Written by: Nigel Reid | Econnex x
Grow your client bank with modern marketing
Methods used in the financial services sector to attain new clients have remained the same over the last 5/10 years, even though changing consumer trends such as ‘researching online’, communicating through email, online chat, and social media have affected how consumers purchase any product or service.
These changes in consumer behaviour have ensured methods for generating clients which were effective over 5 years ago are substantially less effective today. The result, acquiring new clients has become more time consuming and costly.
Firms that have embraced their online presence and engage regularly with clients and prospects have grown substantially, and those that have continued to rely on the growth strategies of old, have crawled.
These new age digital tools are not just for large firms with large pockets and online presence. They are available for all, and can be used at all levels to increase client numbers and sales. At econnexx, we are so confident in our service that we guarantee clients an increase in sales. We know that if clients embrace these digital tools in the ways we have tried and tested they will achieve results.
Online tools are merely forms of communication to initiate conversation. Its starts off as a one-way conversation from the financial adviser, but if the content is interesting enough to the prospect it will become a 2 way conversation, leading to client acquisition and sales. Tools available such as your website and social media are merely channels to initiate and lead your online conversations.
When we develop strategies for clients of all sizes, we ask them to define their ideal client. From this we base our entire strategy on attracting and nurturing that ideal client.
Below we have detailed 4 steps to attract your ideal client:
Understand your ideal client's needs.
Before you can target and effectively attract your 'ideal client' you have to understand their needs. What is important to them when it comes to your service. Ask yourself what perceived problems do they have and how can your value proposition solve them?
Establish your ideal client's needs and identify the needs that would be attractive enough for them to engage with you. For example, typical high net worth individuals have 4 main reasons for seeking out financial advice. They are:
Know the character of your ideal client
By creating personas (fictional characters) of the type of people your ideal client is, you create a vision as to what interests they have, what pain points they may have (reasons for not engaging with you), and what type of information you can provide that will resonate with them as well as relieve pain points. By understanding the type of person you want to attract, you are able to develop a content strategy that appeals to their personality and needs.
Know how to connect with and appeal to your ideal client type
Almost 90% of consumers that purchase a financial product or service search online for information to educate themselves before they even consider seeking professional advice. Reaching prospective clients at the beginning of their journey is critical to attaining their business. By creating and distributing informative content through social media and blogging, that is relevant to your target client, you will attract their attention. By including links to downloadable offerings such as eBooks (see our eBook offer at the bottom of this post) you will capture their basic contact information should they choose to input their details to download and benefit from the offering. If they do, you have created a valuable contact.
Nurture their interest over time
By nurturing your contacts through automated personalised emails containing further valuable content that appeals to their needs, you draw them closer to a buying decision. When they reach the point of purchase it will be your firm they contact, as it was you who provided them with the information they sought, establishing their trust, whilst showcasing your knowledge and expertise.
The process of inbound marketing is tailored towards only attracting people who you want to attract. By using content marketing to distribute informative material you attract interest of prospective clients right at the very beginning of their buying journey, immediately establishing your firm as an informative resource on relevant matters. Through automated marketing you can then nurture interest until they are ready to commit.
Summary
The above steps are part of an overall marketing process with focus on maximising sales and minimising costs. Econnexx only deploy the most effective marketing strategies, strategies that we know generate measurable results for financial firms.
To find out in detail how you can attract high net worth clients download our definitive free guide How To Attract High Net Worth Clients in The Financial Sector .