By Mike Schaffman, Simplicity Lone Beacon’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Building and sustaining a quality digital brand requires discipline and creativity. Financial advisors operate in one of the most highly commoditized industries where authenticity and trust reign supreme. Here are three important keys to consider for a successful digital brand.
When was the last time you thought about your brand? I mean really thought about it…
For the most part, every advisor across the country has the same stock market and has the same annuity or insurance product to work with. The financial industry is arguably more competitive than the beverage industry, where giant brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi, Co. have gone toe-to-toe for decades just to carve out a sliver more of market share.
Now, as an advisor, you’re dealing with people’s hard-earned life savings. Choosing an advisor is one of the most difficult and time-consuming buying decisions a consumer will make in their entire lifetime. And the rest of their lives depend on it. No pressure, but if I were you, I’d check out this quick list of three keys to help you take market share and operate a successful digital brand.
#1 – Establish Your Identity
It all starts with your “thing” and how you can make it irrefutable. How do you think (and want) your clients and prospects to perceive your brand? Can you answer this question in a sentence or two: Why You Versus Anyone Else? To help, I encourage you to check out Kirby Mack’s latest blog, “Is Your Company’s Brand a Sign of the Times? Here’s When It’s Time to Consider a Rebrand” that covers some common questions you should be asking yourself to see if your brand is still representing your company, its products, and its values to the fullest.
Buying decisions are rooted in emotions, so try to identify the ways you’re creating personal connections for your company with the clients and prospects you aim to serve. You’d be surprised at how much your retention rate increases, client share of wallet increases, the amount of referrals received increases, and how conversion rates increase when you properly evaluate and establish your brand identity.
#2 – Showcase Your Credibility
Expertise is intertwined with credibility. While it’s nice to see XYZ letters after your name, for the advanced education and tests you’ve passed, it’s not always all about your credentials. Remember, there’s a wirehouse and an independent shop right down the road from you, all with the same credentials you have, who are readily trying to win over business from your firm.
Have you started utilizing testimonials throughout your marketing given the recent passing of new SEC legislation? What about a written referral strategy, do you have one in-place? Live events and on-demand webinars too, are you utilizing those? These are easy and transparent brand marketing methods that you can deploy to strengthen your brand identity.
#3 – Increase Your Visibility
Consistency and omnichannel marketing will be your best friends here. But first, let’s not forget about your best brand ambassadors. You may be thinking clients, which there’s certainly an argument for, but it’s actually your staff. In Ben Kulis’ latest blog, “Harnessing the Power of Employees: Transforming Them into Brand Advocates” he covers one often overlooked asset to a robust brand strategy, which is lying right under your nose, your employees. What better way to deliver authenticity to your marketplace than to have the heartbeat of your organization advocating for your brand. It’s genuine, authentic, believable, and it’s compelling.
Communication will be critical for you here and I encourage you to start with your database email marketing strategy. This is where discipline comes in but creating and distributing a weekly email to your database of clients and prospects, with quality content, will help you unlock greater brand awareness. It’s okay to double dip here with social media, too. Wwhy not efficiently re-purpose your email content into consistent company Facebook and LinkedIn posts, which you can re-post and re-share on your own personal networks. Digital ad campaigns and content rich landing pages are great ways to reach prospects, where you can also sprinkle in a little remarketing strategy to stay top of mind with your existing clients when they’re browsing the web. Finally, consider ways that you can increase consistency and frequency through the use of opt-in SMS text message marketing, and reach your consumers where they “live” constantly.
If you’re not adding your brand to your list of 2024 marketing initiatives, then prepare to lose market share and momentum in this highly competitive industry.
About the Author: Mike Schaffman joined Simplicity Lone Beacon in 2015, pioneering their core marketing platform, creating content and connecting media and broadcast components with a turnkey digital solution. Mike helped transform Simplicity Lone Beacon’s offerings and solutions into one of the leading independent financial advisor marketing services in the country today. When he’s not in the office, Mike enjoys playing golf and hockey and likes to experiment in the kitchen.
