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The 52: Go with the Marketing Flow
Week 24: Time your marketing for maximum effectiveness.
Week 24
Go with the Marketing Flow
Marketing effectiveness ebbs and flows with the seasons, and your marketing activities should match the natural rhythms. Here are the times when you should accelerate your marketing and when you should let your foot off the gas:
Winter through early spring (January–May): This is a prime marketing window. Take advantage of it by focusing on serious educational topics for your events and content, and include strong calls to action to schedule an appointment.
Summer school break (June–August): This is a less effective time for marketing, so keep your activities light, such as social events and fun content topics. Spend your extra time planning for the marketing you will do in the fall.
Early fall (September–mid-November): This is another prime marketing period. Take advantage of this short window to do as many campaigns as you can before the holidays.
The holidays (mid-November–New Year’s): This is probably the least effective period to market your business. Focus on relationship activities, such as sending cards, gifts, and invitations to social events. This is the perfect time to strategize next year’s marketing plan.
The 52: Build Your Email List
Week 23: Email is one of the best ways to reach prospects.
Week 23
Build Your Email List
Your email marketing list is one of your most valuable marketing assets. While social media sites can be a good way to reach new audiences, you have little control over those channels. The social media companies can change their algorithms or policies, nullifying your previously successful marketing efforts. Alternatively, your contacts can decide to reduce or quit their use of social media, making it impossible to reach them. But with email, you own the list, you control the message, and somewhere between 30% and 50% of the people on your list will open your email. Make building your email list a marketing priority.
The 52: Don’t Focus on SEO If No One Is Searching
Week 22: SEO works only if people are searching.
Week 22
Don’t Focus on SEO If No One Is Searching
I’ve been writing a lot about search engine optimization (SEO) lately, but should SEO be a priority for every advisor? The answer is no. Here are two examples when SEO will not do you any good:
You are in a smaller community where people aren't searching online to find a financial advisor.
Your niche doesn't know to look for a professional like you (e.g., a financial advisor for veterinarians).
Basic keyword research will tell you if people are searching for “financial advisor [your area]” or “financial advisor for [niche].” If the search volume is low, that means no one is searching for you. Don't spend more time on SEO other than standard website best practices. Instead, focus on creating high-quality content that people in your network want to consume and share.
The 52: Qualify Your Prospects Before Scheduling Meetings
Week 21: Stop wasting time on unqualified prospects.
Week 21
Qualify Your Prospects Before Scheduling Meetings
Meeting with unqualified prospects can be a huge time suck. To avoid this, screen your prospects to see if there is an initial fit before scheduling a formal hour-plus meeting. Here are some ways to do this:
Embed a qualifying questionnaire to your calendaring software or web form.
Make the first step be an initial 15-minute phone call to ask qualifying questions.
Have the receptionist/admin/junior advisor gather information using a qualifying questionnaire for prospects who call in.
If you determine someone is not a good fit, point them in the direction of someone who can better take care of their needs.
Interested in learning more about this topic? Join the conversation today at 11 a.m. PT on Clubhouse.
The 52: Make Client Events Social in 2021
Week 20: Have you started thinking about client events again?
Week 20
Make Client Events Social in 2021
As more states reduce COVID-19 restrictions, in-person client events will likely be an option again in the near future. But before you start your monthly “Lunch & Learns” back up, rethink your event strategy. I predict that after being cooped up for the last year, clients will be looking for social connection and entertainment (instead of education) when they decide on which events to attend. So plan your 2021 in-person client events to be fun and engaging, and keep your educational events online. And just to be safe, plan your in-person events to be outdoors as well!
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Paid Ads
Week 18: Boost your local SEO strategy with paid ads.
Week 18
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Paid Ads
The final area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is paid ads. While not technically considered local SEO, paid ads are one more way to show up on the first page of search results, which is why I include them as part of an overall SEO strategy.
There are two possible options for advertising on search results:
Paid Search Ads are the pay-per-click ads that look like organic search results and are found at the top and bottom of the page but are labeled “Ad.”
Local Services Ads are Google’s new pay-per-lead ads available in some geographic markets that are prominently displayed at the very top of the page.
Even if paid ads are not part of your long-term strategy, they can provide a quick way to help you appear in search results while your other local SEO efforts come to fruition.
P.S. Interested in learning more on this subject? Join me on June 3 at 11:30 a.m. PDT at the FPA NorCal Virtual Conference for my session, “Local SEO: How to Optimize Your Online Presence to Attract Local Prospects.”
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Organic Rankings
Week 17: Optimize the content on your company’s website.
Week 17
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Organic Rankings
The fourth area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is organic rankings. This is when a search engine like Google ranks your website on search results. When people say, “I want to be on the first page of Google,” this is the strategy they are talking about.
Optimizing your website for organic SEO is a complex topic, but in short, you need to:
Conduct keyword research to discover which local words people are using to find a service like yours
Optimize one webpage on your site for each of your keywords
Establish backlinks by having other websites link their content (e.g., articles, press releases) back to your site
There are other technical aspects as well that you should discuss with a web developer to implement.
P.S. Our next Niche Starter Kit starts next Friday! Take the next steps here.
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Review Sites
Week 16: Claim and enhance your review site profiles.
Week 16
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Review Sites
The third area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is review sites such as Yelp or Google My Business. While review sites have traditionally been dangerous territory for advisors, starting May 4, new SEC marketing rules will allow for advisors to solicit and promote reviews with some restrictions.
Similar to advisor listings, review sites frequently show up on the first page of search results for popular search terms. Google also uses reviews to confirm you are a local business, and reviews improve your chances of ranking in the local pack. To get started, focus your efforts on a few review sites as recommended back in Week 7.
P.S. Our next Niche Starter Kit begins in two weeks! Take the next steps here.
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Advisor Listings
Week 15: Add your company to advisor listings.
Week 15
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Advisor Listings
The second area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is advisor listings. These are the “find an advisor” sites that help connect consumers with financial advisors. These websites can be pay-per-lead sites like SmartAsset.com, professional association sites like FPA’s PlannerSearch, or paid listing sites like FeeOnlyNetwork.com.
Many advisor listing sites spend significant time and money on their local SEO strategy to appear on the first page of Google results ahead of local financial advisory firms. While not all these sites are going to be worth the cost, having a profile on sites that appear on the first page of Google results can lead to an increase in web leads.
P.S. Join Kristen Luke (@kristennluke) and Kristin Harad (@kristinharad) on Clubhouse this Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 1 p.m. PDT to discuss how to use videos in your marketing.
The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Local Pack
Week 14: How to show up in Google’s Local Pack.
Week 14
Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Local Pack
The first area of the five components of a local SEO strategy we discussed last week is the Local Pack. This comprises the three businesses that show up in the map portion at the top of Google search results. To improve your chances of being listed there, here are three non-technical steps you can take:
Complete your Google My Business profile as much as possible, including photos.
Make sure your name, address, and phone number are consistent across the internet using a service like Yext so Google can verify your location.
Get client reviews on Google My Business (RIAs will be able to do this after May 4).
P.S. Does this seem like a lot? Did you know that if you adopted a niche-focused expertise approach, you wouldn’t have to worry about keeping up with the latest local SEO tricks?
