MARKETING STRATEGIES
[email protected] • Financialmedia.marketing • 877-799-3433 2 For Professional Use Only FMM2022SocMediaMarket There are two essential phases to building a reliably profitable business. It is finding customers and keeping customers. Simple, right? As a financial professional, the chances are that keeping customers happy is your specialty. Once you’ve got a customer, you’re great at keeping them happy. You deliver great products and advice, and your customers trust that you’ve got their best interests at heart. That’s why they come back to you when they’re ready to make changes in the future. That’s good for them and good for you. The trick is getting those customers in the first place. And that depends on a few things: knowing who you’re trying to reach, making it easy for them to find you, and communicating why you’re the best choice to deliver what they need.
[email protected] • Financialmedia.marketing • 877-799-3433 3 For Professional Use Only FMM2022SocMediaMarket Know Your Customer Everyone eventually needs financial guidance no matter who they are, whatever age, industry, or walk of life. This means, theoretically, everyone is your customer. But in reality, you likely have a more focused approach to the market. You have a “perfect prospect” of who fits a particular demographic. It might be an age range you work best with, an industry you’ve targeted, or a geographic region you’re focused on. Whatever it is, that’s your target demographic. Different demographics need different marketing tactics because they’re looking for different things. • Specific industries, like Federal service, have specialized retirement plans that require specialized knowledge to navigate. • Some geographic areas have higher or lower costs of living, which impacts how much people can save for the future. • And different age ranges have very different priorities and goals for their stage of life. • Baby Boomers are closing in on retirement or already retired, and they probably don’t love social media and still read newspapers or listen to terrestrial radio. • Gen Xers are still building wealth. They’re more likely to be on Facebook or Twitter and tend to like statistics and evidence-based messaging. • Millennials might just be getting out from under college debt and are only now starting to think about retirement investing. They probably prefer messaging apps to social media and trust friends and family more than marketing campaigns. • Gen Z may still be in school or just starting their careers. So they may not be thinking about retirement at all. Chances are they’re more reachable through their parents. The better you can define your target demographic, the better you can focus your marketing and messaging to capture their interest and convert them into happy long-term customers.
[email protected] • Financialmedia.marketing • 877-799-3433 4 For Professional Use Only FMM2022SocMediaMarket Deliver A Great Website Experience • It’s got to load fast. People are impatient and will only give you seconds before they click away. • It’s got to be easy to navigate. If they can’t immediately tell where to click to get the information they’re looking for, you’ll lose them. • It needs clear messaging that satisfies any stage of one’s journey. Prospects who are just starting their high-level research need different information than people who have already educated themselves, developed preferences, and are ready to choose. • It should provide “social proofs.” That means testimonials from actual customers because prospects are more likely to choose a product or service that’s already worked well for people like them. • It needs lots of clear Calls To Action (CTA). At any point, on any page, it should be obvious and easy to take the next step, whether that’s Whoever your target prospect is, if they’re looking for more information about you, they’ll expect to find it on your website. Your site is the core of your internet presence: it’s your business card, your storefront, your product catalog, and your best brochure all in one. It’s your best opportunity to show why you’re the trusted authority they need. And it’s available to anyone, anywhere, 24/7/365. Their experience on your site is critical and should provide two important things. downloading information, initiating an email or chat, or filling out a form to request a follow-up. • And your site needs to work well on a desktop, a laptop, and mobile. We live in a “mobile-first” world. You’re behind the game if your site doesn’t work just as well on the phone. Even if you’re a seasoned website developer, you should probably work with a professional to ensure your site delivers these critical technical considerations, so you can concentrate on providing for your prospects and customers. A Frictionless Experience
[email protected] • Financialmedia.marketing • 877-799-3433 5 For Professional Use Only FMM2022SocMediaMarket Good navigation and pretty pictures aren’t enough; they’re on your site for a reason. They’re either trying to decide what product to buy or determining who to buy it from. If you can help them make both those decisions, you’ve got a much better chance of turning that prospect into a customer. Maybe they’re considering life insurance, LTC coverage, or trying to understand if an IRA or a Roth IRA will be best for them. It’s a big decision with life-changing consequences, and they’ve come to your site to demystify that process. Quality, Authoritative Information If your site delivers quality original content that helps them understand the product better and moves them toward a decision, you’ll gain both their appreciation and trust, and they’ll be that much closer to taking action and asking for your help. Of course, your competitors are also doing their best to deliver great content. How can you be sure what you’re offering differentiates you from the competition? Step one is knowing your competition inside and out. Research them from the mindset of a prospect, and check out their web presence. Look at their site and their social media. What services do they offer? What are their strengths and weaknesses? How exactly do their offerings compare with yours? Then craft your messaging in a way that displays your unique value proposition, in sharp contrast to your competitors. Whether it’s your product mix, unique expertise in a particular region or industry, a better understanding of their demographic, or answering the question “why you?” in a way that clearly says “because I’m the best choice.” Excellent content is critical, but it’s also tricky to do it right. Not every expert is an excellent writer, so don’t be afraid to seek help. Working with a content professional can leapfrog your site’s ability to communicate your expertise, authority, and value, turning shoppers into buyers.
