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.

1. Outline your strategy

• How much time do you have to devote each week to marketing?
• What is the most essential objective of your marketing (such as increasing conversion, establishing yourself as a local expert, or boosting brand recognition)
• What would you do if you didn’t have particular abilities (for example, how will you make your blog if you’re not a confident writer)? What options are open to you?

2. Understand and accept digital marketing

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.

3. Understand your target market

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.

4. Build a strong social media presence

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.

5. Improve your website

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.

6. Read up on search engine optimization

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.

7. Utilize networking sites like LinkedIn

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.

8. Join a directory

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.

9. Regularly analyze key marketing metrics

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.

10. Perfect inbound marketing

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.

11. Use lead generation platforms

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.

12. Show your clients they’re appreciated

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:

• Keep your consumers informed about new developments in their industry through market research by sending them regular newsletters.
• On a monthly or quarterly basis, you may send out nice, no-obligation emails to your clients and prospects.
• In the days leading up to major events (like Christmas, New Year’s Eve, tax-filer season), it is critical to keep in touch.
• Taking high-value clients out to dinner has never been known to be harmful. When you’re conversing with you in a calm environment, new suggestions may emerge as to how your services may help them.

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.

13. Seek expert advice

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.

Conclusion

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.