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In an era where FinTechs are rapidly reshaping the financial landscape, the mutual fund industry faces a pivotal challenge: nurturing and empowering Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs). It's a call to action for mutual fund companies, particularly their sales and marketing heads, to bolster IFAs with the tools and support they need to thrive. This isn't just a strategy for survival; it's a critical move to ensure the mutual fund industry remains dynamic and client-centric in the face of growing FinTech dominance.
IFAs are more than just advisors; they are the lifeblood of the mutual fund industry, acting as the crucial link between mutual fund companies and the end investors. They play an indispensable role at the grassroots level, offering personalized advice and fostering relationships built on trust and understanding. In a world increasingly dominated by digital platforms, the human touch provided by IFAs is irreplaceable.
The rise of FinTechs, with their sleek platforms and automated services, poses a significant threat to the traditional mutual fund model. These tech-driven entities are rapidly gaining market share, and there's a looming risk that they might soon launch their own mutual fund offerings. If mutual fund companies remain complacent, IFAs could face a diminishing role, leading to a loss of that personal touch that is so vital in financial advising.
For mutual fund companies, the path forward is clear: empower IFAs with the tools and support they need to succeed. This means providing them with state-of-the-art digital tools, including robust, scalable websites designed to facilitate effective communication and sales. These websites can serve as a platform for IFAs to engage with clients, leveraging tools like WhatsApp for direct, personalized conversations.
The onus falls on the sales and marketing heads of mutual fund companies to champion this cause. They need to recognize the value IFAs bring to the table and invest in their growth. By equipping IFAs with advanced digital tools and training, they can ensure that these advisors remain competitive against FinTech platforms.
In this endeavor, platforms like Amplispot can be invaluable allies. Specializing in crafting scalable, feature-rich websites, Amplispot can provide IFAs with the digital arsenal they need to enhance their online presence and reach. With such support, IFAs can continue to excel at what they do best—connecting with clients on a personal level and guiding them through the complexities of mutual fund investments.
It's time for mutual fund companies to take decisive action. Protecting and growing the IFA community should be a top priority. By ensuring that IFAs have access to top-notch digital tools and platforms, mutual fund companies can safeguard this vital sector of the industry from being overshadowed by FinTechs.
In conclusion, the mutual fund industry stands at a crossroads. The choice is clear: either adapt and empower the IFA community or risk losing ground to the ever-growing FinTech sector. By embracing change and investing in IFAs, mutual fund companies can ensure a future where personalized financial advice continues to flourish, benefiting investors and the industry at large. It's a call to action for a collaborative, forward-thinking approach where everyone, from mutual fund companies to IFAs, thrives in synergy.
n India's burgeoning financial sector, traditional financial brands often grapple with a self-reliant, in-house approach to technology development. While self-reliance has its merits, in the rapidly evolving world of FinTech, it can lead to a 'penny wise, pound foolish' scenario. Embracing the expertise of new-age startups and tech firms can offer a more effective route, especially in empowering agents deeply rooted in local communities.
In Indian finance, a predominant mindset among traditional financial brands has been to rely heavily on in-house development for technological solutions. While this approach has its roots in a desire for control and customization, it often leads to significant pitfalls. One such issue is the tendency of new leaders within these organizations to initiate pet projects. These initiatives, while ambitious, can sometimes be more about enhancing a personal resume rather than genuinely addressing the company's needs or leveraging the most efficient solutions available.
New leadership often brings fresh ideas and the desire to have a significant impact. However, this can result in projects that, while impressive on paper, may not be the most agile or cost-effective approach. The critical question that needs to be asked is whether these projects are genuinely in the best interest of the organization or if they are primarily aimed at bolstering an individual leader's profile.
Financial brands must foster a culture where fast experimentation is encouraged, and failing fast is seen as a learning opportunity rather than a setback. In a sector driven by speed and innovation, the ability to quickly test new ideas, learn from their outcomes, and pivot as necessary is invaluable. This approach starkly contrasts the traditional model of long-term, in-house project development.
One of the most significant risks of the in-house development approach is the opportunity cost. In pursuit of saving funds, companies often overlook opportunities that could yield much higher returns. The initial savings achieved by avoiding external vendor costs can be dwarfed by the revenue lost due to slower time-to-market or lack of innovation. This delay can be particularly costly in the fast-paced financial sector, where FinTech competitors are rapidly capturing market share.
For Indian financial brands, it is time to rethink traditional development strategies. This means evaluating the value and efficiency of in-house projects, considering the benefits of outsourcing for agility, and embracing a mindset that prioritizes rapid experimentation and learning. By doing so, these brands can avoid the pitfalls of missed opportunities and stay competitive in a FinTech-driven market where innovation and speed are the keys to success.
"In the race against time, the cost of missed opportunities can far exceed the savings from in-house development – agility is the key to outpacing FinTech competitors.
Outsourcing to specialized startups offers several compelling advantages:
Adopting new processes, especially those that rely on external partnerships, can be daunting for traditional brands. However, the rapidly changing financial landscape makes this adaptation beneficial and necessary. Brands must learn to integrate external innovations while maintaining their core strengths, particularly their agent networks.
Global innovation leaders often collaborate, combining in-house strengths with external expertise. This approach is evident in tech giants like Apple and Google, known for their strategic partnerships and acquisitions, which have been integral to their continuous innovation and leadership.
India presents a fertile ground for the FinTech revolution, with its vast consumer base and growing digital savviness. Traditional financial enterprises should not merely participate in this revolution but aim to lead it. By synergizing their deep market experience with the technological agility of startups, they can forge a path that matches and surpasses FinTech innovation.
In the fast-paced and ever-evolving landscape of the Indian insurance industry, there is a growing narrative among leaders that agents will soon become obsolete, replaced by digital channels and direct marketing strategies. This outlook has led to a gradual sidelining of agents, leaving them to fend for themselves in a market increasingly dominated by digital-first approaches. However, this perspective overlooks a significant opportunity: what if these agents are kept in the loop but are instead equipped with the best digital tools to compete effectively in the new era?
The conversation needs to shift from seeing agents as relics of a bygone era to recognizing them as valuable assets who, with the right tools, can be formidable players in the digital arena. Especially for agents who still need to be well-established, the prospect of being armed with advanced digital tools can be a game-changer.
With digital advertising costs soaring yearly, companies focusing solely on online ads for customer acquisition face increasing financial burdens. The cost per conversion continues to climb, and brands might find themselves in a precarious position if the market dynamics shift or ad costs become unsustainable.
Insurance companies, particularly CXOs, need to adopt a balanced approach. While exploring new channels and direct marketing strategies is essential, they should pay attention to the agent network. The combined strength of digital tools and the human touch of agents can create a powerful synergy.
In conclusion, it's time for a paradigm shift in the Indian insurance industry. Companies should view their agents not as liabilities to be phased out but as vital assets to be upgraded for the digital age. Insurance companies can build a more diverse, resilient, and effective business model by fully supporting their agents with digital tools and training. This approach will ensure the agents' longevity and success and contribute significantly to the growth and stability of the market.
For Indian financial brands, staying competitive in the FinTech age involves a balanced approach. This strategy should combine traditional agent networks' reliability and personal engagement with the efficiency and innovation of FinTech tools, ideally sourced from specialized startups. In a market ripe for digital transformation, those who can master this blend of tradition and innovation will be well-positioned to lead India's financial future.
In the rapidly digitizing landscape of India's financial sector, the role and relevance of Independent Financial Advisors (IFAs) demand a closer examination. Despite the surge in FinTech innovations, specific statistics underline the need to reinforce traditional models alongside new digital channels, particularly in insurance sales.
India's insurance penetration in 2022 was 4%, well below the global average of 7.23%. This highlights untapped market potential, urging the integration of FinTech outreach with the trusted and personalized services of IFAs.
India's demographic dividend, with over 65% of its population under 35, presents a unique opportunity for the insurance sector. The World Bank data suggests that India's working-age population will increase over the next decade, offering a prime market for financial products. However, post-2040, demographic trends indicate a shift towards an aging population, potentially impacting economic growth and changing financial needs.
