How Digital Marketing Makes It Easier for Your Clients to Refer You
Written By : Clifford Blodgett
If you’re like a lot of financial advisors, most of your business comes from referrals. Rather than marketing or advertising, you rely on old-fashioned “word of mouth” advertising. But did you know that there are several easy ways to use digital marketing to make it more convenient for your clients to refer you to their friends and family? These methods are not overly complicated, and you don’t actually have to advertise yourself. Simply keep in touch with current clients and other professionals in your field, and your referral rate will multiply.
Blogging. When you post informative, helpful blogs on your website, this boosts your credibility with your peers. CPAs and estate planning attorneys are more likely to recommend you to their clients. Your clients will also feel more engaged with you, and will be motivated to share your content with their friends. And when you post great information on your blog, clients will share it with others.
Video. YouTube users upload over 300 hours of video to the site every minute, and spend several hundred million hours watching videos every single day.* Clearly, people love to watch videos! Like blogs, video gives you the opportunity to provide useful content that your audience will share with others. But due to the rising popularity of online video, reaching out to your audience this way is likely to set you apart from other financial advisors.
One note about using blogs and videos to reach your audience: Remember that content is everything. Since the goal is for your audience to click their “share” buttons, focus on creating content that answers their questions or addresses their concerns.
Email. Sending out regular emails to your clients is a great way to stay in touch. But think about how easy it is to forward an email! When your clients value the information you send them, they are likely to share it with a friend. This small amount of effort can really increase your referrals.
Facebook. Social media is the modern equivalent of “word of mouth” advertising. A recent Neilson study concluded that 84 percent of consumers trust their friends and family to make quality referrals for service providers.** When you post quality information on your Facebook page and ask your audience to share it, new referrals are only a click away!
LinkedIn. This social media platform is similar to Facebook, but the emphasis is more on creating professional contacts. Post valuable information to build trust and credibility with other local professionals, and you will increase your odds of referrals from those sources.
As you may have noticed, none of these digital marketing practices require you commit to a complex advertising campaign. These online tactics are simple and effective ways to stay in touch with your clients while increasing your credibility with peers. But when used correctly, digital marketing will increase your referral rate. Remember, if your clients and peers are online, you have a powerful way to stay in touch with them.
*https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html
Filed under: Social Media for Financial Advisors
Written By : Clifford Blodgett
Clifford Blodgett is the Director of Digital Marketing and Demand Generation at Creative One. He is integral in financial advisor interactive communications strategies, website management, social media, content marketing , and overall demand generation.