Digital advertising practices were already changing at record speed and are changing even more during the coronavirus crisis. Financial advisors must adapt quickly to a world where traditional dinner seminars and mailers are going the way of the dodo. Luckily, Simplicity Lone Beacon has been steadily expanding its Facebook advertising practices for years and is prepared to help advisors grow their databases and get new leads during this time.
The Facebook Decision Making Process
Simplicity Lone Beacon developed a comprehensive Facebook decision-making process to help us efficiently tailor our advertising strategy to each client. The first point of reference is whether a client has advertised on Facebook before. For those who haven’t, we tend to recommend a campaign that generates brand awareness and website traffic. For those who have, a campaign can either focus on that, or on generating leads directly, or on generating public engagement. Our process also looks at the size of the budget, offering lower cost solutions like boosted posts, and the option to hold off on a campaign if the right content and website elements aren’t in place yet.
Alternatives to the Traditional Dinner Seminar
Fact: Advisors can generate substantial numbers of leads even if they can’t advertise for in-person events. And, this doesn’t have to be expensive. Recently we ran a lead generation campaign pushing our Important Birthdays Over 50 Guide and got 47 leads for $5.32 per lead. And, 23 of these leads requested a review. Our Facebook Decision making process accommodates smaller budgets: In our experience, even very small budgets – or no budgets – allow for effective boosted or organic posts featuring personal content from the advisor or blog content on hot topics to build brand awareness and website traffic.
Expanding 1st Party Data
The marketing and advertising world is coming to recognize the importance of using 1st party data. Purchased 3rd party data is often of low quality, and ineffective as it’s often sold to competitors. One way we work to expand our 1st party data is by focusing our targeting and messaging to reach high-net-worth users. We’ve been expanding the use of interest filters on Facebook with user experience in mind: Most people use Facebook in a highly personal way. They engage with content related to family and friends, and their lifestyle – not necessarily their finances. While many high-net-worth Facebook users have 401(k)s, they’re not necessarily going to like ‘401(k) pages,’ but they might like a page related to golf or travel. This expressed lifestyle information, as well as political information, can be used to target a desired demographic.
We are constantly updating our Facebook advertising best practices based on data and experience. Even in the absence of traditional in-person events, there is so much potential to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic and generate leads from Facebook. Get in touch to find out how this could work for you!
