How to Use Google to Fine-Tune Your Marketing

Most advisors sound alike. They say similar things. They have websites that are hard to distinguish from each other. You probably do, too. And it’s one of the reasons you don’t attract as many clients and referrals as you want.

Effective marketing answers the ultimate question: why should I hire you over all the other advisors I could choose from? A part of that answer comes from inside your firm and part of it comes from outside. What do you do that addresses the unique needs, wants, and desires of your target client? And what is everyone else offering? Knowing the answer to that second question can be a big help in effectively answering the first.

There is an easy way to understand how your message differs from your competition – Google them.

Search financial advisors in your area. Make a list of firms you respect. Avoid the trap of comparing yourself to brokers and agents who only sell product – they are not your competition. Select firms similar to yours.

Try putting yourself in the shoes of an ideal client who realizes a need for a new financial advisor and begins a process of due diligence. (Maybe that’s a referral from a client.) What’s the experience they are looking to find? What problem are they trying to solve? And, in seeking an advisor, who are they likely to come across? Compare your message to the firms you turn up in that kind of search.

What is their value proposition?

How do they answer the ultimate question of “why us?”

Who is their target market?

What kinds of resources do they make available to visitors to help them get some insight into how to solve their problem?

How do they help visitors get to know them personally? Staff bios? Videos?

Related: A Simple Way to Make Your Service More Meaningful to Clients

What message do you promote on your website? How compellingly does it answer the ultimate question? Is it the message your clients wants their friend to see when they make a referral? If you were that ideal client searching for an advisor, and you were only going to follow up with one of the firms whose websites you visited, would it be yours?

An interesting experiment could be to cut and paste the homepage text from three of your competitors into a document then cut and paste the text from your own home page. Show them to half a dozen clients and see if they can identify which is yours. Find out which one they like the most.

Discovering how to create a unique and appealing message that differentiates you starts with knowing what is already available in the market. The good news is that’s easy to find!