You’re confident that you could assist more people grow their wealth and plan for retirement if only everyone could be reached. But, in all honesty, digital marketing leaves you perplexed. We’re here to assist you. 

Boost your ROI right now with these proven digital marketing techniques for financial advisors.

1. Branding

What exactly is branding, anyhow? It informs consumers and prospects about what they can anticipate from your goods and services. Your prospects have hundreds if not thousands of alternatives to choose from ranging from full-service brokerages to registered investment advisors (RIAs). What distinguishes you from the competition must be at the heart of your financial advisor marketing plan. Your branding must explain to a potential client why they should select you over some other financial services companies. It should also show why YOU are a better match for the client than a large brokerage like Charles Schwab. Similarly, it should demonstrate how an automated digital investment app like Wealthfront or Betterment can’t provide the same level of service as an expert advisor in the financial services industry. Even prospects who use Robo advisors need to consult with a professional about more complicated financial topics such as taxes or estate planning.

Experience

When it comes to choosing expertise while financial planning, trust is extremely important. This may be achieved by stressing your years of expertise, the amount of clients you have assisted, and the educational backgrounds of your staff. Furthermore, if you’re an independent company, giving a history of your organization and the advantages of working with a small firm might also assist.

A Niche Market

Surely you know a certain type of customer that you excel at. That might be corporate executives’ wealth management or local millworkers’ retirement planning, for example. Other advisors specialize in the healthcare field, while others cater to millennials who work in tech. A specialty distinguishes you from the competition.

Credentials

Your staff is also well-trained. Everyone on your team has obtained the required licenses, such as Series 7, 66, or even more advanced credentials like the CFP® and CFA®. Include them in your marketing campaign for financial advisors. Demonstrate to possible clients what your team can do and how credentials help solve their issues. Part of setting your brand is keeping your content up to date and consistent. This includes both online and print materials as well as various social media platforms. For example, a user who arrives at your LinkedIn page should see the same branding as a client who receives a postcard or visits your website. Brand recognition and the impression that clients have of you and your services are aided by this consistency. Visuals, photos, and infographics should be used in digital material. Keywords and phrases should also be used in the content. It’s also critical that they’re clearly understood, with relevant keywords and phrases included for SEO purposes.

2. Content Marketing

Understand Your Target Market

To be successful, your financial advisor marketing ideas must first be defined. Once you’ve determined who they are, concentrate entirely on them. Many inexperienced planners believe that their marketing efforts need to appeal to everyone. Instead, consider focusing on a certain kind of customer. The fact is that attempting to please everyone frequently leads to nothing being accomplished. Customers nowadays have access to the entire world at their fingertips, and they want answers as to why they should buy your product. They want to know what you’re doing for them. You may personalize this by creating content that emphasizes how your items and services help your consumers.

What Matters to Customers

Digital and mobile alternatives are becoming increasingly essential. Modern wealth management software such as Robinhood is gaining a lot of traction, especially among Millennials and Gen Zers. Customers like to have control over their money. According to The Financial Brand, “42 percent of 18-21 year-olds include mobile banking capability in their top three choices, as do nearly as many 21-37 year-olds (37%). Mobile is also important to less than a third of 38-52 year-olds but just under 20% of those aged 71 or older.” The second option is to use one of these terms to describe a product or service. As a result, you’ll want plenty of alternatives for your customers to select from. Furthermore, if you’re a huge wealth management business, you might consider developing a distinct digital brand. Although Goldman Sachs has fallen out of favor with younger generations, the fintech platform Marcus has become quite popular among millennials.

Younger Consumers – Build trust

According to a recent study, Generation Z is less trusting than preceding generations. To gain their confidence, your wealth management content marketing should prioritize educating customers and building yourself as a financial mentor.

Financial Advisors Website Content Must Be Useful

The content on your financial advisor website must be useful to the reader. That’s because if you’re not providing value, you’re not going to convert a website visitor into a client. So what sort of content should you include? Your target market will help you determine that. But in general, blog posts, infographics, eBooks, and whitepapers are all excellent choices. You can also use your content to capture leads by requiring an email address to access certain types of content.

3. Social Media Marketing

You’re probably aware that social media is a fantastic tool for promoting your business and increasing awareness. Did you also know, however, that it’s one of the most efficient methods for attracting new consumers? Many aspects of social media make it perfect for offering clients with a customized version of your financial advisor marketing message. On-brand postings on social networking sites may help you appeal to potential new customers by reinforcing your message. However, because of stringent compliance standards set by FINRA and the SEC, social media interaction might be a difficult field for a financial advisor. Keep an eye (and generic) on all likes, shares, and comments since they may be interpreted as implied investment advice. The Professional Conduct Standard states that advisors must have a “reasonable basis to believe” that a recommendation is appropriate for a client based on the customer’s investment profile. Because everyone with internet access may theoretically read any public social media account, advisers are not permitted to provide investment advice. Despite these limitations, there are several effective strategies to integrate social media into your financial advisor marketing tool belt:

• Use great hashtags that match your content. Some could be #retirement #wealthmanagement #financialadvisor #financialwellness. Simply search these hashtags for relevant topic ideas. 
• Share information about your articles, events, and webcasts.
• Share third party information like those on other financial blogs.
• Showcase your thought leadership to your social media followers.
• Social selling.

