Lead generation for financial advisors is integral to growing your business. If you have a strong roster of existing clients, continuing to generate qualified leads should be at the top of your to-do list. We know that might be easier said than done, especially while staying within your marketing budget. We’ve compiled 15 lead-generation ideas to help attract your ideal client, along with marketing tips for financial advisors.
Where Can I Find Leads for Financial Advisors?
Before we can list the tips to generate leads, we have to understand where financial advisors can find them in the first place. It used to be that you would have to put out physical advertisements in the form of newspaper ads, billboards, and TV commercials. But it’s different these days with the advent of the internet. The best place to find leads as a financial advisor is online, whether through Google, social media, or other forms of online engagement.
For financial advisors, one of the best places to find leads is through the use of Google SEO and social media platforms. Google SEO allows you to hone in on your target audience and market your content towards them. Social media allows you to engage with those interested in what you have to offer or who wish to work with you.
How Do Financial Advisors Generate Clients?
Clients are generated through one simple step; delivering useful advice and solving problems. That’s easier said than done as it currently stands. Much like finding a lead, a financial advisor can only convert someone to a client once they have shown their expertise in the field by demonstrating their value. Whether this is done by offering a solution, showing your understanding of the industry, or impressing a lead in some other way. Once you’ve showcased your ability, it’s much easier to get leads to convert to clients.
15 Tested Tips to Generate Leads
1. Adopt Technology That Supports Consumer Behavior
As algorithms, search engines, and consumer needs change and evolve, so must your marketing efforts. Finding leads as a financial advisor is impossible if you don’t know your audience and the communication channels they prefer, which is why cold calling is so ineffective. So how do you get to know your audience and adapt your strategy for finding leads?
It’s no secret the financial services industry isn’t at the forefront of technology use. But connecting virtually has become the norm and should be the foundation of your financial advisor marketing plan. This includes a social media presence and website.
The demand for a virtual relationship with an advisor continues to grow. And prospects who may not have been “digital savvy” before the pandemic have been forced to embrace digital communications. Those new habits are likely to continue.
Today’s investor is more open to finding their financial planners online, and many are primed to invest in a virtual relationship with their advisor. Keep that in mind as you dive into the rest of our lead-generation strategies.
2. Define Your Unique Value Proposition
How do you differentiate yourself from other firms? The financial industry is incredibly saturated, and if you can’t define what makes your firm different from the others, then it will be harder to generate leads and sell your products. Here are ways that you can define your UVP.
- See what your competitors are doing to differentiate themselves and get an idea of what your framework can look like
- Determine your niche and who you want to serve
- Identify and outline the benefits that your firm can offer
- Write down your USP in just one to two sentences
3. Build a Professional Website
Your website is your digital office. Wherever a prospect hears about your business — either from a referral, an advertisement, or a Google search — they are going to go to your website first. Advisor designs should be clean, contemporary, and easy to navigate, with a clear value proposition to appeal to their target market. If your website isn’t mobile responsive, user-friendly, or updated, prospects may get the impression that your practice is outdated.
A financial advisor website should include basic information about your firm’s services, team bios, and contact information. Make sure it lists your most updated address, phone number, and email so prospects can follow up. At the very least, these features can ensure visitors feel they’re exploring an up-to-date business.
4. Blog Regularly and Boost Email Signups
Some of the best lead generation for financial advisors engage clients and prospects. But a comprehensive market strategy goes beyond a website. If you want readers to keep coming back, your site also needs to be updated consistently with new content. This is where a blog comes in, providing content for leads and clients while also boosting SEO.
Whatever you decide to publish, just make sure it’s a mix of both original and curated content from other sources.
Plus, consider using a CTA located on your blog to push site visitors to contact you. You never know what content will help drive action.
5. Work with Reporters and Publications
If your original content is featured in a reputable source, then include that on your website so that you can show your visitors that you are trustworthy and provide strong services. Some other ways to “get legs” out of getting a press hit are to:
- Share it on social media and make sure you are tagging the reporter or publication
- Include it in a blog
- Repurpose it in a newsletter or email campaign where you can share other information
6. Include an FAQ Page
Including a Frequently Asked Questions page is a great way to cut down on initial calls or emails, as you may be able to answer questions of your prospects upfront. Including an FAQ page can provide a few things, such as:
- Serving as a built-in customer service by answering questions quickly.
- Fostering a positive user experience.
- Boosting your SEO, especially if you are using voice search.
When you are creating a strong FAQ page, you should “make it your own” and answer it in your own words while keeping keywords in mind when providing your answers in order to optimize for SEO. You should keep your page short and sweet while also answering the questions thoroughly.
Dream Financial Planning does a great job with its FAQ page, answering their more frequently asked questions succinctly. Many times, what a potential client needs is to be directed to another part of your website, and being intentional about the questions you include, as well as how you answer them, is a huge part of improving the site navigation of your website.
7. Get Ahead with Facebook Advertising
Increasingly, Facebook is a “pay to play” platform, meaning that if you want to see significant results, you’ll need to pay for them. But luckily, Facebook offers an extremely robust paid advertising feature, which makes it easy to advertise to your target audience.
