5 Financial Advisor Prospecting Ideas to Grow Your Business

This article originally appeared on Advisorpedia on March 21st, 2022, and can be found here.

Prospecting can make or break a company as finding clients is crucial to keeping a business afloat. Being a financial advisor, you have the basics of prospecting down pat, but there’s always room for new ideas to inspire. Read on to discover 5 prospecting ideas you can use to grow your business.

1. Optimize Your Advisor Website

According to WPForms, 47% of people who make an online purchase of a service or product visit the company’s website first. That’s why our first tip is to make sure your site is ready to leverage any potential traffic.

So, how can you do that? Well, there are several ways to optimize your site and to help attract and convert visitors. These elements include:

Modern website design
Using a content management system
Providing a blog and value-add resources
Tracking performance with analytics
Integrating social media channels
Using a simplified site navigation
Implementing appropriate CTAs

These elements can help visitors self-qualify through your site, making it easy to increase the quality of prospects. The Tahoe Rim Wealth Advisors website offers a good great example of these tips in action:

Tahoe Rim Financial Advisors Website

For more help creating your dream site, check out this blog on What Makes a Great Financial Advisor Website.

2. Educate with Email Marketing

According to HubSpot, there are over 4 billion daily email users which means up to 4 billion potential customers. Take advantage of email marketing as it’s a great way to connect directly to potential customers to show off what services you offer, give updates, and even just check-in. Email marketing makes it easy to communicate with large amounts of people while also keeping your message personal. Just remember that when using email marketing:

Don’t Spam Customers with Emails, Space them Out
Do More than Just Advertise your Services
Ensure your Subject Lines are impactful
Use CTAs to Increase your Prospecting

Use Different Types of Emails (Welcome Emails, Reminder Emails, Etc.)

lead pilot email campaign example

Your goal when prospecting with email marketing is to inform your readers and give them the assurance they need to make a purchase. Help educate them on your services and advisory firm while also connecting with them by being more than just a business.

3. Link up with LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the most popular social media hosting almost 740 million users making it a wonderful site to network and prospect. After all, LinkedIn is a networking site first and social media second. Start by connecting with users, starting conversations, and joining groups. Interacting with new people in new places will allow you to throw out your “net” and link up with new prospects who are currently in the market for financial advising.

fmg suite social media post

Here Are Some Tips to Help you on LinkedIn.

USE LINKEDIN GROUPS

LinkedIn Groups allow advisors to connect with people and ideas which can help to promote your business and brand. Being part of a group is like having an “ear to the ground” where you can hear what your target audience is talking about, worried about, and excited about. Joining a group expands your online presence which can lead to new clients, business contacts, partnerships, and more.

groups window on LinkedIn

INTERACT WITH GROUPS AND COI (CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE)

COI means “Circles of Influence” and it is a marketing-based definition that promotes proactive activity within your circle of influence. The group you join on LinkedIn essentially becomes your circle of influence, so being active in your group regarding issues or topics of discussion will further establish your credibility and continue to build your online network of followers.

4. Socialize with Social Media

Socializing is a great way to attract prospects. LinkedIn is a great place to start but don’t limit yourself. Other social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are great sites to further your reach generate more leads, and attract more clients. To put it in perspective, LinkedIn has around 740 million users while Facebook has around 1.9 billion active daily users.

Social media will allow financial advisor to show off their creative side. Instead of posting about how the current market is like you do on LinkedIn, try creating an interesting video or fun picture to boost audience engagement. Let your followers see you as a person and not just an advisor. Humanizing businesses creates a greater sense of trust and reliability which is a surefire way to increase your prospects. Adzooma states that 35% of people say they prefer brands to talk in a friendly and conversational way.

social media post from vanguard

The hardest part of using social media is discovering what gains traction and brings in an audience. This depends on your field of business and in this case, it’s financial advising. We know how difficult it can be to create impactful content for social media, but we welcome you to read our blog on Developing Social Media Content Strategy to boost your social game and bring in new prospects.

5. Cooperate with the Community

The way the public sees a company or business is almost as important as the products/services they provide. If you’re in bad standing with your local community the odds of your advisory agency being successful is very low. Fortunately, it goes both ways, a great way to gain prospects and standing is by engaging with your local community. Try volunteering at charity events, sponsoring local events, or donating to charities under your business’s name.

Try joining an organization for even more involvement. You’ll meet like-minded people who might become clients or refer you to potential customers. Be aware though, don’t join an organization just to advertise your services. Do something that you’re passionate about, people will notice your authenticity and want to help you. Being part of a community is all give-n-take.

community engagement social media post

Some great organizations to look into as financial advisors are United Way, American Heart Association, and of course Toys for Tots. Also, be sure to look for organizations in your local communities to get involved with.

A lot goes into prospecting for new clients, advisors have to promote themselves and their services which can be a bit overwhelming at times. That’s where we come in, our blog posts are designed to help financial advisors succeed. Sharing useful news about current trends along with the best tips and tricks to be a top-ranking advisor. We welcome you to visit the rest of our blog and read at your own pace, you won’t regret it.