monthly newsletter. This way, the lead is not ignored, but you don’t spend a lot of time – and money – when the lead does not meet your minimum requirements. It’s important to do something, however, because this lead may be ready in the near future, and by subscribing them to your monthly newsletters, you’ll be top-of-mind when that time comes. These leads will appreciate your support and will likely use your firm when they are ready to hire a financial advisor. Even if that time comes years later.
Some Leads Are Hotter Than Others
Leads can enter your sales process at any stage. Financial advisor leads that are “hotter” or more qualified than others usually need very little guidance to reach out and use your services. On the other hand, leads that enter your sales process before they’re qualified, may need a little more attention, but that doesn’t necessarily mean extra time and money. Rate your leads as soon as they enter your system. Distinguish which leads are cold, which are lukewarm, and which are red hot.
Depending on how they “rank,” you can filter your leads into:
- Email campaigns about your services, encouraging them to take action
- Monthly newsletters that keep your firm’s name top-of-mind during the lead’s information-gathering process
- Email campaigns for free offers, such as informational eBooks, webinars or workshops
If you are using a website platform like HubSpot, you will be able to track each lead’s activity. If a lead clicks on a link to your eBook from an email, you are able to see that and can follow up accordingly through another workflow.
Sending Your Leads The Right Information
You’ll want to make sure that leads are assigned to the right workflows, or the path they travel may be the wrong one, and you could lose out on a potential customer. So, determine the ultimate goal of your workflows before adding leads.
Here are 6 ways a Digital Marketing firm like Paladin can help make sure this happens:
Automated email campaigns can respond to leads – even on a personal level when you use the right personalization tokens – without requiring much effort from you.
Workflows can determine specific triggers that help filter your financial advisor leads.
Compelling blog posts, videos and other communications paired with the right CTAs give you the right content to nurture your leads with.
Monthly newsletters can help you stay at the forefront while a lead continues to collect financial advisor research.
A custom website with strong SEO can help ensure your potential leads find you online.
A professional social media presence can help attract leads, share your information with potential clients, establish yourself as an industry expert and expand your digital footprint as others share your information, like your posts and recommend your services. Leads that come in through your firm’s social media platforms can also help filter contacts into specific workflows. Workflow triggers can include how a lead came in, where they are located or what pages they clicked. Specific questions can further filter potential clients down the right path, ensuring they get the information they’re looking for.
When you and your firm answer the questions your leads have, they will remember this. (They will also remember when you send a broken link, send a pushy sales email or ignore their request for information, so make sure you reach out in the right way.) When a lead remembers you in a good light, they’re more likely to reach out to you when they’re ready to hire a financial advisor and use his or her services.
Working with an expert Digital Marketing firm with expertise in your field can help with this process. A well-versed team can set up these processes for you on the backend, allowing you to focus your energy where you should be – working with clients and talking with leads that are ready to use your services.
Contact Paladin Digital Marketing for more information on how our services can benefit you.
