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Throughout the second half of 2020, Red Zone Marketing conducted four comprehensive surveys of thousands of financial professionals to see how they are conducting marketing given the constraints of social distancing and other effects of the pandemic.
We learned the top marketing strategies that are actually generating new business, uncovered the exact resources, how to’s and specific strategies.
The result is a checklist you can use to evaluate your proficiency and potential areas you may want to upgrade in order to increase new business in 2021.
1. Upgrade Your Client Experience:
The number one new business driver for financial professionals is referrals. And the number one way to generate referrals is not through asking, but as a result of the experience generated for clients. 51% of advisors received the same amount of referrals in 2020 as in 2019. 33% of top producers (over $800,000 in revenue) received MORE than in 2019. The difference? The commitment to the client experience which includes communications, focus on the ease of doing business and an emotionally engaged client base.
How is your client experience? Is 2021 the time for a rethink or refresh and also increase your referrals?
2. Update Your Website – the Homebase for Your Business:
When a prospect arrives at your website is your differentiator clear? Will they be persuaded to look further and contact you? Is there valuable content on your site to share your knowledge and calls to action to engage your ideal website visitors?
Is it time to update your website? Think value proposition, differentiators and calls to action as possible improvements to engage your best prospects.
3. Refresh Your Content Marketing Strategy to Drive Prospects Inbound
Use content marketing to post interesting content – blogs, podcasts, videos, webinars on topics deemed interesting by your target prospects. For instance, release a quick video on a topic that speaks to your target market. One advisor has just recorded this: “Within 10 Years of Retirement? Learn 5 strategies for growing and protecting what you have during volatile times.”
Is it time for Content Marketing? The fastest growing area of marketing for financial professionals is content marketing. Is 2021 the time to start driving more idea prospects to your firm? (If you don’t want to create content and manage it on your own, consider Lead Pilot – they have an amazing, one-of-a-kind portal for truly driving leads to you through content marketing).
4. Add a virtual entertainment event
Financial advisors have found success doing virtual wine tasting, virtual bingo, virtual cooking classes and virtual traveling around the world. These events have absolutely generated new clients for financial professionals, are efficient and inexpensive ways to engage, and are fun! Virtual entertainment events have proven to be powerful referral catalysts as well because they make it easy for a client to invite a friend (your new prospect) to participate in an event like virtual wine tasting.
Virtual Entertainment Events? Is it time to add something new and different to your mix of marketing?
5. Virtual Prospecting – Is it here to stay?
67% of financial professionals believe prospecting and selling can be done virtually. 80% conducted at least 1 prospect meeting (56% of top producers conducted more than 6 virtual prospect meetings) in 2020. 71% of those closed at least one meeting. Just because you are not face-to-face doesn’t mean your prospecting has to come to a halt.
Is it time to improve your virtual prospecting skills? Here’s a Red Zone Marketing guide that may help: Virtual Prospecting Resource Guide: Strategies for Closing More Meetings.
6. Social Media Prospecting: Use LinkedIn Sales Navigator
One of the most profitable ways to reach new prospects is to use the vast resources of LinkedIn Sales Navigator. It is a paid tool within LinkedIn that will help you build targeted connections, follow up, deliver valuable content, and schedule qualified prospect calls.
Prospecting on Social Media? The time is now to check it out. Social Advisors has a program that will do it for you if you don’t want to take the time to do it yourself.
7. Email Works to Convert Clients
Having a strategy to continually reach out to interested prospects through email campaigns and email newsletters have proven in 2020 to still be effective in new business development and likely will be throughout 2021.
Email Marketing: Evaluate your content, analytics, and results. Is it time for an upgrade to your email marketing strategy?
We wish for you a successful, profitable and happy 2021!
Related: Advisors: What is the Message that Your Marketing Sends?