Bill has had tremendous success driving his email subscribers to open house and educational events around the Kansas City area. Even as those events have moved online during the pandemic, they continue to reinforce a community bond around Bill’s existing client base while also attracting prospects.
“Before Covid, we were an organization that conducted about 50 live educational events per year. When Covid happened, we started doing town halls online every other week, and then a podcast every other week as well. So there was a lot of conversation and a lot of material. As financial advisors, we are in some cases, the only beacon of light that our clients might see in a given day when we’re going through something like Covid-19. And our clients want to hear us. They want to see that we’re measured, they want to see that we have a plan, that we aren’t being Pollyanna, but that we aren’t hiding under the desk either.”
Moving from live events to virtual events isn’t as easy as setting up some extra cameras and designing a good PowerPoint. We’ve all improved our Zoom and Gotowebinar skills lately, but you still have to make sure you’re presenting content that’s going to speak to your audience, address their pain points, and subtly underscore both your expertise and the value of your services. If you hit those checkpoints, more prospects are going to start calling for follow-up appointments. And, perhaps more importantly, your existing clients are going to tell their friends and family how you’ve helped them maintain perspective during a very trying time.
And while we’re talking about virtual marketing strategies here, Lisa wisely pointed out the following:
“It’s very important to remember that most new business is still coming from client referrals. You want to bring that into your thinking, into your storytelling, into your conversations with those clients, so that you’re grounding your strategies in how to generate more of that new business. And in this Covid environment where so many people are talking about their financial challenges, those are very natural referral opportunities. And you want to make sure not only that your clients know that you’re open for referrals, but that your website is going to tell a really compelling story if people go check you out.”
5. Fine tune your website landing page and SEO. Lisa just mentioned another digital marketing must: an attractive professional website that ranks highly when folks search for advisors in your area.
“I want you to Google yourself, your business, and ‘financial advisor’ and wherever you’re located and see where you’re showing up on the list. If you’re not on that first page, most people do not scroll below on any search results. You want to get as high as you can. I want you to show up and look like a really compelling business.”
Lisa says she’s looking for five things when she’s critiquing advisor website landing pages:
• Compelling headlines that visitors want to click and that contain words and phrases prospects might be searching.
• Simple design that keeps the focus on your services and value proposition.
• Bona fides like certifications, degrees and your privacy policy that establish trustworthiness.
• Call to action like a subscription form or an offer for a free phone consultation.
• Lead capturing that funnels those sign-up emails to your marketing list.
Nailing these essentials will make your business look more inviting, but it will also improve your search engine optimization (SEO) on Google and similar sites. More advanced SEO can be its own rabbit hole, especially if you’re optimizing around digital ad buys as well. Once you get your website landing page down, this might be another area where outside guidance is worth the investment.
It can take a while to improve anything relative to SEO. There’s a lot of experts that can help, but before you even think about doing ads or pay-for-clicks, make sure you’re maximizing your own landing page. Make sure you’re telling a great story there. If someone comes to that site, they’re going to want to take an action.
To download Schwab’s guide to building a better landing page, click here.