The New ABCs to getting great returns on your marketing investment!

In Glengarry Glen Ross, Alec Baldwin says “Coffee is for closers.” In 2018, coffee is for converters – Always Be Converting.  By following the lead of top converting marketers, you could increase your conversion rates by 300% to 400%!

If you listen to the top industry consultants, trade magazines and conference speakers; digital marketing has mainstreamed for financial advisors and distributors. What growth-minded advisor doesn’t have a website or a CRM? Most offer newsletters, commentaries, blog or social media posts? Add radio, TV and SEO and you can see why most advisors may already have significant digital traffic.

All of that being said; why did over 65% of advisors report in a recent Business Alpha survey say that prospecting was their biggest business growth challenge in 2018? Why did only 25% of firms achieve sustainable growth according to the latest FA Insights Growth by Design report?

Always Be Converting.

We had the privilege of completing the Persuasion Architecture Academy a few years ago. It was a Masterclass with conversion guru Bryan Eisenberg. Starting from the top; the firms with the most success converting do 3 things differently.

  1. They have a clearly articulated value or campaign proposition. Forget old school definitions. This is a short definitive statement about why the customer should do business with you. It should appear throughout your campaign. Ideally it’s no more than 7 words. It’s not your tag line.

 

  1. They are data driven. It helps to think of conversion as a journey your audience travels. Just like you see in Waze, there are shorter and faster paths to the final conversion. Examining and acting on campaign data is a key differentiator for top converting marketers. Apply your hypothesis about what you think your audience wants and how to get them to say “yes.” But use your analytical data to improve the conversion process.

 

  1. Speak in the customer’s voice. You’re not talking to another advisor; you are talking to a potential client. To define the voice you need, you must have identified personas. Who are the people you will speak to? What do they look like? What are they looking for? Well defined personas are key to successful conversion.

How do you execute a robust conversion strategy?

In the June 2018 Schwab Independent Pulse, 58% of those advisors surveyed did not have a consistent marketing process. So is it a surprise that 66% of advisors are getting a low return on their marketing investment.

Building a robust conversion strategy is the key to maximizing your investment.

The good news is that there are highly qualified outsourcing resources available to growth-minded businesses. They can help advisors and distributors to a better job by:

  • Enhancing your positioning and narrative.
  • Creating a process for managing a conversion process,
  • Defining personas and communication tactics.