For more expert recommendations, have a look at our comprehensive guide to social media for financial services.

Social Selling

Simply stated, social selling is the practice of establishing relationships, usually via social media, as part of the sales process. Early in the purchasing process, social selling allows potential customers to establish a relationship with you. According to the data, it is effective:

• Social sellers outperform peers who don’t use social by 72%.
• Teams that leverage social media see a 21% increase in pipeline velocity.
• There is 33% less churn from customers acquired via social selling.

4. Email Marketing

Email marketing is a crucial component of any financial advisor marketing plan, allowing you to stay connected with current and potential clients. Regular newsletters allow you to create continual touchpoints, and email may also be used to cross-sell relevant financial products. If that sounds like something you don’t want to deal with, don’t worry. There are businesses out there who can assist you in automating these marketing activities. You may also gather information from these tools and services in order to assess open rates, click rates, and other vital statistics. This data will assist you in following up with interested prospects, resulting in greater AUM over time.

Newsletters

You may use email marketing to inform clients about the finance business and how your customers are affected. Here are some tips for improving your newsletter:

• Exclude anything that isn’t relevant to your company and other sources. The objective isn’t to promote your own items and services; the goal is for you to give your visitors with informative and helpful content.
• By segmenting your audience based on age or subject, you may send distinct emails to various sorts of investors. Millennial investors have different demands from those who are retired. If you have a big client list or run a large business, this is critical.
• Communicate frequently, particularly during times of uncertainty such as the COVID-19 epidemic. Let your clients know that you are available to talk about their issues, and that you are taking measures to safeguard their accounts.
• Keep in touch during the good times! Send birthday or holiday cards as well (also for obscure holidays like “Star Wars Day”). These communications demonstrate your clients that you care about the connection and may be automated, saving you valuable time.

Cross-Selling

For cross-selling financial services, email is ideal. Use your list to:

• Promote portfolio management to retirement account holders (and vice-versa).
• Educate consumers about alternative options for progressing life stages. Create awareness of annuities as people approach retirement, for example.
• Cross-sell retirement accounts, i.e. Annuities to IRAs.

Consider starting to publicize your wealth management services before new clients open an account if you work for a bank. When these prospective customers are ready to invest, you’ll be at the top of their minds.

5. Podcasts

A podcast presence is necessary in any financial advisor marketing plan. Over the last several years, podcasts have grown increasingly popular. By 2019, 70% of Americans will be familiar with podcasts, and 51 percent of people will listen to one. Podcasts are an excellent component of financial adviser marketing. It’s simple to get started, and with a little investment, you can do it yourself (DIY) or hire someone to assist. They also give another great touchpoint that is useful for the listener. People also believe that you are talking directly to them when they’re on the move or doing the dishes. A podcast is an excellent way to develop trust with existing and potential customers by sharing your knowledge and experience. Send email invites to webcasts and tweet about it. You may then transcribe a podcast and publish it as a blog article, giving you content for several mediums at once. These may also be shared on your social media sites.

6. Blogging

Many financial advisors appear to be the same to everyone. Many financial advisors provide similar services and have the same outward appearance. Using a blog as one of the pillars of your financial advisor marketing can help unify your branding and distinguish your offerings.

Further Details About Market Insights

The capacity to dig deep on a chosen topic is another feature of blogging that makes it so valuable. You might study the market as a whole or focus on how one stock is performing. Clients also enjoy hearing about recent developments at your financial institution. It’s essential to highlight these elements:

• The key to success is through your connections. Networking events or speaking engagements that assist clients in improving their skills.
• How you’re staying on top of things during uncertain times.
• Charitable events that your organization is involved in.

Customer-Centric

Customers choose you because your marketing and branding convince them that you offer a valuable service. Show them why they need your products and what you are doing for them. For this reason, curate content that focuses on how your products and services benefit your prospective clients.

Reach Younger Investors

Having a blog and a decent website might be particularly important for reaching younger investors. With 63 percent of them using financial institutions’ classes and seminars to increase their understanding, 64 percent of Gen Zers learn about money through online research. Creating a unique content marketing plan is an important aspect of attracting younger investors. You can use blogging and content marketing to enhance your SEO or search engine optimization. Creating high-quality material will improve your Google rankings, which will attract new inbound leads to your company.

Bottom Line

It can be difficult for financial advisory firms and independent financial advisors to get started with a digital marketing strategy. You want to expand your business, but there seem to be an infinite amount of ways to begin. At first, it may appear daunting. Fortunately, the six ideas mentioned above provide a solid framework for launching financial advisor marketing efforts. As with most objectives, the most crucial thing is to start moving in the right direction. Are you seeking for a new approach to develop your digital marketing plan? Now is the time to schedule a no-obligations consultation to show you potential blind spots and possibilities! there are several digital marketing services to assist you to pick the right marketing strategy.