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Internet Marketing for the Financial Advisor
By Lisa Cintron of AdvisorWorld.com
Emerging technology and communication tools have profoundly altered the way companies and entrepreneurs market and communicate with their audience. While social media can be intimidating, millions of people have made online sharing part of their everyday lives, creating many new communication channels. Unfortunately, because of SEC regulations most in the financial industry has had their hands tied, which makes writing and communicating limited in regards to using socials media as a marketing tool. Hence, the reason this industry is one of the few left behind in terms of using a robust marketing campaign on the internet. Yet, There are some simple ways to take advantage of it.
Social media is not about "selling" any product or service or even about "selling" yourself, it's about creating a brand, providing valuable information and making it accessible to the millions of people on the internet, however here's the caveat...It should be done in a subtle way. Modern technology such as Tivo to fast forward through commercials or a mouse to click or not to click a link, puts the power in the hands of the end user. This generation is about "I make the decision". In other words, the end user makes the decision to read your stuff or not: they make the decision to click on your link, they make the decision to read or listen to what you have to say, they make the decision to send you an email, they make the decision to pick up the phone and call you, and, most often they make that decision based on how much value they have received from you. The days of forcing your message in front of an audience and expecting them to react positively are over. Social Media is about building relationships. In fact, when logging on to a social site think of it as going into a social event. This is the time to visit the pages of people you are connected to say a quick "Hi". Engage your audience with conversation and give them a chance to get to know you. Provide valuable information about a relevant topic, reference articles that you found online, or events that are coming to town. In addition, sprinkle in some personal messages about what you're up to, a vacation that you've taken, anything that will give your readers a quick view of who you are. It's all about building the relationship with your audience. What is social media? * It's like going to a party or meeting online.
* It's affordable, no cost but time.
* It's transparent if you choose it to be.
* You must be proactive in your communication with your audience.
* Get personal with your clientele, engage them in conversation.
* The best part is you are given permission by your clientele to engage with them.
Here are some quick tips to get started with a social media campaign. 1. Recreate yourself, or better yet, rediscover who you really are as a person and as an financial advisor and what sets you apart from all others. This is all about creating a brand. 2. Be consistent with your brand across the board. 3. Follow the ” The law of Reciprocity”. Everything you do and everything you write, think about how the potential client will receive the message. Will they feel like you are trying to sell them something? Or that you've offered some great information and they'd like more? Social Media is about building the relationship and giving, give valuable information, give insights, give your opinions. You will receive much more in return when you focus in giving. 4. The resource section, byline or credits of a post, article, podcast/video is about receiving...that's your take away. Do not try a take away in the body of the message; this is where most professionals lose their audience. 5. Use the above 4 steps for every post you make in social sites.
Four Social Sites to get Campaign Started 1) Blogging Starting with a blog is the best strategy, this provides an opportunity to continually engage with your audience and cross promote on social sites. The best approach for a blog is to have one theme where you can become an expert or "Thought Leader" for that subject; this is part of your brand. For example, Financial Planning for Families, Annuities for the Retired, Financial Planning for 20 Something Year Olds, Finance for Women etc... - Blogging whether it's your own blog or not, it's about giving. Share information, give insights, give tips. Profile information is where you receive. If you try to sell something every time you blog you will lose your audience.
- Update your clients
- Share ideas
- Write regularly, this attracts the search engines, however it must be unique and original content not published anywhere on the web.
- Use keywords in your post, if you have kept your blog as one theme then this will happen naturally.
- Email your blog to clients and friends
- Cross promote- Post your blog on all of your social sites.
- Tag and retweet all of your post
- Connect with related blogs, create a blogroll and add your favorite blogs, typically when you add a blog they will add you to theirs.
- Guest post on blogs and add a link in the byline to your blog
- Make comments on related blogs
2) Facebook.com - There are 350 million people with hundreds of financial groups.
- Create a professional authentic profile, tell them who you are.
- Always add a photo of yourself, not a logo! People want to know that you are a real person.
- Join or organize social events, meetings, or webinars.
- Network with other professionals or companies with groups or fan pages.
- Import your address book if a professional page then import your email list and invite clients as friends.
- Share links and info of related news or blog posts that you think they would be interested in
- Update your status regularly
- Upload and tag photos- ie. you had a Christmas party for clients, take and upload photos and tag.
3) Twitter.com - Has an estimated 58 million users.
- Tweets are 140 characters.
- Most sites have a Twitter tag button, so you can now retweet most types of content.
- Tweetups -organize social events on Twitter.
- You can upload photos and audio.
- In Twitter you follow who you know and who you want to know, and people follow you.
- Tweet relevant information often.
4) Linkedin.com - Social site to connect professionals- 50 million professionals.
- Share your qualifications and experience.
- Network with people you want to know.
- Network with people you already know.
- Create a professional profile.
- Add a photo not a logo.
- Add current and past employers as well as education..
- Connect with past employers, clients and coworkers
- Join related groups and connect with professionals in the groups.
- Use LinkedIn Questions & Answers to highlight and showcase your expertise.
- If you'd like LinkedIn users to reach you easily then add your email address to your profile title.
Social media is an emerging marketing tool that you can use to build trust, find new clientele and retain your clientele. The costs are minimal other than time, however you must be proactive, honest and engaging. The laws of give and receive are strong in social media and if used correctly your efforts can yield some great returns.
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Contributor's Note
Have you been using social media in your internet marketing?
Give us your experience.
1) What do you do?
2) How has it impacted your business?
3) What is your specialty?
Please use the comment box...Thanks!
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Good advise. I think it would apply to my art business as well. I'm not sure about the idea of a picture of me instead of a logo. Could scare small children
Great intel, Lisa.
I would like to see more people up date their profile page as I think that many of them aren't getting the interaction that's possible.
We have seen an increase of 25% in our daily visitors and a 30% increase in sales over the last 5 months of being really active with this site.
Best to you.
Frederick
This is a great overview and a good reminder. I like your points about how social media is about giving and receiving.
I use Twitter daily. It helps with my wood flooring business and search engine placement. I had somebody call from Indonesia just the other day and have had calls from India, Israel, Africa, Canada and all over the USA with wood floor questions. To me this is unbelievable seeing as I live in the state of Washington. One of my first questions now on the phone is, "Where are you calling from?" Their location and the power of the Internet becomes part of the opening conversation. I just tweeted this Intel and am already getting followers that are searching for the words in the title.
The copyright for this content entitled "Internet Marketing for the Financial Advisor" has been specified by the contributor as:
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http://lisasocal.qondio.com/
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