Get a broom, then Google yourself
The comprehensive digitalisation of our lives is yesterday’s news. Businesses across all sectors have been irreversibly reshaped, as consumers around the world use digital channels to research, interact with, and buy from brands from food to fashion to financial services.
But whilst the majority of financial advisers got the memo a long time ago, and have established at least a rudimentary digital presence, many are taking a set and forget approach, seeing the market is full of cookie cutter websites and social media accounts with infrequent activity.
But the digital world doesn’t stand still, and nor do consumers. Whether it be Google’s continual refinement of its search algorithm, or social platforms redesigning their functionality and page layout, or even the birth of entirely new platforms, the only constant is change, and advisers who don’t keep up will soon find themselves at a competitive disadvantage. This is especially true at a time when – research suggests – client referrals are diminishing as a source of new business for growing practices[1].
To stay on top of this change, advisers and practice owners should, from time to time, press ‘pause’ and put a broom through their digital presence. A ‘digital spring clean’ is a chance to audit their digital effectiveness across several key areas including:
- their website
- social media
- Google Search
- Google Maps
- consumer ratings
- content strategy.
By assessing the performance of the practice across these areas and being aware of changing consumer usage patterns and updated platform functionality, advisers will be well placed to improve the effectiveness of their digital presence, enjoying more focused and responsive marketing, and better client engagement, as a result.
Advice websites
For most new clients and prospects, the first contact they will ever have with you – your practice – is when they arrive at your website. Wealth management customers at all levels rely heavily on digital to help them make decisions at every step of their journey, meaning your website has to (1) make it easier for people to find you, and (2) make it easier for people to like you.
Being ‘found’ is a function of both the searchability of your website (more on that later) and the extent to which it stands out from your competitors. (Chances are your website can be improved in both these areas.)
Being ‘liked’ is a function of the impression your website creates on people, and the ease with which it answers the questions they have as part of their research process.
Website design
Many advice websites today look like they all came from the same design studio a decade ago. Indeed, as Natasha Janssens, founder of Women with Cents, recently suggested to participants in an industry webinar:
“Every website looks exactly the same – they have the same type of stock photos; you’re all talking about the same lingo ‘and we’re all here to serve you and we do financial planning, and we do investments” [2]
With one study[3] suggesting that around a third of investors will visit at least 7 sites in their financial research process, standing out from the crowd becomes even more important.
There are several important considerations that flow from Janssens’ observations:
- The actual design of your website: The colours, the layout, the use of imagery, the ease of navigation.
- The information contained on your website: Does it make it easier for people to choose you to help them? Is the language approachable?
- Alignment with your target audience: If you serve a particular audience (retirees, HNW, millennials, professionals), does your website make that obvious?
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[2] https://www.moneymanagement.com.au/news/financial-planning/advisers-need-differentiate-themselves
[3] https://www.yext.com/blog/2020/01/2020-search-trends-for-financial-services-brands/