In the face of these demographic shifts, balancing digital innovations with proven models is crucial. For instance, while online platforms are gaining traction, IRDAI reports suggest that traditional channels contribute significantly to policy distribution. This underscores the importance of IFAs, who can provide personalized guidance and trust that digital platforms may only partially replicate.
While India boasts the second-largest internet user base globally, with over 900 million users, the role of human interaction in financial advising cannot be understated. IFAs are crucial in demystifying insurance products, especially in rural and semi-urban areas where digital literacy is still evolving.
In a country where approximately 190 million adults still do not have a bank account, according to the Global Findex Database, IFAs can play a crucial role in driving financial literacy and inclusion. They can act as catalysts in educating the population about the importance of insurance and investment in financial planning.
Investing in digital tools for IFAs is not just a trend but a necessity. A KPMG report suggests that technology adoption among IFAs can lead to a 50-70% increase in productivity. Financial brands can enhance their effectiveness while maintaining personal connections by equipping IFAs with digital platforms for customer management and analytics.
Harnessing a Hybrid Model for Robust Growth
In conclusion, the statistics and trends paint a clear picture: India's insurance sector needs a hybrid model that combines the technological prowess of FinTech with the personalized approach of IFAs. Such a model is beneficial and essential for capturing India's diverse and evolving financial landscape. Integrating IFAs into this journey will ensure comprehensive economic growth and inclusion as the country navigates its digital future.
The internet has made a plethora of information accessible. Digital marketing should play an important part in your company’s efforts so that you do not fall behind as a result of all the data available. Using digital marketing as a financial advisor can help you interact with thousands of consumers and elicit loyalty from them by connecting you to thousands of prospects. If you’re stumped about what to do or how to begin, here are 15 simple but effective digital marketing ideas that can get you started!
When it comes to content marketing, you have an infinite number of options. You have a practically endless variety of stuff to create, from filming films to publishing blogs. You can educate your target audience and demonstrate your expertise in the field by creating content and advertising it. Furthermore, by producing material, you may utilize SEO methods to increase the number of people that visit your site. This is without a doubt one of the most effective ways to get more people to your site!
A referral program is an excellent way to get people to spread the word about your business. Essentially, you offer individuals a reward for referring new clients or customers to you.
For example, let’s say that you offer a $50 referral fee for every new client that someone brings to you. That gives people an incentive to tell their friends and family about your business. And, if you have a great product or service, people will be happy to refer you.
The key to making a referral program work is to make it easy for people to refer you. You don’t want there to be any barriers to entry. The easier it is for people to refer you, the more likely they are to do it.
Email marketing is a great way to interact with your audience. However, keep in mind that the more personal you are with your customers, the better.
Conduct a market research survey to get a better idea of your target audience’s requirements and desires.
The best financial advisers may have a long-term influence on your subscribers by segmenting them and sending them tailored emails if you tailor your message to each group. If you see a portion of your email subscribers looking at your retirement planning site, send them a customized email with retirement advice. You may accomplish this with other elements of financial life, such as exchange traded funds, personal finance, investment needs, and so on.
Segmented campaigns, according to HubSpot’s marketers, have resulted in a 760 percent increase in email income. While utilizing email marketing, keep in mind that your subject line must be effective, you should send your emails during working hours, and you should use email service providers such as AWeber, Constant Contact, and MailChimp.
A webinar or course is a fantastic approach to demonstrate your expertise while also attracting a large number of people, allowing you to accomplish two tasks with one stone. It’s an excellent method to genuinely connect with your customers, build brand loyalty, and start getting conversions around financial goals. If you do decide to have webinars, it’s critical that you do so correctly. Here are some things to think about while hosting your session:
Excellent sources of lead generation and referrals are the financial services sector’s XYPN, NAPFA, FPA, and others. It’s all about getting your name out there; see if you can get your contact information and website included in their directories. If you’re able to work with organizations like these, people will be more likely to learn about you. Cooperation makes the ambition a reality, according to the adage.
Who doesn’t like obtaining stuff for free? Giving out free consultations is a wonderful approach to attract new clients for your financial advisor firm. People want information at the end of the day, and if you’ve been able to establish yourself as an expert or authority through things like content marketing, email marketing, webinars, and so on. You may offer things like complimentary consultations, whitepapers, ebooks, and so on. People will like you more and tell others about you if you offer these items. Would you inform your friends about it if you received something for free? Take a look at Twenty Over Ten’s client North Pointe Wealth Management. You may notice that they give out a free consultation and include this CTA on their website.
Improving your SEO is all it takes to get more people to your website. It may appear to be a difficult job, but with some modifications and/or additions to your marketing plan, you should see improvements in your ranks. First and foremost, staying active on a regular basis is necessary. Blogging is the finest approach to establish yourself as a thought leader in your area; there’s no substitute for hard work.However, the more you blog, the more material you’ll provide to Google, which may have a significant impact on your rankings. Using photographs on your website is also an excellent method to improve your SEO. Furthermore, if feasible, utilize genuine pictures rather than stock photos. You have a better chance of ranking higher if you demonstrate that your company is run by real people. Look at Twenty Over Ten customer Quest Financial Services’ team members to see who they are.
The final approach to boost your organic SEO is to enhance the speed of your website. If Google determines that the loading speed of your website is too sluggish, it will be able to do so. Even if you manage to rank near the top with a slow loading speed, your visitors will abandon you. If a webpage takes more than 3 seconds to load, 40% of individuals will abandon it.
Yikes! If you’re having trouble with the loading speed of your website, contact an expert.
Social media is an important part of a digital marketing strategy, and you can’t have one without the other. One of the most effective inbound marketing techniques is social media since it allows you to interact with your consumers and reach a large audience. If you’re just getting started, it’s necessary to create a marketing plan. Consider what platforms you’ll utilize, how you’d want to be seen, what material you’d like to put out there, when you’d like people to see it, and so on. There are four critical stages in the process of utilizing social media for marketing:
Organic reach on Facebook is pretty much dead at this stage. So, if you want to get in front of individuals on this social media platform, you’ll need to start running ads. The best part is that Facebook provides fairly granular control over who sees your ads. You’re able to target individuals based on interests, behaviors, and even demographics.
For example, let’s say that you want to target new parents who are in their late 20s and early 30s who live in the suburbs. You could do that with Facebook advertising pretty easily.
The key to running successful Facebook ads is to have killer copy and visuals. You also need to make sure that your offer is Irresistible. If you can do all of those things, you’ll be well on your way to generating leads from Facebook ads.
LinkedIn Ads is a fairly new platform, but it’s one that you should definitely consider using to generate leads for your financial planning business. LinkedIn Ads allows you to target individuals based on their job title, company size, and other factors.
For example, let’s say that you want to target CFOs of small businesses. You could do that with LinkedIn Ads pretty easily.
The key to making LinkedIn Ads work is to have great copy and visuals. You also need to make sure that your offer is Irresistible. If you can do all of those things, you’ll be well on your way to generating leads from LinkedIn ads.
We’re guessing you were thinking something along these lines: I figured this list would be a piece of cake! Isn’t it true that video isn’t easy to do? You are wrong. We promise that creating video does not have to be difficult. Contrary to popular belief, your smartphone is all you need. If they haven’t already, investment advisors should think about including video marketing in their marketing efforts. On average, 3.25 billion hours of video are watched each month on YouTube worldwide (April 2017). That’s a lot of video, and it only serves to underscore the importance of this media type for an investment advisor. In fact, over time, 60% more consumers pick videos than PDFs. Not only does video benefit your clients; it also benefits you as a business since videos drive much greater traffic, interaction, and lead conversions.
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool offered by Google that allows you to create and manage a professional online presence. When someone searches for you on Google, this is the profile that appears on the right side of the screen. Contact information, location, business hours, and so on are all included in the profile. If you want to be found on Google, you’ll need a GMB listing. It not only increases awareness but also aids in the formation of customer confidence. Consumers are 2.7 times more inclined to consider a business trustworthy if it appears on Google. When you engage a virtual assistant, keep in mind that GMB is merely the connection between you and your potential customers.
