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Why All Financial Consultants Need Digital Marketing

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Did you know that 51% of the world’s population spends an average of 144 minutes on social media every day? That is 2.4 hours a day, 16.8 hours a week, and 873.6 hours a year. That stat alone is why businesses must have a digital marketing presence—financial consultants included.

Your first thought may be how difficult it is to share content when working in a highly regulated industry, and you’re not wrong. Having federal rules in place does establish hoops you have to jump through. However, it is not impossible, and the benefits you reap from having a digital footprint make it all worth it. Here are our top digital channels you should consider.

Search-Based Marketing

When you need a service, the first thing most people do is a Google search.  

If you are new to the digital world, having your business listed online is the first place to start. For your business to rank higher on Google, you need to enhance your Search Engine Optimization (SEO). To learn more practical steps to achieve that, follow our top five tips for improving your service-based SEO

The key takeaway here is that 46% of all searches on Google are local, and out of that, ​​78% of local mobile searches result in a purchase. So for your business to have a leg up on the competition, you need your business to be easy to find on the web. 

Put yourself in their shoes and imagine what things your potential clients could be searching for within your industry.  You could even ask your customers directly. Are they using terms like financial consulting or investment management?

Pro tip: having happy clients leave a review on search engines and social boosts your online appeal. 

Optimized Website 

Now that you are driving traffic to your business using search engines, you need an optimized website for your potential customers to explore. In this day and age, an outdated website or one that is not easy to navigate is a turnoff. 

We recommend building a brand and site strategy that accurately depicts your business and what you hope to accomplish with your website to ensure the final product aligns with your goals. An optimized website is also an opportunity to showcase your area of expertise—are you more dedicated to financial planning, investment management, or even foundation and nonprofit.  Your website will be one of your lead drivers for converting leads to customers. Therefore including as much information as possible is only going to benefit you.  

Have a clear call to action front and center. For most financial consultants, that is a contact form or an onboarding questionnaire for new potential clients. Understand that building an optimized and effective website takes time and money—come prepared to invest both. 

Email Marketing

Once your website is up and running, your business will need a way to build an email list to nurture and inform. Email marketing is still alive and well, and an email marketing campaign is something you should seriously consider for your business.

Not everyone loves feeling marketed to over email. Potential customers might be hesitant to share their email addresses. No one likes to receive what feels like spam emails from a business they have not used before. As a business, you have to be more intentional with your messaging and clear about what value you’re providing.  

Your goal with email marketing should not be to blow up someone’s inbox with daily deals or demands. It should, however, be a tasteful monthly newsletter filled with company updates, industry trends, blogs, and you could even provide tips to allow your clientele to manage their finances better. 

You want to be a resource for the individuals on your email list—not a nuisance. Provide value to your email audience, so that when they have financial needs, you’ll be the first brand they think about.

Blogging

Another way to level up your website and digital presence is by regularly blogging on your site. Blogs organically increase your SEO and allow you to act as a thought leader in your niche within the financial sector. It is also a way for you to establish trust with your potential customers. 

If you provide valuable information regarding wealth management, your clients will feel well-informed and prepared for the process. Some topics you could focus on that would be beneficial include but are not limited to breaking down the moving pieces of your industry, explaining terms or processes that may be difficult to follow, and even updating your subscribers as to trends in the industry. You can, and should, also share these in a monthly newsletter or upon posting with your email audience. 

Other beneficial information you should include in your blog posting is basic firm information such as your team’s credentials, your firm’s history, and any details you can share about the owners or any acquisitions. As well as a breakdown of your investment approach—this will only help your potential customers to understand your firm to the fullest extent.

Social Media Presence 

Once you have an established online presence, it is imperative to develop a social media strategy. Your team will need to have an in-depth understanding of your target audience to decide what platforms your company would perform well on

If you are curious why a financial consultant would want a social media presence, the answer is simple. Having a social account helps you develop brand awareness, target new customers, keep an eye on your competition and establish a more intentional relationship with your current customers. 

While considering if you want to create a social media presence or not, keep this stat in mind. Out of 14 major industries, 50% of their sales were generated through social media. Digital word of mouth is a powerful marketing tool and a free one—use it. 

Paid Ads 

With your social channels established, the next step is to drive maximum traffic to your website or another landing page, such as your blog, by utilizing paid ads. You can do this through a search engine such as Google, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. 

Paid ads allow you to tell a story—you can do this by sharing informative videos about your business or even customer testimonials. Creating targeted ads allows you to appeal to specific demographics and audiences. An audience for a financial consultant may look like married couples with dual income, families with kids, single business professionals, small business owners, or other individuals facing transitions in life. You should test different types of content such as video, graphics, or images to see what your audience gravitates towards. 

The best part about paid ads is all of the data you have access to once the ad is complete—similar to your social insights and Google Analytics. The more you know about how your ads perform, the better you can tailor them to your business needs.

How Can We Help  

Executing a well-built digital plan is made possible by developing those brands and digital strategies. Without those, it would be like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. 

When you partner with an agency such as GreenMellen, where digital marketing is their area of expertise, it  can help you to move more efficiently and confidently throughout the entire process. 
We’ve worked with other financial services businesses to improve their digital marketing. We understand what nuances exist in the industry and what it takes to stand out online. If you are interested in kick-starting your digital journey, you can contact us today to learn more.

About the Author

Amanda Dewrell

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