In light of the market's continued positive performance, consumer confidence and business optimism grows stronger by the day. For advisors, thoughts invariably turn toward re-energizing the firm's practice development efforts, growing one's book of business or potentially striking out on the path of independence.
These are exciting times to be in the financial services business and while opportunities abound, market volatility, competitive forces, technology changes, media proliferation and marketing dissonance clearly pose challenges that must be addressed in the context of an advisor's marketing plan. The question frequently asked by advisors when it comes to marketing is straight forward enough; "Where should I begin?" In the words of famed tennis player and social activist, Arthur Ashe, "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."
A 2011 Advisor Benchmark study, conducted by Business Health in conjunction with Multi-Financial Securities Corporation, found that FA firms that contacted their best clients 12 or more times annually generated 68% more revenue per principal than those who engaged their best clients six or fewer times. Ironically, fewer than one in three firms contacted their clients 12 or more times per year. Hence, a firm's marketing efforts must incorporate a contact management plan that addresses the need for advisor interaction by the clients and prospects of the firm.
Our firm, Evolutionize, specializes in advisor marketing and we offer one overarching recommendation to each of our clients: Focus your efforts in the digital marketing area. Why? First, for local advertisers such as financial advisors, digital media is cost efficient, is readily customizable and is highly targeted -- each of these boosts the effectiveness of a firm's marketing efforts. Second, digital media continues to increase its share of U.S. media consumption. According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 80% of U.S. adults use the Internet. Online activities include, but are not limited to, the following: using search engines; sending or reading e-mails; seeking information on a service, company or product; watching videos; and reading news.
Digital marketing starts with a well-designed, content-rich, user-friendly Web site. Having a 2.0 Web site is a prerequisite for an advisor's practice development efforts. A Web site is a window into the firm, its philosophies, service offering, credentials and capabilities. Done right, a firm's site should serve as the hub for its marketing and client acquisition efforts. It is highly recommended that the Web site features an integrated blog. Blogging is one of the single best strategies for boosting a firm's relevancy in the eyes of the search engines, thus improving the firm's search engine rankings. Further, blogging provides a firm an opportunity to share information with its stakeholders while creating a distinctive "brand voice" that can differentiate the firm for competitive advantage.
With a current, fully developed content-rich Web site in place, an advisor can focus on boosting the firm's visibility. Today's Web 2.0 platforms have made on-page search engine optimization (SEO) efforts more manageable, making it easy to ensure that page titles and meta tags are unique and that H1 tags, keywords and alt text are in place. Firms can either do these themselves or work with a Web developer to implement this basic SEO checklist. Once completed, it is time to submit the Web site to the search engine crawlers and directories to insure that the site is visited and its pages indexed. In addition, numerous business directories will list the firm, its service offering and contact information, and that can help establish back links to the firm's Web site. These are often free or may require a small fee.
Investor inquisitiveness drives clients to seek relevant financial information on regular basis. In addition to the firm's Web site, advisors can satisfy a client's pursuit of knowledge through the use an e-mail marketing program at a cost of less than 2 cents per e-mail address per mailing. E-mail can be used to send monthly or weekly newsletters or topical mailings tied to market-driven events, providing an excellent relationship-building tool that can aid a firm in nurturing prospects and strengthening its bond with current clients.
No marketing plan is complete without incorporating social media. According to ComScore's December 2011 report, the "social" category accounted for 16.6% of all time spent on the Internet and will likely overtake portals as the "most engaging" online activity in 2012. Establishing social networking site profiles for the firm and linking those back to the firm's Web site are valuable ways to assist clients and prospects in finding the firm online. Additionally, the combination of blogging and social media posts are an excellent mechanism for expanding the firm's message reach and building Web site traffic. These activities increase the relevancy of a firm's Web site in the eyes of the search engines and build domain authority by boosting the number of indexable pages on the firm's Web site.
Finally, FA firms should consider allocating a modest amount of marketing funds to support a monthly pay-per-click (PPC) advertising effort. This allows the firm to leverage keywords and phrases utilized by consumers when conducting online searches within the category. Paid search efficiently supports a firm's lead-generation efforts and will complement the organization's organic SEO efforts. The end result is improved online visibility and an increase in online lead generation to efficiently support the firm's client acquisition efforts.
Cliff Campeau is a partner with Evolutionize LLC and a regular blogger on financial services marketing best practices. Evolutionize specializes in providing independent financial services firms with a suite of proven practice development solutions including Web site development, inbound and outbound marketing tools and compliant social media marketing program support. Campeau can be reached at [email protected].