[email protected] • Financialmedia.marketing • 877-799-3433 6 For Professional Use Only FMM2022SocMediaMarket Be Easy To Find Of course, just having that excellent website with easy navigation and perfect content won’t do you any good if your prospects can’t find you. There are essentially two ways that happens: organically and through paid advertising. “Organically” means turning up in the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) when prospects put search terms into a search engine like Google. If Google’s algorithm thinks that you and your content are authoritative and trustworthy, you should appear at or near the top of the SERP. That’s gold right there, because you’re getting in front of prospects actively searching what you offer—all without paying for an ad. That’s what SEO is all about. Credkeeper™, a patent-pending software application, automatically shares customized content to websites and social media platforms, making your content more searchable, so that your clients will see you as the go-to authority in your niche. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a complex, subtle, and specialized skill set. It’s no longer about stuffing your pages full of the right keywords (that’s a tactic that died a decade ago). All kinds of technical aspects are far better handled by an SEO pro. After all, every minute you spend managing your SEO is a minute you’re not spending closing new business and servicing your existing customers. Organic SEO
[email protected] • Financialmedia.marketing • 877-799-3433 7 For Professional Use Only FMM2022SocMediaMarket Even with the best SEO, you’re going to benefit from some paid advertising. Some say ads don’t work because “ad blindness” has set in, and people simply tune ads out or use ad blockers. But the reality is, ads work. Studies show that most users believe ads have helped them make important buying decisions. The trick is writing highly actionable ad copy, targeting your specific prospects where they gather online, tracking their interactions with your ads, and retargeting the prospects who have seen or clicked your ad with follow-up ads to move them toward conversion. Paid Advertising Phew. That’s a lot. Now, you could study marketing psychology and take courses in Google’s ad platform and Facebook advertising. Then learn how to crunch the data and use it to run A/B tests to optimize your campaigns. But like SEO, paid advertising is a specialized skill set, and you’re best served by working with a professional. Because the time you spend honing new advertising skills is time you’re not spending closing new prospects and taking care of your existing customers.
[email protected] • Financialmedia.marketing • 877-799-3433 8 For Professional Use Only FMM2022SocMediaMarket Partner With A Comprehensive Marketing Services Provider Your success online depends on three things: • A great site with content that communicates your unique authority and value. • A site & content that’s SEO optimized to be found through organic search. • And a paid advertising strategy that brings qualified traffic to your site when SEO isn’t enough. That’s a lot for one person to manage, especially someone who’s not an expert in any of those fields. Look, you’re great at what you do. That’s why clients choose to work with you because you can deliver what they can’t do on their own. Similarly, you should be working with a digital marketing pro who can provide what you can’t. Services like Credkeeper™ (CDK) can provide a one-stop-shop, managing every aspect of your online presence. A digital marketing professional can make sure your website’s SEO satisfies Google’s algorithm, and keep the site updated with fresh quality content. They will add solicit client reviews, so you have the “social proof” that Google wants, design and manage paid ad campaigns that deliver, and more. Once you understand how significant your web presence is to building a successful business, it becomes clear that partnering with a digital marketing professional to develop your business is a smart move. It takes all the technical and content responsibilities off your plate and puts them in the hands of professionals, so you can focus on what you do best, which is closing new business and taking great care of your clients.
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