Finally, it’s vital that you focus on delivering a fantastic mobile experience for your clients. Customers will abandon your site if it isn’t mobile-friendly. These people will be less likely to tell their friends about you. It isn’t enough to have a well-designed PC website these days.
You need a responsive website that can adjust to any size screen.
If you’re not sure whether your site is responsive, take a look at it on your phone. If it isn’t, it’s time to invest in a new website.
While the financial planning services industry is highly regulated, there are still numerous methods for you to set yourself apart from your competition. If you truly want to thrive in this climate, then you must put in the effort. People will be more inclined to utilize your investment management services if you can discover a way to make your financial institution stand out from the crowd.
It’s a good idea to shake up your marketing strategy if you want to improve your bank. There are several strategies to attract new clients, including social media, digital marketing, and outbound content. Inbound marketing should also be given priority because it is a fantastic method of capturing new consumers that are already interested in the financial services you have to supply. For your convenience, we’ve put together a list of 13 of the most effective marketing methods for your financial institution.
A digital marketing strategy is a lot more efficient, trackable, and cost-effective than traditional marketing and advertising approaches like pamphlets, billboards, and media advertisements that need a large investment and/or a lot of manual effort. A digital marketing approach may be used to contact your target audience through various channels such as email, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), and content marketing.
You may use free internet marketing platforms to promote your brand and draw upon an unrestricted number of prospective consumers who are interested in the field you specialize in. You’ve got a captive audience if you know how to engage them, since the typical person spends two hours and 24 minutes on social media every day. Of course, that’s the tough work — and the only way to learn is to test out various things until you figure out what works best for you. If you can project a positive attitude across social media, this may be your opportunity to monetize that talent.
Knowing where you stand in the market and how to set yourself apart from the competition can help you plan your marketing efforts. If you deal with a lot of high-net-worth customers, for example, you may modify your financial planning services to topics that are most relevant to them. Clients with modest incomes, on the other hand, will confront a variety of pressing problems. These are just a few of the apparent instances; however, you may apply similar methods to study in greater depth. Consider carefully about the demographic most likely to look for you if you specialize in long-term care funding – not those receiving care, but their children (who may be in their 40s, 50s or 60s).
Begin by creating a mental image of your ideal customer(s) and personalizing all of your marketing communications as though you were speaking with them in their native tongue.
Despite the fact that it has some disadvantages, Facebook may be a useful marketing tool. If utilized correctly, it and other social media sites can help you reach a large number of new prospects. Various age groups have different tastes, so doing your market study to figure out how to appeal to your target demographic is worthwhile. Regardless of channel you pick as a financial counselor, make sure you update your content on a regular basis to ensure that your brand is seen in their feeds. When posting anything of value that can inform, inspire, amuse, or persuade others, always aim for excellence rather than quantity. Being seen is the most important part of public relations; you can’t do this if you don’t use social media. The best financial advisors have a plan in place for providing excellent services. Investing portfolio administration, financial goals planning, exchange traded funds, personal finance, and tax planning are just a few of the services available. Viral marketing refers to any technique that encourages individuals to pass on a marketing message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence. It is word-of-mouth delivered and amplified online through social media.
Your efforts may be in vain if your website is difficult to navigate, out of date, not optimized for mobile users, and does not address important consumer queries. Even a single spelling mistake, according to one study, can reduce sales by 50%, so care should be taken.
A bad website may harm your conversion rate (how many of your leads turn into paying clients), therefore it’s critical that you address the situation as soon as possible. If you’re not comfortable with web design and don’t want to hire a designer, professional assistance will most certainly pay off.
Make sure you’re prepared for an increase in new inquiries and consumers before you invest a lot of time and money into your new website.
Are you unfamiliar with the idea of search engine optimization (SEO)? It’s a strategy for ensuring that as many new people as possible are aware of your website. Here’s how it works in practice. As a certified financial planner, you want to be the first financial planner that comes up when someone searches for “financial planner in (your city)”
Let’s assume you run a financial consultancy in Bristol, for example. Most likely, potential clients are looking for “financial advisers in Bristol” when they search on Google. Using this term in a natural way, along with other prominent keywords, can aid your ranking (how high up the search engine results page you appear), making it easier for new leads to find your business.
SEO may be an art as well as a science. The objective of focusing on niche terms that few websites have addressed is to decrease competition and enhance your ranking probability. This is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate your professional expertise.
Developing rapport with financial professionals who share your interests or are in similar businesses is a tried-and-true approach to increase your new prospects. It’s especially important if financial experts spend a lot of time dealing with commercial clients since you may connect with them and start up an informal discussion, which has the potential to lead to new business.
You may also join the financial community by forming connections with other IFAs all around the world, which might lead to new business. Assume you’re based in Edinburgh but have a strong relationship with a London-based advisor. You’ll be at the top of their list if one of their regular clients or another individual in the neighborhood who has heard great things about them asks about working with you.
Being included in a directory (such as Unbiased) can help you improve your profile. Some clients want to look for their adviser on their own and make their decision, so having this alternative as well as a lead generating service may result in double the queries. Furthermore, a well-known directory with strong SEO may allow you to appear more often in local search results.
It’s a waste of time to spend hours upon hours developing marketing campaigns if you don’t track your results. Before implementing a new marketing research approach, look at important marketing indicators such as interaction, website traffic, and conversion rate. Financial advisors are dependent on the analysis of certain key marketing metrics.
You can keep track of these numbers to see if they’re going up, suggesting you’re doing the correct thing; or staying the same, indicating that this isn’t the most effective approach to attract new consumers.
Inbound marketing, on the other hand, is a more covert technique for investment advisors to entice their audience to interact with their product or service in order to assist them with their financial planning demands. All types of marketing, from advertising to cold calls and emails, loudly declare that an investment advisor is providing a solution. Inbound marketing is a way of interacting with your audience while also providing value for their time by utilizing platforms like blogs and social media sites, which enhances brand loyalty.
People will be more likely to visit your website if you give valuable information on areas where you have expertise, such as retirement planning or investing for novices. They’ll discover something fascinating and may discover a new customer by offering up just a little of your knowledge for free.
Do you find yourself as a financial advisor, struggling to come up with leads on your own? Joining a lead generation platform (such as Unbiased) may help you attract new consumers to your company.
You’ll be introduced to clients in your local region who need your services, ensuring a steady flow of work.
Furthermore, the excellent reputation of your selected lead generating platform will be associated with your brand. Customers are more likely to trust you if they believe that the site only invites qualified, experienced professionals than if they happened upon your site by chance while surfing the web.
This is one of the mildest marketing approaches, yet it has a high potential for long-term success. Take the time to develop existing customer connections and you’ll encourage not only repeat business but also word-of-mouth advertising as they discuss you with their friends. There are various ways to do this, including:
The secret to doing client outreach correctly is to avoid making each email sales-oriented. It’s all too easy to include a call-to-action at the end of every message in order to increase revenue, but it will seem artificial and pushy. Take the time to check in without seeming like you’re rushing someone; simply seeing your name may remind your clients it’s time to schedule another appointment.
Your specialty as an IFA is, in essence, personal finance. You’re in the majority if marketing isn’t your thing. As you would advise your own clients, consulting a specialist is usually the best way to go forward.
To help you figure out where you’re currently successful and where some improvement is needed, you might pay a freelancer or engage a marketing agency. This should enable you to create a professional-level investment management marketing plan.
There you have it: 13 possible marketing ideas for your IFA business. It’s now up to you to determine which of these approaches will work best for your company, based on the products and services you offer, your target market, and your budget.
When it comes time to implement these ideas, take things one step at a time. Overwhelm can quickly set in if you try to do everything at once. Remember that success seldom happens overnight; focus on building a solid foundation so that you can slowly but surely grow your business and its own financial life into something great.
Financial services marketing has gone through a dramatic shift as a result of digital transformation, bringing you closer to your customers than ever before. Getting these connections correct at each step of the consumer’s path is critical for digital marketers when it comes to financial planning marketing. Financial advisors need to focus on inbound marketing methods that attract their target market through beneficial and helpful content. Social media marketing , email marketing, and SEO are all significant in helping advisors connect with individuals who may be interested in their services.
