Updated on: June 9, 2022

“All roads lead to Rome.”

Most of us have a passing familiarity with the origins of this phrase. Rome, the city, was the heart of the Roman Empire. Travelers could reach Rome from across Europe via direct land routes, while ports in the Middle East and Northern Africa that ferried travelers to Rome were also accessible by road systems.

But what do 2,000-year-old pathways have to do with the value of establishing an engaging digital presence?

A website serves as the heart of an effective digital brand. The wealth of the Roman Empire was literally carried along cart paths and sea routes to be accumulated in Rome. Financial advisors that build and cultivate their digital presence will succeed in driving more prospective clients to their website, where they can control the quality of the impression they create and acquire new business.

Use Your Website to Make a Strong First Impression

A financial professional’s website is an essential part of their digital presence. In fact, 98 percent of investors say an advisor’s website is somewhat or very important when choosing an advisor.¹

What’s more, 42 percent of investors say they start their search for an advisor on search engines like Google—more than the 32 percent that said they would start by asking family or friends.¹

Advisors need to harness this straightforward opportunity to help their online audience understand who they are, the value they bring, and how to reach them.

A website is a platform to articulate a practice’s specializations and reinforce an advisor’s credentials. For example, the CFP Board began issuing digital certificates in early 2019 that advisors can embed on their websites so prospects can easily verify their CFP® professional certification.

Sixty-five percent of investors say that age, experience, and credentials are top considerations when choosing an advisor and another 64 percent said the ability to deliver personalized advice was a top consideration.¹

Using your website to showcase your expertise and the ways you personalize your advice may help persuade potential clients to reach out.

Cultivating a Digital Brand

The Romans needed to maintain their transportation network—clearing overgrown paths, repairing washed-out drainage ditches, and ensuring signs pointed travelers in the right direction.

Here’s another parallel: Building a website and writing the static text that prospects will encounter is like establishing a road system. To keep it alive once established, advisors must cultivate an ongoing presence by maintaining a network of inbound marketing channels. These are the ways in which prospects will be introduced to an impression of your business that you can control.

What do we mean by inbound marketing channels? These are the tactics that advisors pursue to raise their profiles: content (like blogs, vlogs, webinars, or podcasts), workshops, other forms of community engagement, media attention, reviews, and referrals, to name a few.

When we talk about maintaining a network of these channels, we’re stressing the importance of producing high-quality content, sharing each of these initiatives across social networks, and steering visitors back to your website.

Advisors are failing to leverage readily available tools if they’re not marshaling their digital network whenever they have something to share.

The Perks of Social Networks

It’s easiest to think about social networks like LinkedIn or Facebook as different ways to syndicate your news. They’re interactive, two-way forms of communication that enable you to share information widely across your client and prospect base. Social networks allow you to amplify messages that align with your brand and can help amplify your own messages through your peers and group affiliations.

Two-way communication can also help you create a clearer picture of your clients. The CFP Board puts it this way in their social media guide:

“Some advisors use social media to gain valuable insight into clients’ financial lives, allowing them to better meet their clients’ needs. Social listening, or observing clients’ messages on social media channels, can help advisors understand what is important to their clients, deepening the professional relationship.”

Social media is a great way to learn about clients and prospective clients, but it also works well the other way around too. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal on social media. Share how you celebrated a recent holiday, or highlight a charity you’re working with. Life-style-oriented posts can help clients and prospective clients connect with you as a person, beyond the role of trusted financial advisor.

Collect Testimonials

In December 2020, the SEC reformed the Investment Advisors Act of 1940. One of the most notable changes is that financial professionals can now use client testimonials in their marketing materials, subject to certain conditions.

Testimonials are a great way to prove your value to prospective clients. A strong digital presence should have testimonials on social profiles, on search engines like Google, and on your website in a highly visible location.

You can collect testimonials through email, social media, a pop-up form on your website, or even by asking directly in person.

Having client testimonials can help break down any barriers a prospect may have to reaching out, while also giving them an idea of what their relationship with you could look like. Testimonials are a powerful and persuasive part of your digital presence. Now that advisors are allowed to collect them, you should make a point to leverage these wherever possible.

Educate Your Clients

When we think about marketing and our digital presence, we typically think about trying to reach and convert prospective clients. But maintaining a strong digital presence for existing clients, centered around client education, is important too.

Offering a digital, educational experience for clients has a number of benefits:

• Sets expectations for the relationship
• Encourages engagement with the plan
• Reinforces your brand
• Supports a holistic planning experience
• Justifies your fees

Clients at all stages of the financial lifecycle can be educated about timely financial topics. By doing so, you’re enhancing the value you deliver while improving outcomes for your clients. It could also directly lead to greater wallet share or a higher number of quality referrals for your business.

What Signal Are You Sending?

No matter how far the Roman Empire pushed its frontier, its reputation always extended a little bit further.

As prospects encounter the various components of your digital reputation, they’ll be picking up signals about your technological competence, your mission, your approach to advice, and the unique value you offer as an advisor.

Your website and digital network are indispensable marketing tools. If you don’t own and curate your online presence, then you’re accepting low visibility and letting others fill the vacuum. You can communicate more effectively, engender trust with clients and prospects, and capture leads using surprisingly little of your marketing budget, as long as you’re willing to establish and cultivate your digital presence.

Attracting prospective clients online and growing your business all starts with creating a lead generation-focused website. To begin establishing your digital presence, read our eBook The Financial Advisor’s Guide to Digital Content and Campaigns.

Sources:

1. eMoney Consumer Marketing Survey, September 2020, n=2,000

DISCLAIMER: The eMoney Advisor Blog is meant as an educational and informative resource for financial professionals and individuals alike. It is not meant to be, and should not be taken as financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Those seeking professional advice may do so by consulting with a professional advisor. eMoney Advisor will not be liable for any actions you may take based on the content of this blog.

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