Inbound marketing is a technique that works no matter what field you’re engaged in. For financial services providers especially, it’s possible to increase your customer base exponentially by utilizing this method. This is because one of the things that people look for in a financial advisor is reliability. They want to find someone they can trust with their money. As a result, marketing methods which go over the top are generally suspect. Everyone knows that they can’t double or treble their money in a short period of time and they don’t trust people who promise them such things. On the other hand, they are much more likely to trust someone who doesn’t make an obvious effort to lure them in i.e., someone who practices inbound marketing.
Inbound Marketing
In this method of marketing, the customer is the one who makes the first move. For a client in need of wealth management, the first step in finding a financial advisor will probably be to consult friends, family or trusted associates, either in person or online. Once they’ve received a recommendation, they will most likely look up the advisor online. They’ll go through their website, their social media pages and any other information they can find. The more information available about them online, the better it is for the client.
Avoiding Jargon
It’s important for the information the client finds to be clear and succinct. In the financial services field, it’s not a good idea to use too much jargon. Every field has its own set of words and phrases that the layperson may not be familiar with. It’s best to limit the use of these words and phrases to people who know what they mean. For potential clients, it’s better to use simple words to explain financial concepts. Most people will appreciate the clarity of your inbound marketing copy and be much more inclined to go with your company.
Designing Your Website
There are also many other things you can do to create that aura of reliability and dependability that people look for. Some of these things are simple, such as creating a website in muted/neutral colors. You don’t want to use very bright colors or flashing lights on your website. This doesn’t mean that you can’t use the latest developments in website design. One good example of an up-to-date, yet muted website is PayPal. You’ll find that PayPal uses a lot of blue in all their images. The reason behind this is that people instinctively trust the color blue. They trust people who wear blue as well as websites that use blue. And trust is important in the financial services field.
As long as your website layout is clean and easy to load, you can use any images and videos that would add to its aesthetic appeal. It’s also a good idea to use natural-looking images in your website—images that your clients can relate to. Rather than just using images featuring models in upscale surroundings, you can go for a more relaxed audio-visual experience that will appeal to a wide variety of consumers. Once again, Paypal can be used to illustrate this point because it uses images of people at home, on the street, in the park etc.
Staying Up-To-Date
As always, however, the main thing when it comes to inbound marketing is to stay up-to-date and keep adapting as time goes on. If you’re starting a blog, make sure that you keep updating it at least once a week, more if possible. Your updates don’t need to be lengthy or particularly unique. They can include anything new that’s going on with your company. The same goes for social media pages. And if your company has gone through any important changes, it might be time to change your website as well. The important thing is to make sure that your online presence becomes a living, breathing organism, like your company itself. This is the best way to make sure that your customers will notice it and relate to it, which is the first step towards hiring you to be their financial advisor.
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