If not, you may be missing out on key opportunities to reach a wider audience and attract new clients.
In order to stand out in the digital world, your marketing strategy must be sound. It should be built on a strong foundation that can support your long-term success .
There are many essential elements to include in your financial services marketing strategy, but these five are critical:
1) SEO-Optimized Financial Advisor Website
2) Compelling Content
3) Presence on Social Media Platforms
4) Email Marketing Strategy
5) Pay-Per-Click Advertising
Let’s take a more in-depth look at each of these essential financial advisor marketing ideas.
1) SEO-Optimized Website: In order for your site to rank high in search engine results pages (SERPs), you’ll need to make sure it’s optimized for search engine optimization (SEO). This means including relevant keywords in your site content, as well as making sure your website is mobile-friendly and loads quickly.
2) Compelling Content: Your website content needs to be interesting and informative if you want visitors to stick around. It should address the needs of your target market and provide them with valuable information. financial advisor blog is a great way to generate fresh, relevant content on a regular basis.
3) Presence on Social Media Platforms: Social media provides an excellent opportunity for financial advisory firms to connect with potential and current clients. It’s also a great way to build brand recognition and share your story and build trust with your social media followers. Make sure you’re active on the platforms that your target market is using.
4) Email Marketing Strategy: Email is a powerful marketing tool for financial services companies that can help you stay in touch with your clients and build relationships. Make sure your email marketing strategy includes a way to capture leads, as well as automated emails that keep your clients engaged.
5) Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Many financial advisors utilize this approach. Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising can be an effective way to drive traffic to your website and generate leads. When done correctly, PPC can be a cost-effective way to reach your target market.
To reach and convert financial services consumers, you need a well-defined value proposition that is effectively conveyed and backed up by digital technology. Many finance firms are adopting next-generation technologies to mitigate growing expenses and accelerated tempo pressures following COVID-19.
As a result, marketers are operating in an era of technology progress, greater technological productivity, and platform modernization. In these times of change, marketing executives must assume the position of the client and maintain these essential stakeholders at the center of every business decision.
This isn’t a one-size-fits-all case. In fact, as the preceding article demonstrates, there may be applicable lessons to be learned in the world of technology. The tech ‘platform’ architecture, for example, can also be used in the financial services sector, or retail. As outlined below, this is not limited to the business-to-consumer world, but also has applications in the business-to-business realm.
In the banking scenario, the customer journey platforms represent a customer’s encounters with financial products and services – what they want and use. While not all Core IT platforms are ‘marketing owned,’ they do enable these procedures from the client perspective.
Customer experience management and targeting are also influenced by the majority of CMS/ECM platforms, as well as public cloud services such as Amazon Web Services. This includes information from customer support channels, chatbots, social media posts, and reviews in addition to marketing data.
Streamlining these platforms’ operations so that they can operate more successfully and profitably is the goal of Digital Transformation.
Reach: To increase the number of people who are aware of your brand and understand what you do (your target market).Act: To turn prospects into leads by getting them to take action, such as subscribing to a newsletter or requesting more information.
Convert: To convert leads into customers by persuading them to buy your product or service.
Engage: To keep customers coming back by building relationships and creating loyalty. The first step is to set your overall objective, which could be anything from increasing awareness of your brand to
In the face of Digital Transformation in the financial marketing sector, I strongly recommend that you approach your financial marketing planning using the RACE Framework. RACE marketing planning allows you to review your digital marketing strategy over the entire financial customer lifecycle.
The RACE Framework is crucial to your financial marketing plan because the content and distribution methods you use will be different according to the stage of your relationship with the customer. See the below, taken from our Digital strategy success factors Learning path.
So, how can you kick-start your financial services marketing? The answer is, of course, a data-driven, strategic marketing plan. That’s what we’re here for today.
This strategy has five components and details the deliverables for each. If you believe that one area of your financial services organization is weak, you may choose to concentrate on it more, or arrange a plan that covers all five elements.
You may have heard of the term “SWOT,” but what exactly does it mean? In a nutshell, it’s a tool that helps you analyze your company. SWOT analysis compares internal strengths and vulnerabilities with external possibilities and threats in the financial sector. We also suggest that Smart Insights members utilize the TOWS resources to strategize their operations. As a financial advisor looking for prospective clients in the financial services industry, it’s important to understand your target audience.
That involves creating buyer personas, which are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customer, taking into account factors such as their age, income, location, and interests. Once you’ve created your buyer persona, you can start thinking about how to reach them through various channels. Are they more likely to read industry news online? listen to podcasts? or attend webinars?
The TOWS matrix assesses internal strengths and limitations (green) and external opportunities and threats (blue) around the edge, as well as four main boxes for developing market strategies.
It’s critical to plan your financial marketing vision and goals in tandem with your overall strategy. Keep in mind what metrics you’ll be using to track progress. The educational mnemonic VQV may assist you in defining the metrics used to rank on a volume, quality, and value basis.
REACH metrics such as unique visitors can only show you so much – whereas the bounce rate and the revenue per visit are much better indicators of the quality and value of your visitors.
However, merely recording sales volume is insufficient in assessing the success of your CONVERT marketing. The percentage conversion to sale or sales value is one way to assess the quality and value of your sales.
The true value of digital marketing becomes apparent with segmentation and targeting. The degree of precision targeting available to today’s marketer is remarkable. Consider this in the context of the customer lifecycle RACE Framework, and you’ll get a glimpse at just some of the possibilities that RACE planning opens up.
In the following scenario, segmentation and targeting may be used on marketing data throughout the customer ENGAGE experience.
You can use financial marketing ideas flux to your advantage if you have the required strategic plan in place for potential clients.
Financial services marketing is essential for any business in the industry. The process can be daunting, but if you break it down into manageable steps, you’ll be on your way to success in no time.
If you need help getting started, or would like some assistance along the way, there are digital marketing services that can help you with your financial services marketing needs.
Digital marketing for financial services is a complex and ever-changing landscape, but with the right mix of strategy, creativity, and technical know-how, your business can navigate it successfully. Keep these tips in mind as you develop your own digital marketing plan, and you’ll be well on your way to reaching your target clients and growing your business.
Marketing a company’s goods and services is required for it to develop. The financial services sector, like any other, isn’t immune to this trend. Social media has now become a permanent part of our culture, and it can be successfully utilized as a marketing tool for any certified financial planner. Financial advisors may use social media as part of their digital marketing strategy to get in front of more prospects and expand their client base.
Financial advisors are particularly interested in social media since more and more people look to it for investment advice. Don’t trust me? According to a Sysomos (a social media software provider) and Marketwired (a business news data channel) study, between 30% and 40 percent of all investors used “traditional” methods such as newspapers, analyst reports, and so on to get investment information. That means old-fashioned sources like as the newspaper are being used less and less as time goes by.
According to a recent study, about 60% of investors surveyed said they used social media information when making investment decisions.
According to a recent study from Accenture, over half of financial advisors use social media to communicate with investors on a regular basis. That means at least half of financial advisors aren’t doing it, and that’s terrible.
Even worse, 9% of investors polled by Accenture believe that investment advisors that don’t use social media would lose clients. What if I reduced your take-home pay by 9% right now? That’s exactly what’s happening, and the scariest part is that this number is only going to rise.
In terms of business and profit (which is the objective here), social media is designed for you to create leads. Financial professionals may generate leads by sending them to their financial planning services website, where they will perform whatever action they want them to do – To gain an audience of interested people, you need to spend time and effort attracting them through market research. Whether it is email marketing research like signing up for an email list, a free report, or arranging an appointment with you, it takes time and work to convert leads into customers.
That’s why it’s critical for you to get your website in order before sending out a single visitor. Don’t you clean your house before inviting guests over for supper? Well, I hope you do, but if you’re like me, cleaning is more of a “sweeping” activity than anything else.
But you don’t want visitors to conclude things like, “I couldn’t figure out what was going on” or “I had no idea what to do.” Your aim with social media is to get people to visit your website. The goal of your website is for visitors to become leads. If you can’t accomplish that, your inbound marketing machine will be a failure.
