Financial advisor webinar marketing is becoming an increasingly popular lead generating tool. A lot of the financial advisors say they have used seminars, workshops, and other educational events to produce qualified leads for their services in the past. This makes sense because there is always a large number of investors who are seeking information on all types of financial topics. And, in general, they are willing to give-up their anonymity by registering and attending events to obtain this information.
Financial advisor seminars and workshops have been largely shut down due to the impact of Covid-19. This impact will continue as long as there are restrictions on larger gatherings. And, even when the restrictions are lifted, no one can predict when investors will feel comfortable attending these types of events. At a minimum, it could be the middle of 2021 after a high percentage of U.S. citizens have been vaccinated.
The New Normal
Notwithstanding the impact of the virus, most financial advisors are not willing to shut their marketing down until the virus is a distant memory. They need a new tactic that produces qualified leads for their services.
There is also a second consideration, the potential impact of a new definition of normal. That is, virtual marketing becomes more acceptable to investors and they are reluctant to return to the old style of communications that required face-to-face contact including seminars and workshops.
There is a good chance that virtual communications will replace many of the out-of-date strategies that were based on face-to-face communications between investors and financial advisors. At the point, MDs can dispense medical advice over the Internet, so can financial advisors.
Webinar Marketing
A perfect illustration of a new normal is the use of financial advisor webinars to replace obsolete seminars and workshops. Advisors can use live and on-demand webinars that are every bit as effective as the out-of-date strategies that were based on face-to-face contact and they can be a lot less expensive and time-consuming to put on.
At this point, on-demand financial advisor webinars are gaining a lot of traction because investors can attend them at their convenience, which can also increase the number of attendees. On the other hand, live webinars are like seminars and workshops. They occur on a particular day and time because they must be scheduled. However, financial advisors’ live webinars can be converted into on-demand videos if the interest is great enough.
Plus, webinars can be timeless and used over and over again.
Know Your Target Audience
Financial advisors are better served when their webinars are designed to target very specific audiences. The topics should be very specific, so it is easier for investors to connect with the topic.
Consider this example. Financial advisor (A) wants to reach investors – anyone with money. Financial advisor (B) wants to reach investors who are business owners. And, financial advisor (C) wants to reach investors who are business owners and plan to sell their businesses and retire in the next three years.
Financial advisor (C) has the best opportunity for attracting the right type of investors. Business owners who plan to sell and retire in the near future have a lot of specific issues they must deal with as part of their retirements. It stands to reason they would be very interested in an on-demand webinar that dealt with some of those issues.
Pick a High-Value Topic
Just like financial advisors can produce more attendees by being specific, they can accomplish this same goal with a high-value topic for the webinar.
When business owners are close to retirement, they will be facing a large number of financial issues that we will call pain points. They have to sell their businesses, deal with estate issues, and determine their standard of living for their retirement years.
The higher the value of the topic, the more people will attend financial advisor webinars. Bland, generic topics will not get the job done. Advisors need topics that are based on the secret sauce and not information that is available on every street corner.
In the News
One-way financial advisors can select topics for webinars is to monitor the virtual media for newsworthy topics. For example, what is going on in the economy that creates consternation and financial pain points for investors?
Although it is over-used one of the most common topics for financial advisor webinars is retirement. Just about every advisor would like to work with more future and current retirees. It makes sense because the investor's assets are frequently at or near their peak and the investors have to make a lot of critical financial decisions in a compressed time period – the few years before and after they retire.
Business owners are faced with even more financial challenges if it is their intent to sell the family business as part of their retirement strategy.
Invite Your Drip Email List
Most financial advisors have developed drip lists of investors they have interacted with over the years. It makes sense to invite them to attend the webinars assuming there is some relevance between the investors and the topic of the webinar.
Investors on drip lists should be encouraged to invite friends, family, and associates who might benefit from the content in financial advisor webinars.
Another source of attendees can be Centers of Influence. Financial advisors can also encourage them to send invitations to their clients and prospects. It helps if there is an existing relationship between the advisors and the COIs.
How to Use Advertising
Your ace-in-the-hole is always going to be the use of paid advertising to produce attendees for your financial advisor webinars. This is always going to be your fastest, cheapest way to reach strangers and invite them to attend your webinar.
Note I did not say it was the easiest way to produce attendees. You have to do a lot of things right to make this a productive marketing strategy: The right advertisement, the right placement, the right free offer, and the right landing page to name a few.
If you do everything right and you have a marketing budget that can support this endeavor, you will have a steady flow of attendees for your financial advisor webinars.
