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A common mistake many advisors make is to look to lead generation as a short-term solution to a dwindling pipeline, with bursts of activities such as cold calls, direct mail, email blasts, or scheduling webinars. While these can sometimes work to fill the void temporarily, they can be very time-consuming, inefficient, and unpredictable.
To ensure a constant flow of qualified leads, lead generation must be built into your daily practice as a machine continuously attracting leads to your pipeline. Fortunately, with digital technology tools, generating qualified leads is easier than ever.
Here are the essential tools available to any advisor seeking to create a systematic process for generating non-stop qualified leads:
#1. A high-quality website
Your website should be the hub of all your lead-generation efforts. Regardless of how people learn about you, they will check your website, so it needs to make a good impression. The design must be clean, contemporary, professional-looking, clutter-free, easy to navigate, and mobile-friendly.
More importantly, it must clearly communicate a value proposition that appeals to your ideal client, backed by valuable and compelling content that will induce visitors to want to learn more about you. Every page on your website should include a visible and persuasive call to action offering visitors the chance to learn more about your services.
When integrated with an inbound marketing strategy, your other digital lead generation tools will drive traffic to your website, where they should be greeted with a landing page offering free downloads that can convert visitors into leads. Lead magnets, such as newsletters, helpful guides, interactive tools, courses, and videos, can be used to capture email and other contact information. You can promote your lead magnets across your website, blog, emails, and social media to drive more traffic.
AdvisorWebsites.com offers end-to-end customized website creation and management for financial advisors.
#2. High-quality content
To establish any online presence, you need content. Your target market spends a lot of time online looking for content that interests and informs them. The only way to be visible and engage with a targeted audience is through content with a unique voice and something relevant and compelling to say. Using lead generation tools such as a blog, targeted email campaigns, and social media, you push your content out regularly, and if they find it valuable, they will visit your website, follow your blog, follow you on social media, and share it with others.
The goal of content marketing is to build a reservoir of targeted prospects who opt in to receiving your content because they find it to be of value. Once in the funnel, a content marketing system begins to track their activities – when they visit your website, what they do when they’re there, what emails they open, and how they respond – and then adapts the content to their distinct needs, preferences, and behaviors. Rather than receiving one-size-fits-all content, your prospects and clients receive content seemingly intended for them.
HubSpot is considered by many to be the top overall content marketing platforms.
#3. A high-quality blog
Many advisors are turning to blogging as their most essential and affordable lead-generation tool. Blogging regularly can increase your visibility and differentiate you as a high-profile thought leader.
Posting to your blog regularly with valuable and timely content gives visitors a reason to keep returning. When they begin to engage with you by leaving comments or sharing posts with others, you know you have an interested and likely qualified lead. You can increase followers by promoting your blog on your website, in emails, and on social media.
You can increase exposure to your blog and website by reposting your content to your social media profiles, where it can draw more followers and can easily be shared.
WordPress is the industry standard for end-to-end blog creation and management.
#4. Active social media profiles and pages
Most people today use social media. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn, everyone is looking for information and ideas, as well as other people with shared interests. By actively participating in online conversations, you expand your online presence while building social capital.
As with the content offerings on your website and blog, it’s critical to provide value by sharing helpful and interesting information and ideas, participating in relevant groups and discussions, and engaging with your audience. People will follow you, and when they do, it’s an opportunity to direct them to your website or blog.
Hootsuite is a social media management tool favored by advisors to systematize their activities and responses.
#5. Automated email campaigns
Email marketing has evolved from blindly blasting out generic and often annoying content to everyone in hopes of getting anyone to open your emails to a fully automated content marketing system that can drive traffic to your website, capture them as leads, and convert them into prospects while tracking their entire journey.
Once leads are activated, you can see how they are engaging with you across all your digital channels. You will know when they visit your website and what they do when they’re there. With each action they take, your content marketing system automatically sends a prepared response to keep the engagement going. When engagement reaches a high level, it’s time to convert them into a prospect.
Constant Contact and MailChimp are among the top tools to create and manage email marketing campaigns.
The only way to ensure a constant stream of qualified leads cost-effectively is with a systematic marketing strategy that integrates these essential digital lead generation tools. Developing and implementing can take time and resources, but you don’t have to build it all at once. Add one tool at a time and take time to perfect it. Then add the next one. Done right, it will be a reliable and sustainable source of high-quality leads.