Using Case Studies on Your Financial Advisor Website: Pros and Cons

As a financial advisor, you’ve helped many people achieve their financial goals. And while there are usually challenges on every journey, there are likely many cases where you end up with happy clients as a result of these efforts. These situations are a perfect financial advisor marketing opportunity that highlights the end result and outlines the process and challenges along the way.

This not only helps prospective clients see your success with other clients but also gives them an idea of what they can expect when entering a partnership with your financial advisor firm. This is especially important for prospects who don’t have a solid understanding of investing and what exactly it is that financial advisors do to help their clients reach their financial aspirations. 

Read on for more information about case studies and how (and why) to use them on your financial advisor website.

In general marketing terms, a case study is a summarized overview and results of a given product or service. Case studies are conducted by providing business with the permission of the client. However, in some cases, client names may be omitted for privacy or to protect trade secrets. 

This would be the situation for a case study involving personal finances. Additionally, case studies can look different depending on the industry, the product/service, and the client’s goals. 

Pros and Cons of Using Case Studies on Your Financial Advisor Website

Pro: Case studies help show prospective clients what your financial advisor firm can do for them, while simultaneously answering some common questions at the same time. 

Con: Because everyone’s financial journey is unique, one person’s results can be drastically different from another’s. This is where your compliance team can help.

Pro: By keeping case studies gated behind a form on your financial advisor's website, they can be used as a lead generation tool.

Con: Between getting client permission and researching, writing, and formatting, case studies can be time-consuming for financial advisors to complete. 

Pro: Case study content can be beneficial for SEO.

Con: In order to see SEO benefits, the case study copy needs to be written with SEO keywords and semantic search context in mind, which can also take more time overall. 

Pro: Highlighting another client’s success contributes to your position as a trusted financial expert.

Con: Finding the right client(s) that will appeal to your target audience(s) can also take the time that someone running a busy financial advisor firm simply doesn’t have.

Types of Case Studies for Financial Advisor Websites

For financial advisors, it’s recommended to create multiple case studies to appeal to different targeted prospects. For example, high-net-worth individuals will relate and respond better to case studies featuring clients with similar asset sizes and financial goals. Also, the language in that type of case study can be worded for those with more experience with investing, given that these prospects are likely experienced in financial terms. 

For those younger prospects or those who are simply new to investing, a case study with a lower net-worth client would be more commensurate with their financial experiences. Additionally, the case study should be written with this audience in mind, using less industry “jargon” and speaking more plainly, providing definitions of terms where necessary. Remember, this audience is likely to be intimidated by the financial advising/investing process and won’t respond well to the content they don’t understand. 

Tips for How to Incorporate Case Studies on Your Financial Advisor Website

• As discussed above, different case studies will apply to different prospects, so be sure to have a selection of case studies across your client types. From there, it’s up to your digital marketing efforts to get the right content in front of the right audience.
  
  
• Instead of presenting the whole case study all at once, give snippets or previews and keep the entire case study behind a lead generation form to collect valuable information for that prospect. 
  
  
• As with all of your financial advisor content marketing, it begins to pay off when it’s shared across multiple channels. Case studies are no different. Financial advisors can share case study content across all channels, not just on their financial advisor website. This includes social media (paid and organic), email, video, search, display, etc.
  
  
• Focus on the experience, not the result. While the point of a case study is to show a successful process from start to finish, the real opportunity for financial advisors is to show the process from the client’s perspective. This can become even more powerful with quotes and/or testimonials from the client being featured in the case study.
  
  
• Showing challenges doesn’t have to be negative. In fact, highlighting challenges in a case study can help create an opportunity to show how those challenges were overcome. This can help instill confidence in prospective clients. 
  
  
• Include powerful CTAs throughout. Often an afterthought, CTAs are a vital part of any piece of content marketing. Case studies are no exception. 
  
  
• Case studies can become very text-heavy and overwhelming to readers, resulting in them not reading them. Use visual aids such as charts, graphs, and infographics to break up the text and keep the reader’s attention. 
  
  
• Don’t be afraid to get help with your financial advisor case studies. As mentioned above, creating quality financial advisor case studies can be time-consuming. From getting client permission to gathering the relevant data, assembling and writing the content, proofing, and presenting it in a visually appealing way, creating case studies can take more time than you have to give.

And that doesn’t even count the time and effort it takes to create a marketing plan around the case study content. If this sounds overwhelming, then it’s time to reach out to the professionals.  An experienced digital marketing team can create financial advisor case studies from start to finish, leaving time for you to continue helping your clients.