This is a frequent concern that I hear from financial advisors about social media marketing. When it comes to marketing, however, there are no hard and fast rules. Have you ever noticed that the most cringe-worthy infomercials tend to air around 3:00 a.m.? What’s going on here?
I’m not sure, but if I had to guess, I’d think that sellers in the infomercial industry are aware that people who are most likely to buy their goods are watching TV late at night and early in the morning. Maybe we have poor judgment in those early hours… who knows? So, if you’re up at 3 a.m. watching TV, you’re probably a target for them.
But what about your prospect? Here are some rules of thumb:
Take these figures with a grain of salt. I am NOT suggesting that you only post to social media during those hours because I don’t want you to do nothing. What I’m trying to say is that the best average is something.
If you’re a financial advisor that focuses on dealing with teachers, you probably don’t want to follow this advice because your target audience will be students in school at the “best times.” Use common sense and adjust your strategy to match your market.
Instead of trying to determine when is the “perfect moment” to publish, learn more about your topic.
1. Know Who You’re Targeting
You may reach millions of individuals with social media. The actual marvel of social media, on the other hand, is when you know, ahead of time, whom you want to market yourself to.
Thousands of groups exist on both Facebook and LinkedIn. These are locations where people who share a similar interest congregate. If your target market is made up of these individuals, you should spend time with them wherever they go.
Furthermore, many social media sites provide hyper-targeted advertising that can be directed to the precise kind of individual you wish to target. Someone I know sells coloring books for adults, for example. He discovered that his product’s ideal consumer was a 34-year-old woman who enjoys meditation AND yoga. Because of social media, he may utilize “layered targeting” (where he only targets individuals who like both meditation and yoga) to create an extremely targeted marketing campaign.
When you advertise, you want to concentrate your efforts. Because the more people you reach out to, the less likely it is that you’ll receive a high level of engagement. The more expensive your advertising becomes if you don’t achieve high levels of engagement.
2. Engage with others and respond to prospects’ queries.
Social media is never actually “off,” so if you only log in once a month, you’re losing out as an investment management advisor. If you continue to post interesting stuff related to financial life and financial goals on social media, you must keep track of how people react and provide comments.
If you’re doing social media “properly,” it’ll naturally lead to real connections. I don’t mean taking pictures of every meal or Snapchatting everything you do all the time. What I’m talking about is informing the world about your company’s progress – have there been any recent successes, obstacles, dips, or accolades? Viral marketing refers to content that people are so compelled by they can’t help but share it with their social media networks.
Furthermore, having a strong social media presence helps to enhance brand loyalty. According to a research by Texas Tech University, companies that are active on social media have more devoted consumers because they are constantly engaging and interacting with them.
3. Leverage any charitable functions, events or press.
as part of your marketing strategies, post it on social media if you’re organizing a charity event, attending a large trade show, or offering your services at a good cause. You could even be featured in the news depending on the time and place.
Please avoid getting involved with charities simply for exposure, however. When you don’t seem genuine, people can tell. I think it’s the correct thing to do and that people can see my enthusiasm when I volunteer to provide low-income schools with supplies and resources.
If you are selected by a news organization (assuming it’s for something good), share the news on social media. This is referred to as “newsjacking,” and it helps to draw attention to you.
4. Learn about your prospects, clients, and competitors.
You may learn a lot about other people by looking into their lives on social media. Whether it’s the young lady photographing her expensive Starbucks beverage or your neighbor with the Mercedes S-Class (you’re not sure what he does for a living…), all of these networks provide us with a look into others’ values and activities.
When you understand your prospects and clients better, you can come up with more talking points for when you speak with them. It also allows you to stay ahead of them during their non-phone interactions or visits to your facility.
In the identical way that financial advisors can get information about their prospects and clients, they may also find out about their competitors. Is one of your rivals performing well on social media? Is it apparent that his or her postings receive a lot of engagement while yours are icy cold? When this occurs, you should take time to think about what they’re doing differently than you.
When it comes to generating leads, social media is only one piece of the puzzle. Once you figure out which subject areas are effective for your target audience, you can apply that knowledge to other channels like your website, direct mail pieces, email marketing, and more. Because if someone connects with your niche on one platform, they’re likely to do so across others as well.
Take a look at what they have on their Facebook page, who they follow, who follows them, and which of their postings are most popular. This will assist you in determining what is working for your competitors and why they’re successful with social media.
5. Use it for content distribution.
The real power of social media is its scalability. If you have relevant content, you may reach thousands of people quickly. You can showcase your products and services in your content such as investment advisor tips, personal finance tips, financial planning needs, exchange traded funds, etc.
You don’t need a large audience to advertise on Facebook. If you’re looking to promote an article about preparing for retirement in your fifties, you can simply target it exclusively to people in their fifties using Facebook advertising. You might also share that material with those who already follow, like, or connect with you. This has never been done before.
LinkedIn’s coolness factor is through the roof thanks to Pulse. If you’re unfamiliar, Pulse is a LinkedIn publishing platform that allows users to create their own articles. It’s what you see when you click the “publish a post” button in your status update. Because it enables individuals to show off their knowledge to interested audiences, Pulse stands out in social media.
Sending clients from social media to their email opt-in page is one of the most helpful things financial advisers are doing right now. This works well because it draws people away from “rented land” (after all, you don’t control social media) and onto “owned land” (because you DO control your email list).
Using social media for content distribution is extremely advantageous since it allows your prospects to sample your message in a variety of locations. Continuing with the email example, the prospect may receive an email from you in the morning and see you every night when they log into their social networks. This excels at creating market familiarity.
The second reason to use a video in your email campaign is that, after the first few days, it will have raised awareness and gained interest. As a result, this allows you to overcome doubt and skepticism. Because a prospect may start by interacting with you on social media but then avoid contacting you directly because of suspicion. However, once he or she sees your website, joins your email list, and so on, they are more inclined to accept you as genuine.
6. Pay attention to your company’s social media policies.
I’m not going to lie to you: many financial firms are far behind in terms of social media. It baffles me that some of these businesses still operate in the stone age. However, if you work for one of these firms, you must follow their rules.
For example, many businesses have strict restrictions on LinkedIn recommendations. That’s a good policy since it avoids the appearance of a testimonial. Another issue is that you can’t create, publish, or advertise content.
Certain businesses only allow you to post material from a pre-approved library of content. It’s monotonous, and I get tired of seeing the same old boring status updates from advisors who work for these firms. If that’s the business you picked, you must comply.
7. Don’t forget about your bottom line.
Okay, enough with the cute stuff. Let’s get down to the nitty-gritty.
I believe this is the most crucial advice since financial advisors will be using social media for commercial purposes in this context. And, if this is the case, making money is the objective.
“Building a community” is appealing, but being profitable is preferable. You’re doing it wrong if you’re solely concerned with metrics like new likes, comments, reach, and so on. You can’t deposit “likes” at the bank. This is what you should concentrate on when it comes to social media:
That’s pretty much it. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have difficulties obtaining a positive return on your social media efforts. But I’m not going to feed you a bunch of smoke and mirrors; ultimately, you need to know how many leads you can produce and whether or not you’re profitable at that cost per lead.
Let’s assume you’re running a Facebook ad right now and directing people to a piece of content with an opt-in form so that they can book a meeting with you. Let’s also suppose that each click costs you 50 cents and that out of every 40 clicks, one person books an appointment. Now let’s do some arithmetic…
To begin with, most financial advisers are largely unengaged on social media. The few who utilize social media are killing it.
I’ve noticed that many financial advisors seek to cater to the needs of everyone on social media. For example, they will post content regarding budgeting, saving, retirement planning, and so on that applies to everyone. This method is ineffective in driving change.
The key to making social media effective for financial advisors (and work really well) is to focus on a specific topic and interact with those who are interested. Because it is simple, it may appear as such.
Imagine a financial adviser who has 5,000 connections on LinkedIn but no specialty. That advisor may talk about general things all day long and may or may not get any attention.
