Financial Advisor Marketing: 10 Trends To Tap Into In 2017
A new year means it’s time to try new things! As the marketing landscape continues its swift evolution, it’s important for financial advisors to evolve with it, and that means adapting to modern marketing mediums. For New Year’s resolutions, advisors should plan to incorporate these 10 marketing trends into their plans for 2017:
- Animated Videos
Goodbye white papers, hello whiteboards! When it comes to animated videos and marketing, the two go hand-in-hand. With colorful graphics and a clever script, advisors can use animated videos as a way to engage with audiences and enhance their branding. The brevity of an animated video allows advisors to communicate key messaging and ideas without losing the attention span of potential clients. Additionally, by hosting a video on one of the most popular platforms, YouTube, advisors position themselves on a Google-owned property and the second largest search engine, leaving the possibility for a huge boost in SEO.
- Vlogging
Not only is YouTube a platform for advisors to host their animated videos, but it’s the perfect place for advisors to start vlogging. YouTube now has over a billion users (that’s one-third of all people on the Internet!) and with millions of hours of videos consumed every day, the site gives advisors the means to communicate “face to face” with audiences. Vlogging allows advisors to openly discuss the topics of their choice, and with the proper tools and equipment, presents a high quality product that enhances SEO and client communication.
- Live Streaming
With the rise in Periscope and Facebook Live, live streaming is a natural extension of video marketing. It’s cost effective in implementation and is an ideal tool for naturally building relationships with audiences. Advisors can use live streaming to give viewers an authentic behind-the-scenes look at the everyday going-ons of their practice. The medium also allows for direct engagement, creating a space for conversation between advisors and audiences.
- Podcasts
Podcasts are an extremely popular and creative way to increase visibility and provide information to your audience. Advisors can craft content with listeners in mind and provide information sessions, panel discussions, tips, trick and more. It’s important not to lose sight of entertainment value, though – as a solely audio platform, the need for engaging material is critical, as to not lose the attention of listeners.
- Social Media Advertising
In a cluttered sea of online content, social media advertising can be used to directly drive target traffic. Placed on user-friendly platforms, social media ads allow for customization to an advisors’ target demographic, increases visibility, provides an easy to measure ROI with conversion tracking – a record of when a social media ad leads to a consumer taking action – and improves SEO through consumer engagement.
- Infographics
With infographics, advisors can easily catch their target audience’s attention and create brand awareness. Just like an animated video, advisors can use and customize the graphics to engage with clients and potential clients in an easy to understand manner. The simplicity of the visual aid draws the attention of an advisor’s audience and results in social sharing for increased visibility and SEO.
- Local SEO
With 64 percent of consumers looking to the internet to find local businesses, implementing local SEO is an important tool for advisors. With an update in 2014, Google’s search engine began giving greater weight to local businesses that have location-focused keywords. By checking off action items, like having consistent contact information available online, positive feedback on business review platforms and optimizing keywords with an advisor’s city/state and offered services, advisors can boost local SEO for a highly targeted and timely return.
- Content Contributions
For an advisor to truly stand out, it’s vital to establish third-party credibility that verifies their expertise within the industry. Contributing content to print and digital publications is one of the best ways for an advisor to distinguish themselves from others. By utilizing niche, targeted publications, advisors can speak directly to their target demographic and position themselves as thought-leaders who are in the know of current events, issues and client concerns.
- Webcasts
Webcasts bring live streaming and video production together for an entirely unique marketing tool. Advisors can record and distribute live webcasts to promote services, conduct Q&A sessions, make formal announcements and more. The tool is cost effective and allows advisors to reach larger audiences – in a TalkPoint survey, more than 90 percent of businesses reported an increase in their ability to reach out to larger audiences when using webcasts.
- e-Learning Programs
In the evolving use of technology, incorporating e-Learning programs into an advisor’s practice is the next step in marketing. The programs provide clients and potential clients with the tools to learn more about the world of finance, what exactly is involved with the services they receive from advisors and other factors that impact their solicitation of business. Financial advisors can implement e-Learning programs to help shape clients’ knowledge, perception and decisions by offering targeted programs, ultimately adding value to clients’ experience.
Kelly Holcombe is an account executive at Flackable, a national financial public relations and digital marketing agency. Follow Kelly on Twitter: @kelly_holcombe.
