By Zoe Menendez, Senior Digital Media Manager for Simplicity Lone Beacon.
When it comes to digital marketing, lead generation is the name of the game. Platforms like Meta and LinkedIn make it easier than ever for financial advisors to generate quality leads that then eventually become clients. However, when your overall goal is to close business, it’s easy to get hyper-focused on bottom-of-the-funnel leads–leads that are highly interested in your business and close to making a purchasing decision with you. While in theory you might want to put all your sales and marketing attention into the leads who are highly interested in working with you, it can actually hurt your marketing strategy in the long run.
Before we jump into the weeds, it’s important to first know what a lead funnel is. A lead funnel is the process a prospect goes through on the way to becoming a client. This typically consists of 3 main stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversion. Each of these stages in a prospect’s decision making process can be characterized by distinct timelines, mindset, and preferences. Based on these traits, tailored lead conversion strategies are necessary to help you ultimately turn those leads into clients… and each stage is equally important. Now, let’s dive into these stages and what they mean for you.
Top-of-Funnel Awareness Leads
Top of funnel leads are leads who have probably never heard of your firm before, but they want to learn more. They likely saw your ad on Meta or Google, wondered how their financial strategy could be improved, and willingly opted themselves into your sales funnel. These leads can come in the form of newsletter sign-ups, guide or whitepaper downloads, or webinar sign-ups, and these will be the cheapest leads to get from a digital campaign. The leads that come in at this stage in the funnel are most likely not ready to meet with you right away because they’re still getting to know you. This means that to keep them engaged with your brand, their interest needs to be nurtured by weekly emails, phone calls, and remarketing ads.
However, just because their intent is lower when they enter the funnel, it doesn’t mean they should be ignored. They’ve started this process for a reason so now you need to let the rest of your marketing do what it’s meant to do – push them down the funnel! Also, having these leads consistently coming in ensures your database never dries up and you always have new people to connect with.
Middle-of-Funnel Consideration Leads
Leads at this stage in the funnel have probably had some introduction to your firm in the past and they already know a little bit about you. Maybe they get your weekly eblast, follow you on social media, or were a lead years ago that still keeps up with you. The leads at this stage in the funnel are mostly going to be event leads, some direct-to-appointment leads, and some webinar sign-ups (yes, there is some crossover here with top of funnel webinar sign-ups). These leads are people who are ready to come in and meet with you or attend an event or webinar where they can hear you speak to learn more. The intent of these leads is higher, and you’ll notice that as you talk to them. They’ll still need some nurturing, but they’re on their way to deciding whether to work with you or not.
Bottom-of-Funnel Conversion Leads
Bottom of the funnel leads are serious about taking the next step in the relationship with your business and want to meet with you now. These leads are mainly referral leads, direct-to-appointment leads, event leads, and other people whom you may have met already or had a phone conversation with. While these leads are every advisor’s main goal, due to the high-intent nature of these leads, the lead flow tends to be on the slower side, meaning it might take them a lot longer to go from being at the bottom of your lead funnel to becoming a client than it did for them to go from the top of the funnel to the middle. Think about it: they’re so close to deciding about putting their savings in your hands–one of the biggest decisions of their life! That’s going to take some consideration time. If your campaigns focus only on these leads, then your database and call sheet can dry up pretty quickly and can leave you ultimately missing your sales targets.
It’s important to note that not many people become a bottom of the funnel lead after their first interaction with your brand, which is why taking a full-funnel approach to your digital marketing strategy is so important. At Simplicity Lone Beacon, we can help you manage all stages of your lead funnel. We create digital strategies for our advisors that focus on getting as many quality leads in the top and middle of the funnel as we can. Then, we let our email nurturing and digital remarketing handle pushing leads down to the bottom of your funnel. If you want to learn more about how your firm can use digital marketing campaigns to help fill your sales funnel, reach out to one of our representatives today!
About the Author: Before Zoe came to us she worked with two well-known New England advertising agencies where she honed her skills at digital marketing serving both local and national accounts. She attended Johnson and Wales University where she won two national collegiate advertising titles and graduated with a BS, as well as an MBA in Advertising and Marketing. Zoe is a native New Englander and grew up in New Hampshire, but happily for us left for the city life in Boston where she resides and is a proud mom to her cat, Winston.
Edited by Graeme Mills, Content Manager
