Your financial services practice can’t rely on referrals and word of mouth forever. As it grows, it’ll need a real marketing strategy that increases its name recognition and marketplace visibility to draw new prospects who wouldn’t have heard of it otherwise.
This means you need to hire a professional marketing firm at great expense, right?
Not necessarily. These five simple marketing strategies can generate more exposure than you realize, and for a lot less than the professionals charge.
1. Get Listed on High-Quality Financial and Business Directories
Your first step is to expand your web presence. Do this by creating or attracting listings on high-quality financial websites and general business directories.
Focus on websites and directories that are relevant to and closely watched by people in the financial services industry, as well as people seeking financial services.
But in addition to “blue chip” platforms like Forbes, pay attention to more niche platforms that have loyal, knowledgeable audiences. For example, the Wealthup listing for Asiaciti Trust, a fiduciary services provider serving high-net-worth clients across the world, isn’t listed on a high-traffic site. But the quality of its audience is high, and that’s certainly important.
2. Network With Other Service Providers in Your Field
If you’ve made it this far in financial services, you’re no stranger to networking, and you’re probably quite comfortable with it.
You might even take it for granted, which can be a problem. Effective networking is a never-ending process of expanding your professional network and getting your name out into the world, contact by contact.
It’s best done with a focus on complementary service providers, rather than individual customers. That’s because service provider networking creates a multiplier effect, where the right connection produces a continuous stream of referrals.
3. Pursue Thought Leadership Opportunities on High-Traffic Web Platforms
Your current clients know that you know your stuff, but do your prospects? And if not, what besides your sales skills will convince them to trust you?
This question gets right at the importance of thought leadership. It’s a lot of work to develop your credentials as a font of knowledge and expertise — and worth every ounce of effort.
The more visibility your thought leadership content has, the better. Focus on financial services websites and general business platforms that get a lot of traffic from people seeking insights.
4. Learn to Love LinkedIn
LinkedIn is an acquired taste, and some days it can feel worse than useless. There’s a lot of noise on it, that’s for sure.
Unfortunately, no financial services provider’s networking strategy is complete without a LinkedIn component. Use it to find trade organizations, advocacy groups, and complementary service providers — like the Financial Services Institute, a financial industry advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., or local insurance brokers that work directly with underwriters your practice recommends to clients.
5. Get Comfortable in Front of the Camera & on the Mic
Every serious financial services provider needs a YouTube channel and a podcast.
Yes, really. Don’t worry, you don’t need a journalism degree or sportscaster’s voice to make it work, and you don’t need to aspire to build an audience of millions. You’re doing this to add another dimension to your thought leadership, to bolster your professional credibility, and to deepen your web presence.
Still, you should give it your best shot. Tinker with different podcasting strategies, learn some basic YouTube optimization processes, and see where it takes you.
Up Your Marketing Game in 2023 and Beyond
Get listed on high-quality financial and business directories.
Kick your networking efforts into a higher gear.
Become a thought leader.
Use LinkedIn and other social media platforms to get noticed.
Build a front-of-camera, behind-the-mic presence.
Do these things in 2023 (and beyond) and you’ll be amazed how much buzz you can build around your financial services firm without a big marketing budget. Once you’re firing on all cylinders, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this years ago.