Compare that to a financial advisor who focuses solely on teachers and has only 2,500 connections on LinkedIn. If the above financial advisor publishes a blog post about “7 Retirement Mistakes Teachers Make,” he or she will receive far more engagement and appointments as a result of that material.
By the way, you don’t have to share your stuff and interact with other people on social media in order for it to work. I’m aware of certain businesses that prohibit that sort of participation. The key is to select a market and go where the market congregates.
It’s not about being an “influencer” on social media. It’s not about generating goodwill or providing “value!”… no matter what the social media goliaths tell you. For financial advisors, social media is all about locating prospects and getting them to set appointments with you. Period. You should have your social media accounts in place to make that happen.
Financial professionals are always looking for new ways to attract clients and grow their business. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a great way to do this.
Using SEO, investment advisors may achieve a lot of benefits. It’s an effective digital marketing strategy since it may help you outperform other financial planning services in search results. It’s low-cost because it may bring people to your site who would otherwise pay hundreds if they saw the commercials to achieve their financial goals.
This is the most crucial stage. The lifeblood of search engines are keywords. When looking for a financial advisor, potential customers do the same thing by inputting keywords into their search bar.
Market research is important for any business, but it’s especially crucial for companies that rely on the web.
In my opinion, the following two metrics are the most crucial for keyword analysis: Volume and keyword difficulty.
Here’s an example for you:
Volume and keyword difficulty results for “investment advisor dallas”.
In this case, the most-searched term is “financial advisor Dallas,” with 170 searches per month and a keyword difficulty of 55.68, which means it shouldn’t be too difficult to rank for that keyword.
Keep in mind that keywords with a low keyword difficulty are usually easier to rank for. For example, if I was new to SEO and wanted to aim for 60 or below, that’s the first place I’d start.
Because many SEO specialists consider keyword complexity to be an important ranking signal, it’s unlikely that you’re one. Leave that work to the experts.
It’s critical to get the low-hanging fruit out of the way in order to build some SEO juice. I’m going to show you a keyword for “financial advisor Chicago” in this example, since the term is more difficult to rank for in Chicago than Dallas. As you can see, financial advisor keywords are tougher to rank for in Chicago than Dallas — and it’ll take additional effort if your keyword difficulty rating is higher.
Results for a financial advisor who wants to rank for “financial planners chicago” in terms of volume and difficulty.
Advisors have used the “content is king” concept to an unhealthy degree throughout the last decade, but it’s true: The internet belongs to content, and the objective of a search engine is to organize and distribute relevant material.
You want to incorporate your chosen keywords into your content in order to show the search engine that it’s relevant. However, don’t make your page jam-packed with keywords; this is known as “keyword stuffing,” and search engines can penalize you for it. Instead, concentrate on offering well-written material that incorporates a few natural but strategically positioned keywords.
Write your own material, but if you can’t, don’t be cheap. You may either spend a few dollars per click or $100 to $300 for an excellent piece that will continue to deliver and attract visitors over time. If you want to succeed, you must play the long game.
SEO needs material. The fundamental SEO principle is the use of keywords, and content is a useful way to utilize keywords. Writing relevant, valuable content for real people with genuine value who just so happen to use your keywords is what great content marketing is all about.
I am going to be honest about it, because it works.
Well, it’s back to the old slogan that I’ve been hearing for a while now: “high-quality content.” Everything has to be white hat, or high quality, for search engine updates in the future. Take my word for it: Those who try to game the system are inevitably crushed.
Another SEO principle is obtaining backlinks. Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They inform search engines that another site believes your material is valuable enough to link to it, indicating authority and allowing you to rank higher.
The quality of your backlink is directly related to how relevant the linking site is. That’s why it’s not a good idea to spam websites and directories with irrelevant links.
In general, search engines prefer natural connections formed over time rather than hundreds of low-quality backlinks. You don’t want to make thousands of low-quality backlinks or purchase them.
The internet has been a wild west since its inception, and scammers have always tried everything to get around it –– from link farms to purchasing other domains, to hidden links. Search engines, on the other hand, are getting smarter every day.
Google has stated that one of the signals utilized by its algorithm to rank pages is site speed. As a result, if your website is sluggish to load, it might have an impact on your rankings. Brand loyalty is essential for success, and people are more likely to be loyal to a brand that provides a good user experience. Online marketing strategies should focus on providing a positive user experience, which can be achieved by having a fast website.
A recent study showed that 40% of internet users will leave a page if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load. If you want to keep your visitors on your site and improve your SEO, you need to make sure your website is loading quickly.
A meta description is a short description of a website that appears as a preview in search engines. It’s made up of an HTML tag, which search engines display as a preview.
Meta descriptions are essential since they encourage visitors to click on your material. Financial advisors may enhance their SEO by creating click-worthy meta descriptions, as search engines consider you more worthy of higher ranks if more individuals click on your content.
Here are some pointers on writing better meta descriptions:
Additionally, make certain your descriptions and content match; you don’t want to mislead someone into clicking on your link, since they will click and bounce back swiftly, which is bad for rankings.
I’m about to share something that will revolutionize the way you “do SEO” and significantly decrease your learning curve. If you’re serious, I recommend that you read this carefully and take action.
This is an awesome way to get links quickly.
Consider what you could learn from your competition’s backlinks. Consider this: You’ve already done the hard work; all you have to do now is look at their links and see whether they’re worth your time.
Replicating your competition’s backlinks takes a lot of the legwork out of SEO and link building. It’s also simple for a novice to do. Here’s how to do it in three easy steps.
To begin, type in your chosen term and retrieve the URLs for the top results of a search. Simply conduct a Google search and keep track of each URL that comes up.
In this example, I looked for “financial advisor Chicago” and got these results. (I highlighted the link I investigated!). Checking the top search results for the keyword and selecting the best option.
I use SEMrush to research competitor backlinks since it’s the simplest tool to use and it provides a lot of data.
Putting one of the search results into SEMrush to get competitor data.
Here’s what I see after I research their backlinks:
I scrolled down to the bottom of the search results page and found a list of backlinks relating to the URL I had chosen. I clicked on the first link just to see what would happen. D3 Financial Counselors were included in a list of top financial advisors in Chicago, as I discovered. It’s fantastic!
Now, all that’s left is to go through each of the links one at a time.
Keep a running list of everything you do and who you email, and make sure to keep track of it all. I recommend using a CRM like Capsule so that you may see what works and what doesn’t.
Finally, don’t count on this approach. The goal of link building is to surpass your rivals, not just keep up with them.
Even if you manage to acquire every single one of their connections, which is unlikely, you must obtain links from sources that your rivals do not have.
It was simpler to get away with quantity rather than quality in the early days of SEO. Google might reward you with more exposure if you published a blog article on a daily basis, for example, based on the amount of material you produced — but those days are long gone.
Google now values quality, and your website will be penalized if it contains outdated or low-value material. If you fill your financial advisor’s website with blogs that don’t attract visitors or result in appointments, follow Schulte’s example: perform a content cleanup.
Keeping it clean is key. According to Stephen, most bloggers find that if they just take a close look at their site and delete anything that isn’t directed toward their target market or isn’t good, they can free up enough time in the day so they don’t feel like they’re working seven days a week.
With your existing blog material, the next stage is to refresh and combine it. What can you do to make your blog even more useful? Here are some suggestions for how you may enhance your blog:
Don’t forget to update the dates on your blogs after you’ve optimized them. If you wrote a blog in 2016 and haven’t updated it, Google won’t see the difference, and Google likes to see progress before giving you SEO credit.
Next, you should combine any blogs that would be more effective together than apart. A lot of financial advisors are blind to the fact that you may cannibalize your material by following arbitrary restrictions on how many blogs you should produce and what you should write about.
Schulte understands the significance of a successful website, and he’s spent more than $50,000 in the last six years improving it. I’m not suggesting you do this, but you should reconsider your website, especially the homepage; in fact, he claims that’s when you should start.
You can include CTAs after showcasing your services such as, financial planning needs, exchange traded funds, financial life,
Your website’s home page is the first thing potential clients see, so inform them who you are and how you can assist them right away. When you arrive at Schulte’s company website, for example, “Retirement Planning For People Over Age 50,” is the first thing you notice. He then informs you that he can assist with tax reduction, financial expertise, and income optimization.
