Advisors: Using Marketing to Build Your Pipeline. Presenter: Barbara Kotlyar Sr. Marketing Manager ByAllAccounts Managing Director, Bridge Marketing

Transcription

1 Advisors: Using Marketing to Build Your Pipeline Presenter: Barbara Kotlyar Sr. Marketing Manager ByAllAccounts Managing Director, Bridge Marketing

2 Who is this person and why should I listen to them?

3 88.4% want to acquire 6-16 new clients in 2012 How many clients do you want to acquire during 2012? (Responses n = 208) % % % % % None Don't know yet 0.0% 2.9%

4 Though client goals are high, most rated overall marketing effectiveness low How would you rate the overall effectiveness of your current marketing strategy? Extremely effective 0.0% Effective 12.5% Somewhat effective 36.9% Neutral 17.5% Somewhat ineffective 26.9% Not effective at all 6.3%

5 Myth vs. Reality If you do good work prospects will find you 24% of Affluent and HNW investors found their advisor by conducting an internet search More than 25.8% of investors have not given a referral because: Advisor had not asked for one

6 Myth vs Reality I can be everything to everyone Grow your firm with no geographic constraints If you don t target and differentiate you will struggle to compete

7 3 Goals of Marketing 1. Attract new prospects/new business 2. Retain existing clients, and get more referrals 3. Wealth Transfer

8 Traditional vs Digital Marketing Strategies Traditional Methods Direct Mail Cold Calling Print Advertisement New Methods Inbound/content marketing SEO Social media

9 Before you can start marketing effectively Your unique story and value proposition Know your target market- be specific Clear Goals Website

10 Questions to answer about your firm: What do you do better than anyone else? Why did you become an advisor? How should clients engage with you? What is the process?

11 Example of value proposition The way we see it at oxygen Financial, you might as well have financial advisors that are not only good at planning your future, but also deliver your experience with a twist of fun... and an oxygen bar in the lobby just in case you need a last-minute happy boost before you get down to business with us. We offer money advice big and small through a Private CFO process and an online personal financial dashboard. From getting the best deal on your monthly bills to making the right choices in your 401k and IRA, we help those of you ages 20 to 50 in the X and Y Generations to figure out your financial futures. We aren t your parent s firm, we don t wear ties, but oxygen Financial can help you breathe easier...

12 Don t be generic XYZ is an independent, fee based consulting and investment advisory firm. We provide unbiased risk management and monitoring services to both individuals and company sponsored retirement plans.

13 Another example The sole commitment of our Family Office Services group is to enhance the financial lives of our clients and to enrich their family legacies. This means helping you to organize and deploy your wealth in ways that enable you and your family to lead lives that are happier, more harmonious and secure. We provide successful families and individuals the advantages and synergies of a single family office. Family Office Services includes everything from financial and estate planning to assistance with insurance, taxes, real-estate holdings, credit solutions and philanthropy. For some clients, we even manage household finances and provide concierge-like services.

14 Questions to answer about your target market What keeps them up at night? How old are they? Where do they live? Are they married? Job type and level of seniority? What does their typical day look like? How do they spend their time? How would they like to spend their time? What do they value most? What are their goals? Where do they go for information? How do they prefer to look for services?

15 How do you target your clients?

16 Clear & Measurable Goals Examples: Attract 5 new clients this year Get my current clients to refer me to 10 people Increase prospect database by 50 people in my target market Increase AUM by 50 million Retain 5 of my client s children

17 Evensky whitepaper example

18 Top 10 marketing activities utilized Which of the following marketing activities do you currently utilize? (please check all that apply) Web sites Events/Seminars s Newsletters 62.4% 56.1% 51.4% 47.4% Direct mail Social media Content creation (whitepapers, etc.) Print media advertising Press release Search engine optimization 30.1% 21.4% 19.1% 18.5% 18.5% 15.0%

19 Websites not effective for client acquisition How would you rate the effectiveness of your website for attracting new clients? We do not have a web site Not effective at all Somewhat ineffective 11.2% 12.4% 20.0% 73.6% Neutral 30.0% Somewhat effective Effective 10.0% 15.3% Extremely effective 1.2%

20 Inbound Marketing The basic principle: instead of blasting out s or sending direct mail hoping you happen to hit a prospective client like finding a needle in a haystack, create content that is useful, relevant, and interesting for your target clients, and let them find you. Content Articles, Whitepapers, EBooks, blog posts, videos Social Media Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, Blogs SEO Keywords Link building Website analytics

21 What is this SEO thing I keep hearing about? Once created, the content (whether it s a whitepaper, website page, blog post, article, video, or tweet) is made public and available, so that your target market can find your materials when they search the web the process of making your content more searchable is called "Search Engine Optimization.

22 example Paid For Ads- Google Adwords Paid For Ads- Google Adwords

23 Article and contact information

24 The need for local search

25 SEO- financial advisor in Boston Paid For Ads- Google Adwords Paid For Ads- Google Adwords

26 The power of keywords Pay Special Attention to Keywords. Make sure you know, in advance, what keywords you want your firm to rank highly for and make sure those keywords are prevalent in your content. You have to do some research here. What you think people are searching on is NOT always correct. Do the research and then make sure ALL your content has a focus on keywords.

