If someone is trying to lose weight, they often hire a workout coach. Looking for a job? People turn to a career coach. Trying to better their life overall? Many people seek the help of a life coach. So, why, when it comes to successful Internet marketing for financial advisors, wouldn’t you turn to a marketing coach for help? Having the right help to get you on the right track can be hugely beneficial.
As a financial advisor, there are great opportunities to build substantial income and net worth. If your current business growth and lead generation is not meeting expectations, perhaps the strategy you are using to add new clients needs a refresh.
A coach can help put you on the right track. But just like with any coach, make sure you hire the right one. If you’re looking for a yoga instructor, you wouldn’t hire a coach who specializes in cross-fit. In other words, as a financial advisor, make sure you hire a marketing coach who specializes in the financial services industry, as it can be a complicated field, and making an uneducated move can harm you more than help you.
Some marketing firms such as Paladin Digital Marketing offer consulting services that can help you develop a successful strategy that is based on the best practices of hundreds of financial advisory firms.
What Can a Marketing Coach Do?
A marketing coach should start with a marketing review. This should include reviewing your current website, any free offers and the lead-nurturing campaign you currently have in place – sadly, many financial advisors don’t have one at all!
The right coach should then create a custom program for you that focuses on your ideal clients and services. Marketing strategies are not a one-size-fits-all process. A good program should be tailored around your skillset, resources, market, strengths, budget and goals.
If something is working, it shouldn’t be changed. The focus should be on what is not working.
Marketing Challenges
Paladin Digital Marketing has been offering Digital Marketing strategies to RIAs and IARs exclusively since 2003. In that time, the two biggest marketing challenges we see are:
- Financial advisors do not have enough new prospects to talk to each month.
- Financial advisors have a tough time differentiating their firm from others, which makes it difficult to stand-out in a crowded field.
With the right experience, a marketing firm can address both.
The financial services industry is a field that’s rich with information and relies on the written word for marketing and client communications.
The written word is needed for:
- Website content
- White papers and eBooks
- Blogging
- Drip emails
- Performance reports
- Market outlooks
Someone has to write, edit and optimize this content so it earns the highest ranks in a Google search, attracts your ideal clients and then provides them with the information they’re looking for. Content also needs to be shared by the right people and on the right platforms to resonate with your clients.
Should the person who oversees all of these details really be you?
Best Use of Your Time
As a financial advisor, the best use of your time is connecting with clients once they come in the door; not marketing to get them to the door! As a financial advisor, your time should be spent on the activities that make you the most money.
- Producing financial plans
- Investing client assets
- Meeting with current clients
Your time should not be spent:
- Writing various types of content
- Updating your website
- Emailing leads who are not yet ready to use your services but will be in the next five to 10 years
In our experience, there are 4 primary types of written communications for Internet marketing for financial advisors:
- Information about financial topics
- Information about financial advisors in general
- Information about a financial advisory firm
- Information about a specific financial advisor
These are questions most investors have, so it’s crucial that a financial advisor offers all four types of information – digitally! Investors are turning to the Internet to find, research and eventually hire a financial advisor, so Internet marketing for financial advisors is a must.
Savvy investors trust what they see more than what they hear. This is why they are turning to the Internet to see for themselves the claims that advisors may make over the phone.
The 5 Major Layers of Internet Marketing for Financial Advisors
- A financial advisor website
A financial advisor’s most important content will reside on his or her website, because this is where site visitors are converted into qualified leads by convincing them to give-up their anonymity and submit their contact information. Website content should include information about your firm, advisor bios, case studies, fee schedules and free offers.
- Blog articles
Blog articles are also important. Producing original blog articles on a regular basis will increase an advisor’s visibility on the Internet, promote their brand, produce traffic for their website, enhance their credibility and address common pain points that their ideal clients typically face.
- Social media posts
Social media is something financial advisors can no longer ignore. Social media marketing should promote your firm and content to another group of leads. The big four social media platforms that should be incorporated in any marketing plan for financial advisors are LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Make sure you hire a marketing firm that can manage your calendar, write the posts and publish these posts on multiple channels.
- Free offers
Gated content, such as custom eBooks, must also be written properly. Complimentary eBooks offered on an advisor’s website in return for a lead’s contact information should be both educational and promotional.
- Marketing emails
Marketing emails are also incredibly important. Drip emails will keep your name in front of leads and prospects, produce new business opportunities for your firm and even obtain referrals from current clients. Make sure you work with a marketing firm that will conduct all the necessary market research and produce the email content for you. The right firm should also be able to set up automatic drip campaigns that take the work out of nurturing leads.
