The Internet is a great source of prospects for financial advisors who provide information about planning and investing on their websites, in their webinars and in their eBooks.
Back in the Dark Ages (before the Internet became the source of all known information) investors had to reach out to financial advisors to obtain the information when they needed help making planning and investment decisions.
Today, millions of Americans are on the Internet every day seeking all types of financial planning and investment information.
The even better news is many of these investors are also seeking financial advisors who provide planning and investment services. Or, they are using the Internet to research particular advisors, while maintaining their anonymity.
This opens the door to new marketing opportunities for financial advisors who determine digital marketing business practices, in particular webinar marketing, which will give them access to a steady stream of potential new clients.
There are four digital marketing challenges that face all financial advisors:
- Investors have to find you on the Internet. You need page one Google visibility for hundreds of keywords to make this happen
- The content has to be compelling enough that investors are willing to visit your website to get it
- Your website has a one-time opportunity to convince investors to submit their contact information
- Financial advisors’ best free offers are webinars and eBooks
High-quality webinars are an effective digital marketing strategy that covers all four bases. As a matter of fact, live and on-demand webinars may just be the best way to introduce financial advisors to investors they don’t know. And, webinars are also a great way for investors to learn more about financial advisors they don’t know.
You might say webinars are the intersection where investors meet their future financial advisors.
Why Webinar Marketing for Financial Advisors?
A financial advisor marketing webinar is an ideal delivery system for information that investors are seeking. The most important words in the previous sentence are “information that investors are seeking”. Webinars must deliver important, relevant advice to be successful. It is the investors’ opportunity to find the information they are seeking.
Plus, they get to see and hear the information, which increases their retention rates. When financial advisors use webinar marketing, they are helping investors learn faster. That’s because people retain more of what they see and hear. This can be enhanced when advisors add PowerPoint presentations to their webinars and provide free copies of their presentations to investors who stay for the entire webinar.
The Information Exchange
Webinars are great marketing opportunities because they are based on a free exchange of information. Investors give-up their contact information to attend free webinars. It is no mystery what financial advisors are going to do with the information. They are going to follow-up by telephone and email and attempt to convince investors to interview and hire them. The whole process started on the Internet when investors chose to attend a free webinar.
Webinar marketing by financial advisors is a very valuable exchange for both parties. Investors get the information they are seeking and financial advisors who provided the webinars receive the attendees’ contact information. This is a definite win-win.
Financial Advisor Webinar Topics
The more relevant the webinar content, the higher the probability investors will give-up their anonymity and attend. Weak titles and subject matter will undermine the success of any financial advisor webinar.
For example, investors attend retirement planning webinars because they are getting close to retirement. Or doctors want to learn more about investing for retirement because they are just getting started in their careers and are gathering information that will help them make the right financial decisions.
A high percentage of financial advisor webinar marketing topics are based on providing solutions for financial problems. The bigger and more pervasive the problem, the greater the number of people who are impacted by it. Advisors provide solutions for problems that impact millions of Americans. And, the bigger the problem, the greater the impact.
Targeting Your Webinar Marketing
One of the most important strategies, when financial advisors embrace webinar marketing, is the need to make it persona-based. That is, the role of webinars and the related services are to produce the right types of attendees and prospects for financial advisors.
If your firm is focused on pre-retirees, then your webinars should target investors who are within five years of their retirement dates. The same is true if your ideal types of clients are business owners and executives. Some financial advisor marketing webinars are even more specific, for example, a financial advisory firm is seeking female executives in their 40’s and 50’s.
Financial Advisor Personalities Matter
How else can an investor get to know you without meeting you in person?
Financial advisor webinars are the perfect strategy for educating investors on a wide range of financial topics and pain points. And, at the same time, it is an excellent way to introduce financial advisors to the investors who attend their marketing webinars.
Investors get to experience your personal style for presenting financial information:
- Do you make the information easy to understand?
- Do you seem like someone they would like”
- Do you use financial jargon?
- Do you seem trustworthy?
- Can they relate to your personality?
Why is this important? A very high percentage of investors select the financial advisors they like the best. This very subjective criterion is based a lot on the personal communication style of the advisor.
Lead Generation
The number one reason why financial advisors use webinar marketing is the production of qualified leads for their advice and services.
Imagine producing a webinar that targets your ideal types of clients. All of the attendees match the criteria you have established for these clients.
You have their undivided attention for the next 20-30 minutes, plus you will use your CRM system to stay in touch and schedule appointments.
This is your opportunity to convince your audience that you are a financial expert on the topic that is being presented in your webinar.
Conclusion
You can see why so many financial advisors are gravitating to webinar marketing. It is your best strategy for reaching large numbers of investors. It is also your best strategy for reaching the right types of investors.
