We believe in a tight playbook. This allows us to execute the things we offer in world class fashion, and connect them all to deliver results that set a new bar in the world of financial marketing. Here are our “core four[1]” steps to financial marketing success.
Killer Website
If you haven’t noticed most, if not all, of your clients don’t let go of their smartphones. The Baby Boomer population is as addicted to the internet as any other generation and very technologically-savvy. But guess who isn’t? Marketers aiming at this demographic, which makes it beachfront property for those who do want to stand out with an excellent website.
YOUR WEBSITE IS AS IMPORTANT AS YOUR OFFICE. It’s not unusual to get thousands of new visitors to your site each month, so give them a great experience. Creating a good website is a project, and an investment…but it’s worth it. Not only should your website represent who you are and what you do, but it should be an extension of your brand. In addition to being your “virtual storefront,” it should also be a way to deliver timely and authentic content to prospects and clients. Meaningful content will give visitors a reason to visit, spend more time with your brand, give you their contact information, and come back.
Lead Funnel
We believe in manufacturing “first party data” – in other words creating large amounts of leads to build a database that our clients “own”. We do this via broadcast, but more dynamically via digital media buying. There are significant advantages to using your own first party data compared to data you would “rent” from a list provider: First, a first party data list is filled with people who have already responded to your brand message in some way and are therefore more likely to engage, the second is that you can nurture leads and learn from it over time, and the third and biggest reason is that the return is far greater.
In the end, a prospect on a lead list that you create becomes five to ten times more likely to close than one that you would get from a list provider. Why? It’s an actual lead that has already demonstrated some interest. Data provided from list providers is often modeled, which is a fancy way of saying that they’re guessing that the names on this list might be interested. And last but not least, you will likely be sharing data from a list provider with your competitors.
In the end, it’s not unusual to get leads for $10-$20 each, but if you’re smart about nurturing them you can be converting them “in your sleep.”
Email Marketing
Email marketing is the most cost-effective, timely, and efficient way to engage with prospects and clients. But there’s a big difference between “sending regular weekly emails” and having an email marketing strategy.
There are three basic parts to effective email marketing:
- Create meaningful content. This means the right words, from the subject line to the header to the content itself.
- Understand your strategy when setting up an email marketing strategy properly so you can learn from the behavior of your contacts.
- Know the science of “list hygiene”. This includes many variables that ultimately help deliver more of your emails and increase open and click-through rates.
Today, there are many ways to execute email marketing and every one of them requires time and attention. The more you can measure the metrics and the results, as well as attach meaning to each variable you adjust, the greater your return.
Practice Management
Let’s face it, running a business is hard and too often we don’t have the time to spend on monetizing our leads. But doing so doesn’t have to be overwhelming. We’ll frequently see situations where assets will be coming in the door without the scrutiny of where they’re coming from, patterns that exist, closing ratios, or wallet share. Our advice is to pick two or three items to focus on and create a plan of execution including a timeline, benchmarks, a team (even if it’s one person), and most of all, a revenue goal.
For example, if your goal was to gain more high-net-worth leads, then we would suggest looking at everything from the content on your site, to your marketing messages, to your email communication, to your in-office experience, and consider a simple but calculated plan. In the end, you need to cross-check each link in the chain to see, in this case, if it speaks to a high-net-worth audience. How does it compare to your competitor’s? How might it compare with other upscale brands in different industries?
This requires understanding the entire customer journey. It’s a lot of work but in the end, it’s one of the things that sets elite advisors apart from good advisors.
[1] https://lonebeacon.com/
