The Tricks and Treats of Digital Marketing

Eblasts, and websites, and tweets—oh my! Digital marketing is a growing trend for the financial industry, and its effects can be as frightfully good as this weekend’s Halloween festivities.  However, some may find choosing one of these many tactics more terrifying than a werewolf’s howl on a full moon night.

If you find yourself in double double toil and trouble when it comes to selecting a digital marketing approach—fear not! We’ve compiled a few spellbinding strategies for you to start promoting your practice and putting yourself out there online.

Email Marketing

The key to attracting new clients and retaining old ones is to keep your company name in the forefront. What better way to do so than digitally keeping up with your audiences on a consistent basis via email.  Email marketing serves as an easy and cost effective way for you to stay top of mind that is well received.  In fact, 980 affluent investors were surveyed on advisor communication through email.  Of those investors, 30.4% prefer weekly emails from their advisor, 36.6% prefer them on a monthly basis, 19.9% prefer emails quarterly and only 9.4% prefer to receive them annually.¹ Talk about scary good results!

Social Networking*

Gather up your favorite ghosts, ghouls and business connections to build your professional network online using social media. Through platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, you can provide firm news, share relevant content or give your opinion on an industry trend all at the click of a button.  Utilizing social networking allows you a space to promote your practice on one of the largest reaching mediums that is used not only by 75% of current advisors,² but also 73% of internet users as a whole.³

Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization, or “SEO,” is a set of strategies one can implement to help their website stand out in search engines by ranking them toward the top of the results page.  SEO can be both a trick and a treat for financial advisors.  SEO is tricky in that there are many complex ways of increasing your visibility on search engines ranging anywhere from providing keyword-rich content to hosting a mobile friendly website. However, SEO is also a treat because when executed properly, these tactics can help drive traffic to your site in hopes of attracting prospective clients.

Mobile Friendliness

Mobile friendliness can help the advisor to ensure that their website is gaining true visibility on all communication mediums.  As mentioned previously, mobile friendliness is an SEO tactic.  However, its effects have grown so increasingly prevalent that it is becoming its own aspect of digital marketing.  This is in part due to the population’s dependence on cell phones as a source of internet browsing.  According to studies, nearly nine out of 10 smartphone owners use their pones to access the internet or email.⁴ If you would like to learn more about delving into this wickedly effective strategy, visit our recent article “Go Mobile or Go Home.”

Using digital marketing may seem like a scary task due to the number of tactics available.  However, once you have selected one that best fits your needs, its use is sure to help liven up your marketing strategy and better reach clients and prospects.

* Please consult with your Compliance Department prior to using social media

Sources:

1. http://www.blueleaf.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Automated-Referrals-guide-by-Blueleaf.pdf

2. http://www.investmentnews.com/article/20150528/FREE/150529921/more-than-ever-advisers-make-a-splash-with-social-media

3. http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/

4. http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/07/11/smartphones-as-an-internet-appliance/