5 Inspiring Lead Generation Strategies for Financial Advisors

Business service firms (accountants, financial advisors, insurance agents, law firms, etc) have to walk a fine line of balancing the needs of current clients with focusing on lead generation to support future growth.

Growing a practice can be a significant challenge because finding reliable, consistent leads requires adapting and staying current with marketing trends (a time-consuming activity), technical knowledge for configuring systems, backend data management and help from IT.

There are dozens of tactics that can be implemented to power lead generation campaigns.

It is no longer practical to pay for a few magazine ads and hope the scattershot approach to lead generation is enough to drum up new business.

Consumer preferences have changed over the years and it’s critical to reach them where they are- online. If you want their business, you need to reach them in digital places they frequent, and also embrace account based marketing (ABM).

Traditional Lead Generation Methods

Some traditional lead generation strategies may be worth reconsidering if they aren’t delivering or is your only tactic. These traditional lead generation methods typically either have a low ROI or lack targeting with deep analytics.

• Snail Mail/Direct Mail: Direct mail can have better return rates than cold calling, but the problem is so many of your carefully designed flyers are likely to end up in junk mail piles thrown directly into the trash. Consumers prefer digital communication.
• Print Advertising: There is a long tradition of using magazines, newspapers, and local adverts for building your business. Unfortunately, consumers have shown a downward trend of interest since the early 1990s. Unless you are targeting those specific magazines your perfect market reads, this strategy is not worth your investment.
• Billboards: There is still value with billboard advertising, but keep in mind you cannot control who happens to be driving by your visual ad on a daily basis. Unless you can find a billboard in the perfect residential or high traffic area of your target market.

5 Valuable Lead Generation and Growth Marketing Strategies

This list of lead generation tactics is built specifically for financial advisors, accountants, lawyers and insurance agents. While you do not need to employ every single strategy, a combination of 3-4 for your firm is a great way to ensure you have a consistent flow of new business without having to spend half your day doing the work.

It is important you have an optimized website to support these methods. You want a clear landing/registration page that gives the potential client information on who you are, the value proposition you present, and how to begin services or contact you directly.

Embracing several of these tactics will form the foundation for omni-channel campaigns that cut through the clutter, build brand awareness and nurture your prospects into leads and then into clients.

1. Word-of-Mouth + Content + Networking Events

There will never be a more successful marketing channel than word-of-mouth marketing. If you encourage current clients to refer you to their friends, coworkers, or family members, you are building brand awareness and is easier to build a relationship. That means offering a “freebie” like a free evaluation, a webinar or seminar, a financial calculator, or even a golf and dinner outing. By offering content or an evaluation, you are educating your potential clients and positioning yourself as a thought leader.

There is nothing wrong with letting your current clients know you are looking to expand and opening up a line of communication that encourages them to send any of their associates your way. As long as you do this with care and professional courtesy and not like you are desperate, you can ensure a bright future.

2. Social Media

The rule of thumb for social media is to “go where your leads hang out.” You do not need to have ten different social media accounts across all the platforms. No one wants to spend their entire day posting or commenting on someone else’s picture of their brunch (unless it’s a dinner seminar). Meet your clients where they are. Use professional social media accounts that directly connect to your target market like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and, if you are feeling courageous and want to target younger audiences, TikTok and Instagram. The brave can try Reddit.

Every social network has a different age group specialty and requires tailoring your approach for each network. It’s a good idea to have a strong presence on LinkedIn and be open to Facebook.

Expand Your Footprint
Market yourself everywhere you are licensed. People are comfortable with doing business over Zoom meetings. Modern lead generation provides you the opportunity to launch both local and national campaigns while tracking the ROI in those markets. Modern communication and travel is inexpensive compared to the cost of business- people get on planes all the time to meet face-to-face to close deals.

3. Community Involvement

Think both digital and physical communities. There are thousands of online Facebook groups and digital spaces where like-minded individuals get together, just like there are local groups like Rotary Clubs, Elks Lodges, Golf Clubs, and more where you can get connected. While this strategy may take longer than others, it also has the potential to pay returns for decades. The more you are a staple of these communities, the more top of mind you will be whenever anyone needs your services.

4. Thought Leadership + Content Marketing

Content marketing (eBooks, white papers, case studies, webinars, in-person dinners & seminars) help define you as a thought leader and subject matter expert. When you educate people on complex subjects, you earn people’s trust, and eventually their business.

It’s critical that you have an excellent website or landing/registration page to capture a lead’s information to access your valuable content or register for an event. There’s two main components- design + copy/calls to action, and the technical components- webpage speed, back-end integrations, mobile first rendering approach.

Other requirements are: copy writer, designer, content promotion (emails+ads), registration page. However the benefits outweigh the content investment, and most content can be repurposed.

5. Blogging = Improved SEO

Writing a short article for your blog allows you to promote and share it on your other marketing channels. A quick 500-word blog post has the potential to bring in a large number of new leads because it shows your expertise as a financial advisor and gives some value back to the potential client before they even begin work with you.

Blog posts are another great way to improve your organic search rankings. There should be a keyword strategy that maps to a content marketing plan. Another important tactic is writing a few posts that are 1,200+ words to support your desired keywords.

Wrapping it Up

Right now is the time to develop these lead generation strategies. Between the rise of baby boomers getting ready to retire and Millennials and Generation X increasing their earnings, you have a lot of fertile ground to grow your business into a generational firm with a bright future.

Take your time, be clear with each communication, set realistic goals and start taking steps to growing your firm. Inertia will slow you down, the first step is reading an article like this. The next step is writing down some ideas and goals, then talking with experts.

You’re not alone if this sounds daunting and time consuming. It is, and we can help you create a lead generation plan that aligns with your resources and goals. We recognize that every business is different- goals, teams, systems, budgets, ideal buyer, and so on.

A key to growth and performance marketing is breaking through inertia by focusing on your website and content, followed by analytics, ads, emails, prospect and behavioral data. We can help you achieve every stage.

All ZigZagInfo performance lead generation campaigns are powered by our B2B database and tracked for attribution with lead scoring.

Contact us today, let’s discuss your business and goals to see how we can help.