For a financial advisor, each new client can be a lifetime relationship. As fiduciary, long-term relationships are critically important as you’ll want to be managing a larger amount of wealth. The digital age has presented many new options for acquiring clients but also much more competition from traditional big firms that have large marketing departments. So what can you do in this age of digital wealth management? First, let’s look at the tools financial advisors use to get an advantage:
Google Ads
There is no denying that those who are searching for a financial advisor in your region are the exact people you want. They have high-intent so if you can win them over, you have a pretty decent chance of a new client. In order to do this first you must win them over with your ad, then you must have a good landing page that properly converts them. That means you need:
- An easy to submit the form
- Have the benefits of your service and areas of expertise. Remember, if someone is looking for retirement planning and your landing page doesn’t say how you specialize in retirement planning, you’re likely to not get them.
- You need social proof: testimonials from other clients, Google reviews, certifications, educational experience, and images of your team. This builds trust.
In multiple surveys, financial advisor prospects say one of the number #1 things that they are looking for is someone they can trust. Build trust through reviews and reputation management and make sure this is prominently displayed on your website.
Use a CRM
There are many RIA CRM programs out there that are designed specifically for financial advisors and they make it very easy to attract, manage, and retain clients. Just how important is a CRM?
A CRM designed for financial advisors allows you to get new leads and work the entire lifecycle for them. You can automate workflows, increase prospect to client conversion rates, keep track of all data and correspondence. It’s a critically important piece of technology that almost any professional firm nowadays is using. Data from Nucleus Research found that the average return on investment is $8.71 for every dollar spent. No expense should be spared in getting the best CRM for your firm.
Understand Your Reputation
New prospective clients care about your track record but there is something they care about even more: reputation. That means it’s especially critical to show your experience, use images of you and not stock images, get customer testimonials, and establish trust. You can get a quick check reputation check here. This analysis helps to figure out how people view you online and gives a report card that will help you quickly focus on areas to improve your presence and the perception of your brand.
One final aspect that is critically important is understanding SEO. There are services like Top-Ranked Advisor that specialize specifically in local SEO and can help you. One important point is to make sure that you are registered with Google My Business and that your profile is verified, and all information is correct.