A Financial Advisor’s Secret Weapon: Their Digital Marketing Strategy

You’ve done a lot to build your brand as a financial advisor. Your business is prominently displayed on bus benches, billboards and even at local little league sports games — but now, you could be missing the bigger opportunity.

The internet isn’t just where people will find out the name of the actor that’s on the tips of their tongues or check the weather; the internet has become the one-stop shop for everything.

With unlimited information at our fingertips, the world has gone digital and isn’t turning back. If you’re not taking advantage of digital marketing options, chances are your marketing strategy could use an overhaul. The internet is a treasure trove of new clients just waiting to be discovered, and here’s why you should be taking advantage of it.

Related: 7 Things to Know about Digital Marketing

Brand compliance and digital marketing can co-exist

Just about every business industry has taken to the internet to attract new customers. However, the financial services industry, specifically financial advisors, has been slow to hop on the bandwagon. The reason is simple. As a financial advisor, you have a fiduciary responsibility to your customers that’s heavily regulated. Both brand and regulatory compliance are important, and you’re not willing to risk compliance issues to put your brand online.

Well, what if you didn’t have to?

When you partner with a strong marketing vendor that can provide the digital marketing strategy and automation needed to reach your prospects, your chances of actually converting these prospects into clients skyrocket. First, it’s important to understand why a solid online presence is key for your business.

Why you should embrace this new age of opportunity

Even if you don’t feel like you’re embracing digital marketing opportunities, there’s a strong chance that you’re already online. These days, customers share their experiences on social media and review websites, which have become crucial to building client trust in a new audience.

If you take advantage of the opportunity to use online tools, you have more control over your brand’s identity online and the opportunity to tap into a vast audience you may not have known even existed.

That’s why more than half of the companies in the United States are using some form of marketing automation.

Related: The Top 5 Perks of Marketing Automation

Get to know your options

There are several ways you can go about advertising online. Some of the most popular options for advertising online financial services include:

• Social Media: Social media is a hotbed for online activity. To put the power of social media into perspective, Facebook has more than 2.9 billion active users. That means nearly a third of the global population is on it.
• Search Engine Optimization: Google started as a brand name but has become a verb. If you don’t know something, you “Google” it. So, what happens when a customer in your area googles “Financial Advisor Near Me?” Are you on the list? Search engine optimization (SEO) can help.
• Local Listings: Online local listing websites are free to use and have massive audiences. You can use these local listing websites to expand your clientele.
• Paid Search: You can also take advantage of pay-per-click advertising. This allows you to show up at the top of search results and only pay a small fee when someone clicks your link.
• Display Ad Campaigns: Banner ads on websites could expose your brand to thousands of potential customers for a minimal cost. CPM, or cost per mil (cost per thousand views), advertising campaigns allow you to put banners on popular websites for between $10 and $20 per thousand views, in most cases.
• Online Videos: You might be amazed at the response you get from creating YouTube videos. A few short videos telling people things they may not already know about finances and the financial industry could drive customers through the door.
• Email Marketing: Keep in touch with previous customers to ensure they come back when they need services next time.

Marketing automation is your biggest ally

Of course, there are several moving parts to a solid online marketing plan, but technology has also created incredibly efficient solutions for that. Marketing automation is a hot ticket and continues to rise in popularity. You can automate everything from paid search, organic and social posting to display campaigns. With the help of a solid digital marketing strategy and marketing automation, you get to focus on what you’re best at – providing financial advice to your clients.