When your SEO and marketing efforts attract the clients you need, it’s time to expand your company. That’s where your call-to-action comes in handy.
You should have only one clear CTA on your homepage for your desired next step — not three, ten, or even thirty. It’s simply a single task. Whether it’s joining your mailing list, making a call, or downloading a lead magnet, the goal is to make it as simple as possible for visitors and potential clients to do so.
Typically, CTAs on financial advisor websites include things like “see more,” “contact us,” or “make a appointment.” That isn’t very appealing, is it? Those buttons appear on a lot of other websites, so prospects are unlikely to pay attention to them.
In one fell swoop, you can improve your CTA and eliminate customers who aren’t interested in doing business with you. It’s a win-win situation.
Your website needs proper titling and descriptions on the backend.
You’ll also want to give your website a name and describe it — this way, search engines will know who you are, what you do, and when to display your website to people that search for the keywords you rank for.
We previously discussed meta descriptions, so let’s look at other strategies you may use to connect your online presence with search engines.
There are two ways you can do this:
It’s not the end of the world if WordPress doesn’t host your website. Website builders like Wix or Squarespace make it simple to modify titles and descriptions frequently.
Inbound marketing for financial advisors isn’t complete without a social media presence. Why? It’s where your potential clients are spending time.
Even in the financial services sector, having a vague social media presence might harm your brand and put you at a disadvantage.
Because correlation does not equal causation, I didn’t include this as one of the suggestions. The idea is that content shared a lot on social media is perceived to be more valuable by search engines. However, Google has repeatedly denied using social media signals for SEO ranking purposes. Furthermore, social networking sites employ nofollow links, which provide zero link juice.
Viral marketing refers to the creation and sharing of content on social media with the goal of getting users to take a desired action. This could be anything from visiting your website to making a purchase.
You can use a number of growth hacking techniques to increase traffic to your website. Schulte applied a simple but effective strategy: He reached out to popular bloggers in his industry and asked if they would be willing to write about him.
In any case, you should encourage sharing and organic traffic by posting high-quality information on social media.
The advent of the internet has given rise to a wealth of information on the web. Because of all the data available, digital marketing should play an important role in your business efforts so that you don’t fall behind. As a financial advisor, utilizing digital marketing can help you connect with thousands of consumers and interact with them to develop loyalty. If you’re stumped about what to do or how to begin, here are 10 excellent and simple digital marketing tactics that can assist you get started!
Google My Business (GMB) is a free service provided by Google. When someone searches for you, this is the profile that appears on the right side of the page. The profile includes things like contact information, location, hours of operation, and so on. It’s critical to have a GMB listing if you want to be discovered on Google. Not only does it increase visibility but it also helps build consumer trust. Brands that show up on Google are 2.7 times more likely to be considered reputable by consumers. When you hire a virtual assistant, it’s important to remember that GMB is simply the link between you and your potential consumers.
When it comes to content marketing, there’s an infinite number of options. From filming videos to publishing blogs, you have a virtually limitless selection of material to create. You may educate your target audience and demonstrate your skills in the field with content production and promotion. Furthermore, by producing content, you may utilize SEO methods to improve the amount of people that visit your site. This is without a doubt one of the most effective methods for increasing the number of visitors to your site!
Social media is an essential component of a digital marketing strategy, and you can’t discuss one without the other. One of the best inbound marketing techniques is social media because you may reach a large audience and interact with your consumers. It’s crucial to establish a marketing strategy if you’re just getting started. Consider what platforms you’ll use, how you’d want to be seen, what you’d like to post, when you’d want to post it, and so on. When it comes to utilizing social media for marketing, there are four major steps:
Email marketing is an excellent method to connect with your audience. One thing to keep in mind about email marketing, though, is that the more personal you are, the better.
Conduct a market research survey to understand what your target market’s needs and wants are.
The best financial advisors can have a long-term impact on your subscribers by segmenting them and sending them targeted emails if you tailor your message specifically for each group. If you see a section of your email subscribers checking out your retirement planning site, send them a tailored email with retirement pointers. You can do this with other aspects of financial life such as exchange traded funds, personal finance, financial planning needs, investment advice etc.
According to HubSpot’s marketers, segmented campaigns have resulted in a 760 percent boost in email revenue. While utilizing email marketing, keep in mind that your subject line must be effective, that you should send your emails during working hours, and that you should utilize email service providers such as AWeber, Constant Contact, and MailChimp.
A hosting webinars or courses is a fantastic method to demonstrate your knowledge and attract a large number of people, allowing you to accomplish two chores with one stone. It’s an excellent approach to truly connect with your consumers, develop brand loyalty, and start getting conversions about financial goals. However, it’s critical that if you do decide to host webinars that you do so correctly. Here are some things to consider while holding your session:
Who doesn’t like receiving stuff for free? Free consultations are a fantastic method to get new clients for your financial advisor business. At the end of the day, people want information, and if you’ve been able to establish yourself as an expert or authority using methods such as content marketing, email marketing, webinars, and so on. You can provide things like free consultations, whitepapers, ebooks, and so on. People will tend to not only like you more but also tell other people about you if you give these presents. If you get something for free, will you inform your pals about it? Take a look at Twenty Over Ten’s client North Pointe Wealth Management. You may see that they provide a free consultation and include this CTA on their homepage.
The financial services industry, for example XYPN, NAPFA, FPA, and others are excellent sources of lead generation and referrals. It’s all about getting your name out there, so see if you can get your contact information and website listed on their directories. If you’re able to collaborate with organizations like these, people will be more inclined to discover you. As the saying goes, cooperation makes the dream come true.
Getting more visitors to your site is as simple as improving your SEO. It may appear to be a difficult job, but with a few modifications and/or additions to your marketing plan, you can expect to see your ranks improve. First and foremost, it’s critical that you keep publishing on a regular basis. Blogging is the ideal method to establish yourself as a thought leader in your field; there’s no better approach than that. However, the more you blog, the more material you’ll provide to Google and let it know you exist, which may have a significant influence on your rankings. Adding images to your website is also a fantastic method to improve your SEO. Furthermore, if at all possible, use real photos rather than stock photographs. You have a better chance of ranking higher if you show that your business is run by real people. Look at Twenty Over Ten client Quest Financial Services to see who the team members are.
The fourth approach to improve your organic SEO is to enhance the speed of your website. If Google sees that your loading speed is too slow and hurts your rankings, it will be able to do so. Even if you do manage to rank near the top with a sluggish loading speed, your visitors will undoubtedly depart. If a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load, 40% of people will abandon it.
We know what you’re thinking: I thought this list was going to be a piece of cake! Isn’t it true that video isn’t simple? Well, you are incorrect. We promise that video doesn’t have to be difficult to make. Contrary to popular belief, all you need is your smartphone. Investment advisors should consider video marketing in their marketing campaigns if they have yet. As an investment advisor, if you aren’t persuaded, listen up: globally, YouTube users watch 3.25 billion hours of video every month on average (April 2017).That’s a lot of video, and it only goes to show why this material format should be a top priority for your company. In fact, 60% more consumers choose videos than PDFs over the long term. Not only does video benefit your clients; it also benefits you since videos drive considerably more traffic, interaction, and lead conversions.
Finally, it’s critical that you concentrate on providing a great mobile experience for your clients. Customers will leave your site if it isn’t mobile-friendly. These people will also be less likely to tell their friends about you. It isn’t sufficient to have a well-designed PC website anymore.
While the financial planning services industry is very tightly regulated, there are still many ways for you to differentiate your financial institution. If you really want to succeed in this environment, it’s critical that you do so. If you can find a way to make your company stand out from the rest, people will be more likely to use your investment management services.
Is your financial planning services company leveraging social media effectively? If you aren't, your rivals are stealing business from you.
The sector is changing rapidly in financial services, from the growth of cryptocurrency to the development of fintech apps to the creation of robo-advisors. As the financial services industry becomes increasingly digital, social media marketing is becoming more essential as a tool for promotion.
