3 Underused Lead Generation Activities by Financial Advisors

Advisors rely heavily on their network for referrals. However, no matter how many referrals they obtain, many Financial Advisors still feel that they are not enough and they find referral generation an undiversified method for lead generation. Referrals are great but to really have a full pipeline, you need to be proactive with the opportunities provided with today's technology.

Here are 3 underused activities that could help you, as a Financial Advisor, when it comes to lead generation.

1. Consistently Blog to Prove Yourself as a Worthy Financial Advisor 

Many Financial Advisors are claiming that they are highly knowledgeable in the industry and have many years of experience to demonstrate that they understand prospects needs. If that is truly the case, you need to blog about it because you are not the only claimed guru out there.

Potential Investors are constantly bombarded by countless financial advisors. They are highly guarded when they are solicited but fortunately, they are very open to discover, in their own terms, how to solve problems that they are facing. Blogs and articles are primary sources where they can gather information. Hence the importance of blogging. This is your opportunity to share your knowledge and to build your reputation.

How to get started with your first blog article:

You need to keep in mind that blogging is not about your product. Your role is to raise awareness of pain points and how to alleviate them. Take time to really think about what problems you can help solve.

Here are some questions that may help you think of problem solving issues:

• What problems are your prospects facing that you know how to solve?
• What are their everyday worries when it comes to family and money?
• How can they assess that they need help in financial decisions?

How to Share Your Blog:

• Publish it on your blog page of your website.
• Publish on Social Media that you are active in.
• Share it to your contacts by email.
• Use it as a reason to follow-up with a prospect.

The last point can be a game changer. Instead of sending the typical “I simply wanted to follow-up with…” You can now use your blog posts to make it more interesting and helpful.

Here is an example of a follow-up by sharing a blog article:

Pro Marketing tip for Blogging

Based on my encounters with blogs in the financial sector, very few of them have Calls to Action (CTAs). CTAs are instructions to readers to make a response or to take action. Sure, it is great that you have people reading your blog, but if you don’t guide them to the next action, they may simply close your blog and move on with other matters.

This is where lead generation comes into play. You need to add (CTAs) where they are probed to leave their contact information. One tactic to CTAs is to add a downloadable guide or equivalent in exchange for their email. If you offer is highly valuable and relevant to them, it would be a pleasure for them to provide it.

Here is an example of a CTA below:

2. Creating a Linkedin Group for your ideal clients as a Financial Advisor

Creating a LinkedIn group and inviting prospects into it can help you reach a large segemented target audience. LinkedIn users subscribe to Groups because they want to learn about a subject matter and wants to hear or share their thoughts about it. It's time for you to become the subject matter expert of your field on LinkedIn.

How to get started with a LinkedIn Group

You need to keep in mind that people join groups for educational purposes and not to be solicited.  Stick to 1 core subject matter. There are thousands of groups out there but if you focus on your niche and your value proposition, your LinkedIn group will resonate. 

For example, If you provide Wealth Management solutions to successful entrepreneurs, you can create a group that will educate them on various topics about wealth management to help them make the right decisions financially.

Below are examples of existing wealth management group. I simply typed “wealth management strategies” in the LinkedIn search bar and here are some results that came out:

Once you have your LinkedIn Group created, start sharing blog articles that you or your company wrote. Also do share articles that you have found

 You can click here to start creating a LinkedIn Group.

How to ask people to join your Linkedin Group:

• Send an email invitation to your clients by stating the purpose and benefits of joining. 
• Add a link to the LinkedIn Group in your Email Signature.
• Ask every new prospect that you encounter to join.

Pro Marketing Tip for Your LinkedIn Group

Want Your LinkedIn group members to be active and for them to see you as the expert in the subject matter? Ask questions to your group and probe for answers to help you build a downloadable guide. Let’s stick with the example of Wealth Management for successful entrepreneurs. You can ask “What are your top 3 criteria when it comes to selecting a wealth management advisor?” With their answers, you can build a downloadable checklist titled “The Ultimate Checklist for Selecting Your Trusted Wealth Management Advisor.”

You can now share your downloadable checklist to the group, on your website, social media, email, etc. Don’t forget to add it as a Call to Action in your blog posts for lead generation purposes.

3. Answer Questions on Quora as an Expert Financial Advisor

This may be less familiar to some Financial Advisors but Quora is a great channel for lead generation. Quora is a question-answer site on any topic. A lot of people land on Quora when they type a question on Google due to the growth of monthly active users as presented in the Chart below.

Source

How to get started with Quora:

You need to first create your profile. If you want to be taken seriously, make your Quora profile as impeccable as your LinkedIn profile should be. This is important because when you ask or answer questions, people can verify your authority by viewing your profile.

To get an idea what questions you could answer, simply type in a keyword related to your business. As an example, I type down in the search bar "wealth management" and you can see questions that people who are looking for answers related to the wealth management here below.

Pro Marketing Tip for :

Whenever you answer a question, publish your answer on social media. You can do so by simply clicking on the social media icons. See example below in the red box.

Also keep in mind of CTA, if you have an ebook that could help them. Why not include it as part of your answer?

Looking forward in 2018 to Lead Generation as a Financial Advisor 

As the new year starts, I believe that it is a great time to start any of these underused activities for lead generation as a Financial Advisor. Keep in mind that lead generation activity requires time and dedication just like any new year resolution. Start with 1 of these activities that you believe you can make a habit out of. Once you master one of them, consider implementing the others.