Wow, it is 2020! With the new year, its time to make those resolutions and actually keep them. Do you have any resolutions for your advisory firm this year? If not, don’t worry. Here are 6 inbound marketing resolutions for you that will help take your firm to the next level !
1. Add Video
Trust us when we say this, people do not want to spend their time reading. Think about your own experience – would you read a long text if there is a video instead? As digital marketing is evolving day by day, we see a large focus on video. This visual form of marketing increases ROI and is one of the largest revenue generators. Moreover, according to a study by HubSpot, almost three-quarters of consumers, 72%, prefer video to text for receiving branded marketing information. Video is what your clients want, so without a doubt, video will be beneficial for your business.
Furthermore, 100 million hours of video are watched each day on Facebook. From this, you can see why it is crucial to integrate videos into your digital marketing strategy. Watching videos is simply a millennial habit, and now that you know, you can piggyback off of this habit to attract your millennial customers.Now, we know what your thinking – how will I make the time to create a video? Don’t worry, you don’t have to! With Twenty Over Ten’s Lead Pilot, we have a content library that has videos already ready for you. Take a look below:
2. Target Your Content
As important as it is to include video in your marketing strategy, it is just as important to tailor that video and all your other content to your niche. Whether it’s emails, social posts, landing pages, etc. it should all be tailored to target the niche you serve and solve their pain points. For example, if you work with millennials to retirees, you don’t want to send your millennial clients a blog about the best places to move for retirement. Luckily, segmentation tools make it possible to customize and target your niche. Furthermore, you need to know who your niche is, what they like, what they don’t like, etc. before you try to tailor to them. That’s where data comes in. Tap into your Google Analytics to learn about who your niche is and how you can best serve them.For example, in the example below Lead Pilot user, Digital Wealth shares an article on money management for millennials. It’s important to share content that your readers are actually interested in and would want to read.
3. Adjust Your Email Sending Schedule
Email marketing is a fabulous way to convert leads into customers. However, to make the most out of your email campaigns, you need to send them when your audience is most likely to view them. For example, are your customers morning people or night owls? This characteristic should be a large determinant in when you send your emails. Taking your prospects’ behaviors into consideration and adjusting your email schedule will greatly increase clicks and opens, which can eventually lead to conversion.Of course, each advisory firm is different, so in order to see when your prospects will be more likely to open your emails, look at your analytics. As it is a new year, look at your analytics from 2019 to see when your audience engaged with your emails the most. When you have this data, change your email sending habits and see the change!Here are general industry trends for optimal times to send emails:
4. Adjust Your Social Posting Schedule
Just like you should send emails based on when your audience is clicking on them, you should post on social media when your followers are engaging with your posts the most. The process is the same as with emails – look at your analytics from 2019 to see when the most likes, comments, and shares are happening, and take that information to retool your scheduling in 2020. Maybe your followers are most active on Monday evenings or early Tuesday mornings. Whatever the data reveals, use that to your advantage!
5. Let Your Personality Shine
People buy from people, not brands. Be authentic and humanize your brand through all of your marketing efforts from social to email and more. There are many ways to do this, and we will outline a few below because this is your year to shine! Utilize Instagram stories: Instagram stories are a great way to humanize your brand because it adds a personal touch. With Instagram stories, you can reveal the behind the scenes of your business, interact with your clients and followers in real-time, show what you’ve been up to, etc. Need some more help with Instagram stories, check out Instagram Stories for Financial Advisors: The Ultimate Guide Post about yourself and others in your firm: Another great way to humanize your brand is to share information about you and others in your firm. You can share through social media, blogs, emails, etc. This serves as a great way for your followers to get to know you, put a face to the name, and know that there are real people behind your brand. For example, here at Twenty Over Ten, we have a “meet the team” blog series:
Make sure your emails are from a person: An easy way to add a human touch to your brand is by making sure the “from” in your emails is from a person in your firm. People view emails as more authentic if they are from an actual person rather than a brand. This simple strategy can go a long way in your email marketing success.
6. Try Ads
Lastly, if you’re looking to get an extra boost of followers and a new audience base, try targeting your niche through ads and boosting posts on social media. Getting attention through organic posts is becoming harder and harder, so perhaps mixing in some paid media could be extremely beneficial. However, with this being said, it is important to create a balance between organic and paid posts.The concept is simple: you pay to have your posts appear as sponsored content in people’s timelines. The more you pay, the more people will see it. You can choose to spend as little as $1. Not only can you reach a wider audience, but you can also reach a more targeted audience. For example, if your niche is retirees, you can choose to target your post to only U.S. men and women in their 60s:
Related: 6 Digital Marketing Resolutions Every Financial Advisor Should Make