Even if your financial institution is more traditional, social media is an important way to reach younger customers. And you need to be ready for what's next. By 2026, 75% of financial services executives predict big changes in the sector, according to Gartner.
Here’s why (and how) to build a financial services social media strategy this year.
Gen Z is looking for financial knowledge on social media. This year, the oldest members of this group will be 25 years old. And they're reaching important milestones that need financial guidance. 70% of them already save for retirement.
Every month, around a quarter of 16-to-24-year-olds visit a financial services website or app. A cryptocurrency is owned by 10% of this age group.
Social media is a vital channel for connecting with potential consumers, whether you're marketing to Generation Z or not. More than three-quarters (75.4 percent) of internet users use social media for brand market research. In order to gain brand loyalty, you must be where your target clients are spending their time--and that's on social media. Showcase your products and services through inbound marketing techniques to convince people to choose you to chase their financial goals.
For financial sector employees, building connections is one of the most important uses of social media. When it comes to money, everyone wants to deal with someone they know and can trust.
As a certified financial planner, showcase the range of services you provide such as investment management, exchange traded funds, business strategy, retirement planning that will benefit financial life.
Social selling is the practice of nurturing clients and prospects online. Here's a quick rundown on how it works:
The use of social media can assist marketers in recognizing crucial financial events in their clients' and prospects' lives. LinkedIn is an excellent source for job changes or retirement announcements, for example. Following your client's company pages may also provide you with valuable information on their problems.
Nonetheless, most social selling is about establishing connections. Sales are a more long-term objective.
Send a congratulations message when a connection gets a new job or opens a new business. (Nearly 95 percent of social media experts use some type of direct communication.)
Keep yourself in people's thoughts. However, don't go leaping in and attempting to sell anything. On social media, nearly a quarter of Internet users follow a company they're thinking of buying from. They want to observe and follow for a while before making a decision.
Focus on the client's requirements rather than making a sale.
Financial services firms must now demonstrate that they are more than simply profit-driven.
According to a poll by Edelman Trust Barometer, 64% of respondents invest based on beliefs and values. And 88 percent of institutional investors “subject ESG issues to the same level of analysis as operational and financial factors.”
Younger investors are particularly drawn to sustainable investing. According to a CNBC Harris Poll, a third of millennials, 19% of Gen Z, and 16% of Generation X "often or exclusively" utilize ESG-focused investments.
The findings were the same in North America and Europe, where three-quarters of millennial investors said that they believe it is part of their investing duty to help resolve social issues.
Over the last decade, trust in the financial services industry has improved. However, it is still the least trusted industry, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. You may establish trust and address client concerns by using social media.
Customers are looking for reputable financial advisors. That does not imply that they want their financial services providers to be clinical and clinical. Using social media, you have the ability to humanize your brand.
Getting your company's executives onto social media might be a good place to start. After all, it's easier to trust someone than an institution.
Potential clients want to see your C-suite executives on social media. Business leaders should use social media, according to 86 percent of financial magazine readers. They trust CEOs who utilize social media by a factor of 6 to 1 over those who do not.
Of course, the tone you use will be determined by the network you're using and the target audience you're trying to appeal to.
The average advisor uses 4 social networks, with the most successful using 6. From LinkedIn to Facebook, financial professionals are also inceasingly using Instagram and TikTok.
Use social media for financial services industry research. This is a fantastic method to stay on top of what's going on in your business area.
Viral marketing refers to the use of social media to spread awareness about a product or service. A study from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) found that companies that focus on viral marketing are 5.7 times more likely to experience rapid growth. As a financial advisor ,you can use social media to go viral.
Is there a new product from a competitor? Is there an impending PR disaster on the horizon? Consider social media as an early indication of trouble.
Social media monitoring can tell you what's going on in the world. Here's how it works:
You may also utilize social listening to figure out what your potential consumers want from you and how they use your product or service.
Also, keep an eye on your social media analytics. These technologies give you information about the effectiveness of your own social efforts. You can figure out what works best for you. Then, as you refine your financial service customer social media marketing plan along the way, adapt it to suit them.
Most social efforts are most effective when departments, teams, and individual advisors collaborate to use social media. This is almost certainly the case with a shared social media management platform.
A content library is both a useful tool for staff and a profitable business asset. Employees have access to pre-approved, compliant material that is ready to go. When employees express consistent messaging that supports corporate objectives, marketers enjoy peace of mind.
Everything is housed in one main library, so there's no extra work or money spent. The top two fears of financial advisors regarding utilizing social media are addressed through this pre-approved library:
As the financial industry becomes increasingly digital, customer service needs to follow suit. Your digital marketing strategy should make it convenient for customers wanting to reach out to businesses on the platforms where they already spend their time. That might imply social networking sites like Facebook or social messaging apps such as WhatsApp.
A social customer care platform allows you to handle customer service across all channels. At the same time, you may connect conversations to your CRM. This helps guarantee that you fulfill response-time standards and keep track of things.
You may also use social media bots to handle simple customer service inquiries or send visitors to existing content on your website. Bots can also be used to filter incoming requests, matching customers with the appropriate members of your customer care staff.
Simply said, social media has an impact on your bottom line in a tangible way.
According to a recent study, almost three-quarters of financial advisors (74%) have gained new business assets through their social media efforts. Advisors that use social media effectively report an average of $1.9 million in assets acquired as a result of social media interactions.
According to the findings of Deloitte's 2018 Global 2022 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, young people's confidence in their personal financial situations is increasing. While both of these generations are still concerned about their financial stability, they are nevertheless pessimistic.
At the same time, the Natixis Global Survey of Individual Investors found that 40% of millennials—and 46% of high-net-worth millennials—aim to get personal financial guidance from a professional. Connecting with these potential customers on social media is a fantastic method to reach out to them.
The multitude of regulatory bodies and frameworks—including FINRA, FCA, FFIEC, IIROC, SEC, PCI, AMF, GDPR—can make your head spin.
It's crucial to have compliance procedures and technologies in place, particularly for independent advisors who use social media.
As you build your financial services social media plan, get the attention of your compliance staff. They'll have important pointers on how to keep your brand safe.
It's critical to have the appropriate chain of approvals in place for all social media postings. FINRA, for example, advises:
“Before using any social media site, a registered principal must check it out.”
Compliance is a broad term that encompasses many aspects of your company's operations. This, too, is part of compliance, but it's significant enough to merit its own mention.
According to FINRA, “Firms and their registered representatives must keep records of all communications related to their 'commercial operations.'” Those records must be kept for at least three years.
In a social media audit, you keep track of all of your company's social media platforms in one location. You also include any relevant information for each. At the same time, you'll look for impostor or unauthorized accounts to have them deleted.
Begin by making a list of the accounts your internal staff utilize on a regular basis. But keep in mind that this is just a starting point. You'll need to search for obsolete or abandoned accounts, as well as department-specific ones.
Make a list of all the social networks where you don't have any social accounts, while you're at it. It's possible that it's time to create profiles there. (Anyone using TikTok?) Even if you aren't ready to use those tools yet, you may wish to reserve your brand handles for future usage.
We developed a free social media audit template to assist you in keeping all of your research organized as you go through this project.
A social media policy governs the use of social media within your company. This covers, among other things, your advisors and agents' accounts.
All of these individuals and teams should be contacted, including but not limited to:
All these teams should have input. This will help you maintain a consistent brand identity while reducing compliance challenges.
Your policy will also describe team roles and approval procedures so everyone is on the same page when it comes to posting on social media. This clarity from the start might help to avoid people getting angry if things don't happen as quickly as they'd like on social media.
Even in the finance industry, using social media for commercial purposes can have security concerns. Include a section in your social media policy that details security standards for less-sexy aspects of social networking. For example, set guidelines on how often passwords should be changed and whether software should be upgraded on a regular basis.
When it comes to social media, the finance industry has unique concerns when it comes to investment advisors. However, by being clear about these concerns from the start and setting standards for security and privacy, financial companies can use social media to reach new audiences and connect with customers on a human level.
There are many successful examples of financial companies using social media campaigns to engage with customers , increase brand recognition, and build trust
