By Craig Foster, Simplicity Lone Beacon’s Director of Digital Media.
Do you have a radio or a TV show? Are you running ads on radio and TV programs? Are you not seeing the results that you expected from them? If you’re not seeing the results, the reason may not be what you think it is. You might think the reason for lackluster results is the time the show is on or what show the ads are playing on. It could also cross your mind that the radio or TV station doesn’t serve the demographics you are looking at. It could also be the content of your ad or TV show is just not connecting to the audience. But it could be something else most financial advisors don’t think of.
In reality, the reason you may not be seeing the results you expect is that you don’t have the right digital marketing plan that should go along with your radio and/or TV marketing. You may wonder why it is important to have the right digital marketing plan in order to increase the leads you get from your radio and TV campaigns. For starters, most people when watching tv or listening to the radio do not always have a computer or device to call or go to your website. So, they may write your name or try to remember who you are, but nothing more. The next step they will take is to do an online search to try and get to your website and that’s where you could be losing leads to competitors.
You might not think this is a problem if you have good SEO rankings, but if you look at the anatomy of a search result, you can see why SEO alone is not good enough for protecting your brand and making sure that everyone who is searching for you finds you.
In the examples above, you will see a typical search result on a desktop computer and a mobile phone. As you can see, the top of the webpage and mobile search results are dominated by ads. You may not think this is a big deal because people are still searching for your company name or URL that you gave them in your ads. However, by looking at more detailed data on where people focus and click on a webpage, you will see why a top page crowded with ads can actually trump good SEO results.
As you can see from this image, people tend to click on the first thing that they see, and, in our experience, people do not always read the results. They assume that the first thing they see is what they are looking for, especially amongst the retiree or pre-retiree demographic. If one or two of your competitors are using Google Search Ads and have your financial advisory firm in their keywords, they are now eligible to show in the search results and, in most cases, in the first couple of spots, meaning they could be stealing clicks and prospects that are expressly searching for you.
The best way to address this issue is to run your own well-targeted ads and set up a Google Search Ads campaign. This campaign would go beyond just helping you capture your radio and TV ads but also help you capture the people searching for the products and services that you provide to them. And in terms of how it helps your radio and tv campaigns, we have found that clients running Google Search Ad campaigns see a 15-20% increase in leads.
Google Search Ad leads also tend to be lower in the funnel and you will have a better chance of converting these leads into appointments. And we all know the more appointments you can book, the newer clients you can close. The reason Google Search Ads are lower in the funnel is that when people search for something on Google, they typically have a need. If a prospect goes onto Google and searches “how do I rollover a 401k?”, in most cases that prospect is looking to rollover a 401(k), and if they come to your website and you have the right information on it, they will fill out a form and give you a chance to book that appointment and help them with the rollover.
If you feel like your radio and tv campaigns are underperforming and you need a boost for those campaigns, follow this advice or talk to a financial advisory marketing company like Simplicity Lone Beacon to help you create the right solution to enhance those campaigns.
About the Author: Craig comes to us after 7 years at an agency and working independently in digital marketing, focusing on digital campaign creation and strategy. He did most of his work solving data problems and coming up with data-driven solutions and strategies. Craig grew up in the Boston area and graduated with a BS in Business Administration from Johnson and Wales University. When not working on digital marketing you might find him coaching a CrossFit class or spending time with his daughter.
