The Key to Marketing for a Small Advisory Firm

Written By : Greg

When you think of marketing campaigns, you might think of the showy advertisements and catchy slogans created by big-name companies. So it makes sense that when you begin to formulate your own marketing strategy, you might think that you need to take a similar course of action.

But for the average financial advisor, there is no need to put together a marketing campaign to rival that of Target or Burger King. Those are enormous companies with entire marketing departments! If you try to emulate those types of marketing strategies, you might quickly get in over your head, and out of your budget range.

Marketing a smaller business is a whole different ballgame.

Set aside all of your preconceived notions about marketing. Your main goals are very different from a nationwide or global company. To grow your local clientele base, focus on these goals:

• create brand awareness
• increase your website traffic
• build a core group of loyal clients

Now here’s the key to accomplishing those goals on small-business budget: Social media.

Why social media? First of all, it’s more cost effective. When compared to other forms of marketing, social media requires less investment of your resources.

Second, it’s effective. In fact, a recent survey found that 92 percent of marketing firms working with smaller businesses say that social media is crucial to their overall marketing strategies.* Social media can help you meet all three of the primary goals listed above.

Brand awareness. This is one of the most important parts of marketing, no matter how large or small your company. When you create brand awareness, you establish an identity with your target audience. Your customers understand who you are and what you do.

These goals are easily accomplished on social media. You can see it working by logging into the dashboard of your social media account, and tracking these statistics:

• Impressions and Reach – how many times have your posts been seen in news feeds?
• Follower growth – Watch as awareness of your business spreads. Also, certain posts tend to generate new followers, and you can replicate those results by making similar posts.
• Mentions – see how often your advisory practice is mentioned on social media. This tells you how you are impacting current clients, what they like about you, and what you could change.

 

Drive traffic to your website. When you share blogs, company news, or other updates on social media, including links will drive traffic to your website. Since your website is like your very own billboard on the internet, using social media is like increasing the number of people who drive by your billboard every day!

It’s a good idea to direct traffic to a page that includes a call to action, such as filling out a contact form or subscribing to your blog. Then use your analytics program to measure conversions (visitors who followed your call to action.) Notice whether certain types of posts tend to draw more visitors to your website, and you can maximize your social media strategy by doing more of what works.

Build your core group of loyal clients. Your most loyal clients will help you increase your reach, by sharing your posts or providing free word-of-mouth advertising. But first you have to deepen your relationship with them, so that you can build a following. Invite them to share their feedback or experiences; people like to answer questions about themselves. Ask them to “check in” to your business if they visit for an appointment, or ask if you can use their feedback on your blog or in your social media posts. When people feel valued, they also value you.

One last benefit of social media. Aside from growing your own practice, social media helps you keep an eye on what the competition is doing. Watch the pages of other financial advisors in your area, and take notice of the strategies that seem to work (or don’t work). Do their posts receive a lot of likes, shares, and comments? Do they have a large group of followers? The great thing about social media is that it’s transparent. You can see what your competition is doing, learn what works, and gain insight into your target demographic. All of these things will help you hone your own marketing strategy.

 

*http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/social-media-marketing-trends-for-small-business/

Filed under: Financial Advisor Marketing, Social Media for Financial Advisors