If you’re already seeing traffic to your website, you can integrate that data with Facebook via what they call a “Pixel.” Once you have that setup, you can target Facebook advertising directly to people who visit your site. By using a lead generation advertisement, you can re-engage those visitors and gather their contact information.
8. Encourage Online Reviews to Boost Credibility
When was the last time you went to a new business WITHOUT first looking them up to read reviews? Whether it’s a restaurant, hair salon, mechanic, or lead generation for financial advisors, people are flocking to Yelp and Google reviews to get insights on small businesses. When prospective new clients look up your business online and see you have a number of positive reviews, they’re more likely to visit your site or contact you.
Do you have these pages set up for your financial advisory? If not, it’s time to do it. If pages already exist, make sure they have your latest contact information. Once they’re up, you can ask your clients to log on and give you a review. Including a small note at the end of your email newsletter, with a link to your Yelp or Google pages, is a good way to encourage reviews.
A quick note on compliance: As long as you, the advisor, don’t make yourself a publisher by compensating a reviewer or authoring or posting anything — including responses to reviews — you will not violate the rules.
9. Use Case Studies
Case studies are a great way to show your prospects what advisors can do for their prospects by providing examples of a particular situation. If you take a deep dive into one specific case, then you can paint a clear picture of your services, which allows clients and prospects to take a more in-depth look at what they can expect when they work with you. When creating case studies, dedicate a page solely to case studies, and ideally, you want potential clients to be drawn to them and encourage them to read them when they visit your website. Make sure you display them prominently so that they are easy to find.
Retirement Matters displays their case studies and have even dedicated an entire section to just that. They provide three different studies for unique situations, and those include:
- Pre-Retirement
- Retirement
- Retired
Each situation is tailored for certain people, but they encompass fairly broad scenarios, making it easy for prospects to choose one that is the most like their situation, so they can begin to plan with advice from the above case studies.
10. Host an Unforgettable Event for Networking
Enhancing your relationship with your current clients is important, but bringing in new ones is too. Host a fun client appreciation event and encourage them to bring friends. The type of event could be anything; it really depends on what type of clients you serve. Consider one of the following:
- Wine tasting events
- Family movie nights
- Outdoor barbecues
- A night out to community events
Be prepared with business cards, but remember, this is the time to really connect with both potential and established clients on a personal level without feeling the need to push your business.
11. Build Out Your LinkedIn Network and Grow Your Connections
LinkedIn is an incredible social media platform. You can use it to connect with other financial professionals, build up a reputation as an industry expert, grow your network, and get leads.
LinkedIn is also an excellent place to join industry groups or even start your own. In these groups, advisors can foster discussion and share relevant information with their network. Start a group for your community that answers common financial questions and discusses the latest financial news. Then invite your clients and contacts to this community to demonstrate value.
12. Claim and Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
Local searches can impact lead generation for financial advisors, which makes it crucial to claim and optimize your Google My Business listing. There are 7 ways to claim your listing and optimize your listing and they are:
- Start by claiming your GMB listing
- Add categories to increase the chances your firm will show up
- Include your business description
- Make your listing local
- Get reviews
- Include photos to boost rankings
- Set up your service areas
13. Get Involved with Your Community and Establish Yourself as a COI
No matter where your firm is located, there are ways you can get involved in your community. Community outreach is one of those marketing tactics that will continue to generate leads.
Outreach could mean any number of things, and it’s important to make a decision based on your values as an advisor and the priorities of your clients. Get involved by:
- Sponsor a sports team
- Work with a local nonprofit
- Set up a booth at a festival
- Teach a free course to the community
- Sponsor a 10k, fair, or another local event
Engage your community, it helps potential clients associate you and your financial advisory with a philanthropic act. Plus, you can feel good about the work you’re doing!
14. Ask Existing Clients for Referrals to Expand Leads
If you want something, ask. This applies to a number of situations — and especially with lead generation for financial advisors. When you remind your clients to refer new contacts to them, they’re much more likely to do so. Try adding a line at the bottom of your email newsletters, encouraging clients to forward the email. Even this small request could make a big difference.
We recommend reaching out to your clients once per quarter to check in and ask for referrals. If you’re currently using the FMG Suite email platform, we have an automated campaign that does that for you.
15. Create a “Freemium” Resource
Who doesn’t like getting free stuff? If you create a “Freemium” resource, then it’s a great way to capture leads and offer something useful to your audience. What is going to keep your visitors continuously coming back? Blogs that answer their question and provide them with actionable information that they can take away and apply to their own financial life.
In addition to creating useful information in your blogs, you offer them downloadable guides, such as eBooks, White Pages, or anything else useful that can help them in their financial journey. Something to remember when including a “Freemium” is to include a call-to-action of sorts. If you want your readers to download a whitepaper or an eBook, then describe what it is about, then tell them to “Download the Whitepaper” in a button below the description. It encourages them to take the next step.
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