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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
As a former trial lawyer, searching for evidence comes naturally. When I’m presented with an opinion on any subject, my first thought is, “What’s the data that supports that view?”
This orientation has served me well. Often, I find there’s no support. Sometimes, research shows the opposite view is more accurate.
The pandemic has generated very different inquiries than pre-pandemic. Advisors want to know how to market their services virtually. In your quest for the “magic bullet,” you have many vendors (including my firm) vying for your business.
Ask all of us a variation of the question above: “What’s the data that supports your view that engaging in that initiative is likely to generate more AUM?”
Looking in the wrong direction
A recent inquiry illustrates something quite common. An advisor called asking how our digital marketing services could increase his AUM. He told me he was very disappointed with his current provider.
When I asked for details, he said he had been paying a retainer of $2,500 per month with the goal of generating more traffic to his website. While his traffic had increased significantly, nothing came of it.
No leads. No new prospects.
When I analyzed the underlying data from Google Analytics, I found the vendor was using some standard practices to generate more traffic, but those visitors quickly exited the website soon after arriving. There was no targeting to a specific demographic or screening to identify potential visitors who might be good prospects for the firm.
My first recommendation was to stop paying for digital marketing until we developed a plan.
While your focus is often on increasing AUM, saving on unnecessary expenses will have a dramatic impact on your bottom line.
Doing your homework before engaging in new marketing initiative is essential. Action doesn’t always equate to progress.
A lack of data
Here’s an anomaly.
You’re well-versed in data that informs your investment philosophy, but often ignorant of evidence that should be the foundation for your marketing.
Your website should be the cornerstone of your marketing. When I receive an inquiry from an advisor interested in refreshing or replacing a website, my first question is, “How is your current website performing?”
Inevitably, there’s an awkward silence.
Marketing Services For Evidence-Based Advisors...and a New Book!
We offer consulting services on how to convert more prospects into clients through Solin Consulting, a division of Solin Strategic, LLC.
We offer a full range of digital marketing services exclusively to evidence-based advisors through Evidence Based Advisor Marketing, LLC . You can see examples of our work here.
I'm working on a new self-help book for the general public. It's called:
Ask
How to Relate to Anyone
Ask will be published in mid-2020. For more information, click here.
Schedule a call with Dan here
Asking this question wasn’t my idea. I was searching for evidence about how we could maximize the impact of websites we design when I came across this insightful article by Neil Patel, an internet-marketing consultant.
Patel argues you first need to understand how your current website is functioning before you change it. Otherwise, you may be discarding what’s working and substituting something less effective.
Fortunately, gathering critical data about your website isn’t difficult. I recommend installing tools like Smartlook or HotJar to track user behavior. Both have free versions which might be adequate for your purposes, at least initially.
Smartlook permits you to look up people who visited a specific URL or came from a certain city. You can see their journey on your website and know when they are repeat visitors. It has many other features.
Hotjar gives you a heatmap of your website which visually represents clicks, taps and scrolling behavior.
When you combine this information with the awesome data provided by Google Analytics, you will be well positioned to better understand how your website is performing.
For more information about marketing and branding opportunities with Dan’s upcoming book, Ask: How to Relate to Anyone, click here.
Read more articles by Dan Solin
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
