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As more people obtain their CFP certification, it is becoming increasingly difficult for Advisors to prove their value over competitors.
It used to be common for small businesses to market themselves as a “one-stop shop.” This made sense when it was difficult to access a range of Financial Advisors. However, with the arrival of the Internet and powerful search engines, this has all changed. Now, trying to be a “one stop shop” offers much less competitive advantage in the overcrowded online market.
Many Advisors believe that by being a generalist, they are able to reach more people, which will lead to more potential clients. The reality is, it is difficult to sell everything to everyone. If you cast too wide of a net online, you won’t catch many fish at all. The challenge with a general audience is that your online messaging can become very generic and as a result, less persuasive and engaging.
So, you want to grow your business online, and gain a more effective online presence? Why is defining your niche market one of the first things you need to do?
Online niche marketing = More effective marketing
First off, what is niche marketing? According to Business Dictionary, “niche marketing is concentrating marketing efforts on a small but specific and well defined segment of the population. Niches do not ‘exist’ but are ‘created’ by identifying needs, wants, and requirements that are being addressed poorly or not at all by other firms, and developing and delivering services to satisfy them. As a strategy, niche marketing is aimed at being a big fish in a small pond instead of being a small fish in a big pond.”
The objective of Niche marketing is to become the expert and go-to for that service and audience, and develop a reputation as the preferred financial advisor for that market. Niche advisors become specialists with expertise in solving particular problems for a particular set of people with similar challenges. And because prospects see niche businesses as specialists, they are often more willing to pay a premium price for what they will perceive as being a higher level of expertise then generic Advisors.
In the digital age, is it no longer safe to be a generalist
You only have a split second, if you’re lucky, to catch a prospects eye when they are rifling through their Google search results. In a world where you are competing with thousands (millions even) of websites, the last thing you want to do is get buried because your content is generic. Ask yourself, with so many Advisors and content online, why should a prospect do business with you over another Advisor that they have come across in Google searches?
Build your online presence around your niche market
These days, the only way to grab someone’s attention is by providing them with something that is relevant and provides value. Instead of the risk of spreading yourself too thin by saying everybody is your potential client, niche marketing will help you to focus your online efforts and content on a specific group of people, and what their specific needs and wants are. You’ll quickly develop a deep understanding of what’s important to them, the ins-and-outs of their financial affairs, their problems and opportunities. From there, you will know exactly what content to create and share with your digital network; crafting valuable content that is specifically targeted towards their buyer journey and the challenges they are facing.
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The best way to ensure that your website content is valuable is to make sure it fits the criteria of informative, interesting andrelevant. If your content is informative, it will either answer a question often asked by your niche market, or provide valuable insights related to your niche market.
If your content is interesting, it is written in a way that makes your niche market want to read it. If your content is relevant, then it relates to the lives, challenges, work, or interests of your niche market. In order for your niche website to stand out and rank higher than the others, you’re going to need great niche centered content that is both interesting and valuable to readers and potential customers
Targeting keywords and content that align with your target audience’s search queries will also help in your Search Engine Optimization efforts; helping you to rank higher in your specialized niche market.