Advisors know they need an online presence, but despite having a website, social media profiles, a mailing list and sometimes a company to manage them, they often don’t see results, Robert Sofia writes on ThinkAdvisor. This is because of false education, according to Sofia.
The Pitfalls of Online Marketing, and How to Create Real Growth
Despite using costly online marketing services, advisors see little growth in their audience or overall business, Sofia, co-founder and CEO of Snappy Kraken, writes. Cloned websites, automated posts and canned content don’t create growth — and even good content is worthless without an audience, he writes. Advisors must grow their audience in a meaningful way, and for this there are a couple of options, Sofia writes.
Firstly, it can be done organically with real-world networking, adding prospects to social media, building a subscriber list, or other grass-roots activities, according to Sofia. While this approach is very effective, it takes a lot of energy, time and commitment, he writes.
Another option is online advertising, which has yet to be adopted by most financial advisors, Sofia writes. With return on ad spend averaging $2 for every $1 spent on Facebook or Google, it seems a worthwhile investment, especially as advisors can net much larger returns with wealthy clients, according to Sofia.
Online advertising can target prospects based on criteria such as geography, demographics, interests and behaviour, or even those similar to existing clients, he writes. Once on a landing page, prospects can be retargeted with specific and repeated messages, which increases the chances of them becoming a warm lead, according to Sofia.
Furthermore, advertisements create repeat exposure, which builds brand awareness, he writes. Additionally, due to the flexible nature of online advertisement, channels can be changed, closed or doubled down on depending on performance, Sofia writes.
