At the end of the day, people want to do business with advisors they like and trust. In the past, getting a meeting with potential prospect and building that type of relationship perhaps meant handing out 100 business cards or hours of cold-calling – and even then, it usually took several more meetings before ultimately winning the business. While establishing trust is no less important today, an effective digital marketing strategy makes that process much easier.
With the ability to perform their own due diligence on practices via a simple Google search, investors are increasingly seeking out wealth managers who have a built-out presence online, one that chronicles the history of their ‘digital persona,’ ranging from videos they have posted to blogs that provide a record of opinions during different market conditions to other hosted content that is either informative or educational. This emerging dynamic eliminates much of the sales component for both wealth managers and investors, and in turn establishes you as a thought leader, leading to more meaningful discussions about solving problems and meeting long-term objectives – a win, win for both parties.
So while you should never abandon your traditional marketing efforts, which should still include mailing and print versions of your content, firms who are not actively engaged online are going to lose out to practices that have put the requisite time and effort into building an effective digital marketing strategy.
Dave Armstrong is Managing Director of Monument Wealth Management (www.monumentwealthmanagement.com), a Washington DC-area based financial advisory and wealth management firm that helps accomplished entrepreneurs transition toward long-term financial independence.
We are also seeing advisors use video on their websites as well as social media and getting amazing marketing results. A combination of informative motion graphic videos and live action videos of the advisors do wonders to increase credibility.
Try including a link-back to your website in the signature of your email. This will automatically drive traffic back to your website and serve as, yet another, lead generating tool.
Additionally, statistics suggest that mobile web use will overtake desktop internet usage by 2014. As such, we urge advisors to double check with their internet providers to ensure that their websites are set up to run from mobile devices.
We posted an article just last month that gives some additional insight into online marketing strategies for financial advisors. If you have time, feel free to check it out here: http://bit.ly/RcC6Mr