There are three primary Internet applications that answer the question in the title of this article. Investors have three needs when they visit the websites of financial advisors:
- Investors are seeking financial professionals.
- Investors are seeking information about advisors.
- Investors are seeking information about financial topics.
The odds of investors initiating contact with advisors are more favorable when investors find what they are looking for. So, it behooves the professional to know there is more than one reason why investors visit their websites. And their websites should be designed to accommodate all three of the needs that are described here.
Read: Top 15 Ways To Make Your Financial Advisor Website More Credible
What answer is being sought by more financial advisors?
Many advisors would like to believe every investor/consumer/person who visits their websites is seeking a financial advisor. Their preferred outcome for visitors is the completion of a landing page that initiates mutual contact. In an ideal world, the investors who contact them want to initiate contact and schedule virtual and face-to-face interviews.
But, sadly, that is simply not true. In fact, a much higher percentage of investors visiting their websites are not seeking advisors – at least not yet. Their immediate need is for information, and there can be not one but three types of information:
- About financial advisors (firms)
- About professionals who work for the firms
- About financial topics that impact them
Financial professionals can create a significant competitive advantage if investors find what they are seeking on their websites.
What is the key to positive website results when investors are seeking financial advisors?
Financial advisor websites must be competitive with the other sites that are being visited by investors. A Paladin survey showed investors are likely to visit six to eight websites when they use the Internet to find advisors. And, they only contact three or four for interviews or information. At this point in the investors’ research processes, the key is for advisors to make the initial cut.
It stands to reason that if financial advisor websites are not competitive, investors will initiate contact with advisors closer to meeting their expectations for what they should see on advisor websites. This is what makes digital marketing for financial advisors so crucial.
What is the most important information about firms that are provided on financial advisor websites?
Four pages stand-out more than others on financial advisor websites:
- About Us: Background information for the firm (longevity, licensing, ownership)
- Our Team: Bios for key professionals (education, experience, certifications, roles)
- Who We Serve: Descriptions of ideal types of clients for financial advisors (the more specialized, the better)
- What We Do: The primary types of services that are provided by the financial advisor firms
In a couple of minutes or less, investors have the information they are seeking to determine if the firm is a fit for their needs.
Does the firm provide the services the investor is seeking?
Does the firm work with investors like the people visiting the website?
Does the firm have a team of experienced professionals?
What information are investors seeking when they visit the Our Team page on financial advisor websites?
They are seeking an answer to a very basic question. Does the financial advisor have a team of professionals? How does the expertise of the team benefit the client of the firm?
This can be awkward for smaller firms with limited numbers of professional staff. On the other hand, these firms can affiliate with professionals who bring different types of expertise to the firm that benefit its clients.
What types of general financial information are being sought by investors?
This is a tougher question. How do you anticipate what financial information is being sought by investors when they visit financial advisor websites? The topics could be all over the proverbial map.
Some of the answers lie in the types of investors who use the services of the firm. For example, a firm specializes in working with pre-retirees. Therefore, investors should be able to find a significant amount of information about pre-retirement in the advisors’ Resource Centers.
What about investor timing when they seek information about financial advisor firms or professionals?
Timing may be the single most important issue that impacts investors contacting financial advisors. For example, investors are researching financial advisors in the summer because they are retiring at the end of the year. Today they are learning more about financial advisors in general and specific firms in particular.
In an ideal world, advisors will have an eBook on their websites that educates investors about selecting the best financial professionals. This can pay dividends later when investors determine who they want to interview. Who helped them make the right decision without being overly promotional?
Let’s call the eBook a positive goodwill gesture.
What does it take to develop a competitive financial advisor website?
Most advisors want websites that make great first impressions. These impressions are critical because, on average, investors spend less than three minutes on their websites. First impressions keep visitors engaged on financial advisor websites.
Then it is up to the website to deliver the information that investors are seeking.
What is not so obvious is avoiding any information that will cause investors to exclude particular advisors from their search processes. Exclusion happens a lot because most investors do not know how to determine the quality of financial advisors. So they exclude advisors from their searches for subjective, often non-related reasons.
How should financial advisors use email marketing?
Since most visitors who contact advisors are seeking information, it pays to stay in touch with thoughtful emails that have some relevance to the investors.
Generic information in a newsletter that has nothing to do with the interests or needs of particular investors will not create the positive electronic relationships that financial advisors are seeking.
It takes some work to determine the interests of investors and then use that information for tailored communications. The good news is there are CRM systems that will help you do that.
Reach out for a digital marketing strategies second opinion or search engine optimization evaluation.