27 Finding your keywords Process: 1) Choose 5-10 keywords to test 2) Plug words into the google adwords keyword tool 3) Download the words into an excel/csv 4) Create additional columns in the excel file to compare the google results to one of the other tools below. 5) Choose the top 5-10 that come up with the most searches and have the most relevance to your firm 6) Start using them on your site and content, WHEN IT MAKES SENSE 7) Use google analytics to test and watch results Other free keyword tools Keyword Discovery WordTracker SEO Book

28 Most advisors not utilizing analytics and SEO tools A. Do you track visitors to your website by using tools such as Google Analytics? (Responses, n=149) B. Have you search engine optimized (SEO) your website? (Responses, n=148) A. B. Not sure 15% Yes 31% Not sure 30% Yes 23% No 54% No 47% Although most advisors do not find their website effective for client acquisition, most are also not utilizing crucial tools for improving website performance

29 Use Google Analytics

30 Google analytics cont

31 In Page Analytics

32 Content The key to success for inbound marketing is creating content that is useful, relevant, and interesting for your target clients.

33 Ways to deliver your content Quarterly Client Newsletter Performance reports Live Events Blog rolls Webinars Blog posts (your own or contribute to others) Twitter, Linked, Facebook, Youtube Community News- become a guest contributor Tips and Tricks checklists Videos - YouTube s Whitepapers Case studies Surveys Ebooks

34 Content Ideas Create a benchmark chart/report Send a short note with updates from a conference you attended, or comments on a recent credible article or video summarizing the key points and implications for them. Educational information will always be more effective than sales messages. Focus on articles and events that bring value instead of advertisements. Also focus on relationship-building activities such as birthdays, anniversaries

35 Best practices when creating content Deliver Content in Regular Rhythms. Less than once a month 39.2% Monthly 33.8% Weekly 21.6% Two or three times a week 2.7% Daily 2.7%

36 Provide content in multiple formats Know your target market. If you are selling to gen x/y videos might be the preferred content, if you are targeting doctors or academics, research studies might be their preferred format. Regardless, make sure you have content in a variety of formats to appeal to all types of learning styles.

37 Why should you start blogging? 1. Blogging establishes you as an expert in your field. 2. Blogging moves your site up in the search engines if you update your site regularly. 3. Blogging can be an easy way to interact with customers and potential customers. 4. Blogging is a great way to provide additional value to your customers.

38 When blogging, persistence is key!

39 Tracking your content and building lists Track who views some of your more in-depth content like case studies and whitepapers by asking people to fill out a simple form with their name and address

40 7 Best Practices for Marketing 1. Use an service- outlook won t cut it 2. Use personalized subject lines 3. Segment messages 4. Take care of timing 5. Use relevant content 6. Understand how spam filters work

41 Use an service Benefits: Track open rates, Unsubscribe, Forwards and Clicks, Faster Inexpensive Options: - Constant Contact - Mail Chimp

42 A quick word on social media 2 reasons to use social media- even if you think your clients aren t: 1) Social Media Activity Impacts Your Organic Search Presence When someone shares content from your website on Twitter, for example the better your search engine visibility becomes. Give your clients and prospects the chance to share your content by publishing blog posts, ebooks, buying guides, case studies, testimonials, and other interesting content to your social media accounts, and reap the benefits of better search engine rankings as a result. 2) You'll Have More Control Over Your Online Image Let's say someone hears about your company and is curious about who you are; what you're like; and whether you're generally "good people." If someone conducted a Google search on you right now, what would come up?

43 For example:

44 Sample Marketing Calendar Jan Feb March April May June Quarterly newsletter 3 blog posts 2 tweets per day Create video for prospects to introduce firm Client seminar in the office 3 blog posts Linked in poll Create centers of influence campaign Quarterly reviews 3 blog posts Meet with local CPA firm 3 blog posts Participate in charity eventinvite clients Release averages for clients on how they compare Client satisfaction survey 3 blog posts Press release on the firm for PR opps Mid year review July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Quarterly newsletter 3 blog posts Seminar at local university Release checklist on how to prep your kids for college 3 blog posts Back to school event for clients and children 3 blog posts about conference attended Client satisfaction survey Thanksgiving 3 blog posts Blast 2 tweets Client appreciation event Golf outing with prospects and clients Holiday cards Cooking class with select clients and prospects

45 Key Takeaways Survey finding What others are doing What you can do 62.4% of advisors say that their website is their number one marketing tool, yet 73.6% claim that it doesn t work for client acquisition 31.4% of advisors lack the time to market effectively, yet 84% want to acquire new clients in % of advisors do not track visitors to their website and 47% have not search engine optimized their website 73% of advisors market to prospects less than once per month. 12.4% of advisors are outsourcing some or all of their marketing activities. Take advantage of free tools like Google analytics to track website traffic, improve website performance and better understand your prospects Decide if you want help from an outsourcer. If you are going to do it yourself create a marketing plan.

46 Checklist- Get Started Today Define your target market (s) Define your value proposition Define your goals- make sure they are measurable Define the most effective ways to communicate with them (start with 3) use google analytics for your website Create your keyword list and optimize Use an system Make a plan that lays out what needs to be done and who will be responsible

47 Q&A Barbara Kotlyar