Jenesis | Key Digital Marketing Trends For Financial Advisers
Time to get onboard: Digital marketing trends for advisers
Throughout 2020, financial advice practices were challenged to change the way they did things. Financial advisers had to think about new ways to connect to people and new ways to deliver financial advice.
As the ripple effect from the global pandemic continues and uncertainty around lockdowns and restrictions remains, working from home and flexible working hours has become the norm for many. As consumer spend more time online, for advisers, this places even more importance on brand awareness and digital marketing activity.
In fact, the latest data suggests daily internet usage in Australia is up 37 minutes on average, totalling more than five hours daily. And according to the graphic below, our total online activity amounts to a whopping 40 hours a week. All up, one in three minutes online is spent on social media.1
With this in mind, how can you stand out from the crowd in 2021?
Digital marketing trends for 2021
Here are some of the key digital marketing trends forecast for this year.2 How can you incorporate these into your own marketing activity?
- Live-streams and video
- More goodwill and purpose-driven visibility of your brand.
- User-Generated Content (UGC) to enhance the customer experience.
- Easy-to-consume content.
The good news is that the opportunity to attract new business remains. Australians recognise the value of financial advice with 41 per cent of consumers intending to seek the expertise of a financial adviser in the future.3 In this context, the trends above should be considered when developing your marketing plans, but first, you need a strategy.
Strategy
If you don’t have a marketing strategy, then take the time to put a simple strategy together. Understand what your key marketing problem or gap is, and work on solving it. No need to tackle everything at once. Focus on incremental steps to build your marketing strategy just as you would when creating a financial plan for your clients.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Once you have a simple strategy in place, understand what your strengths and weaknesses are before creating your content plan. What communication channel suits your practice best? Not all financial advisers are cut out to live-stream, make videos or produce a podcast. There are some amazing advisers who are actively doing this and I would recommend you seek them out. If this is not you, identify what you are comfortable with and get active. Alternatively, outsource to someone who understands you and your business.
Creating Your Content
When creating your content, be clear about what you want to achieve.
If your focus is on increasing brand awareness, what content can you showcase that will increase the visibility of you and your team. Here’s how to apply the four trends to your content.
- Create some short videos to share on social media that are topical or entertaining. Be brave and do your first Livestream video. Make sure you have a plan and let your community know that it’s happening.
- Use images of virtual meetings with existing clients or with your team. Also, if you support a charity or sports team, then use these activities to create a ‘know, like and trust’ Your audience wants to see when you are doing good things.
- Showcase a client experiencing the benefits of achieving a financial goal, like purchasing their first home or celebrating their first day of retirement. User-Generated Content is an effective way to build relationships. Like a testimonial, it provides positive proof of what the client experience is like when working with you.
- Make your content easy for people to digest. Consumers are walking away from content that can’t be digested in a short space of time. While blogs and newsletters remain popular, content tends to be shorter with more emphasis on visuals. Why not recommend a podcast, whether it’s your own or from an influencer to your audience? This helps to provide a more personal approach to staying connected.
Final words
Take a close look at what others are doing. Look at the marketing strategies of others in your area (what works and what doesn’t) and think about content that your clients and community are actively engaging with. This will help you to build your own strategy. Take it one step at a time and try not to let fear stop you from being proactive with your marketing in 2021. Most importantly, if you need help, seek out the right relationship to help you.
References:
1 Digital 2020 Australia https://wearesocial.com/au/blog/2020/02/digital-2020-in-australia-analysis
2 https://www.socialmediatoday.com/news/7-digital-marketing-trends-of-focus-for-2021/592857/
