There’s a small team of people at Google charged with finding and helping innovative companies that have the potential to become major online advertisers over time. They’ve worked with brands like Blue Apron and Uber, and when they invited us into their program, we were absolutely thrilled. To kick off the partnership, we spent a day at the Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.—the “Googleplex”—which turned out to be an incredibly eye-opening experience in terms of how we think about wealth management marketing.

The Google consultants did their homework on our industry, our company and the consumers we’re trying to reach. The amount of real-time information they have is absolutely staggering. Following our meetings, I walked away with three themes in mind that will drive how we approach wealth management marketing going forward.

The First Insight: We Need To Be More Specific

The days of the simple keyword search are over. For most topics that we all think of as relevant—like financial planning—there is way too much information out there. To weed through it all, consumers have gotten smarter about how to search, and they are getting answers to specific questions rather than perusing page after page of internet content. It’s as though they are having a conversation with the search engine. For example:

• Searches that start with “Why” are growing 1.5 times faster than those that start with “What” or simple searches with a topic name.

• Even more impressive, “How to” searches have grown three times in just three years.

How can we apply this idea? Writing blog content structured with “why” and “how” headlines can improve search results. On a broader scale, think about what we do as answering questions and providing know-how. Do people even understand the term “wealth management” or know they need it? Break it down more specifically. One of the Google team members said, “Answer a specific need or get left behind.”

The Second Insight: We’re In The Participation Age

As we all know, the rise of radio and television ushered in the Broadcast Age. The Internet launched the Information Age. Now, we’re in the Participation Age, and it’s all about two-way sharing and engagement, fueled by video and smart phone technology. According to Google:

• By 2019, 80 percent of web traffic will be video, and most will be viewed on mobile devices.

• On average, we check our phones 150 times per day, and the newer smartphones are highly dynamic and interactive.

How can we apply this idea? We need to hurry up! Advisors are struggling to keep up with evolving technology, even when it comes to having the most basic mobile interface for websites. However, some advisors are embracing Facetime, Skype and other video meeting strategies while others take it a step further and produce videos and podcasts to educate clients and prospects. When we think about the world around us, it’s clear that financial planning tools must be digital and collaborative, or they will become extinct.

The Third Insight: Content Is king

We’ve established that people searching to explore investment-related topics are most likely looking for specific answers on their mobile devices. The key to success is to be able to offer the right content, at the right time, to the right person. We need to be a central part of this ongoing conversation. Consider what Google shared with us:

• 55 percent of people searching for wealth management services do so by exploring content, not looking up company names.

• 59 percent of people who later purchased investment-related services spent about a month looking around online, averaging 16 content searches and five website reviews.

How can we apply this idea? As marketers, we have to think like publishers when it comes to content and our websites. Blogs are important and should be kept timely. I can’t tell you how many firms unfortunately let months pass between blog posts. Public relations is worth the investment, as earned media mentions heighten credibility. Being perceived by key audiences favorably, while also portraying the best version of your firm via its website, is key to success in this area.

If you’re a skeptic, you may be thinking that your new clients come from referrals, not digital marketing. But if you are honest with yourself, you know that the world has indeed changed—we all check things out online and are certainly influenced by what shows up.

Google isn’t just a place with cool ideas, or even a search engine. To “google” is now a verb, an embedded behavior in our culture when we want information to help us make decisions. Whether we like it or not, the impact of Google on wealth management can’t be ignored, and the best firms will embrace this truth and add value to the online conversation. 

Gail Graham is chief marketing officer at United Capital, an innovative and fast-growing financial life management firm with a unique approach to the market. Having earned awards in retail investor and advisor marketing, Graham is driving United Capital’s brand development, marketing and lead generation across all channels. Follow her on Twitter: @GailGrahamUC