Grab a coffee, sit down and take a deep breath because we’ve got big news for you.
The internet is here to stay.
You’ve seen the stats so I will only highlight one: 80 per cent of Australian households are now online. And that figure is only going to grow.
But a recent AFA white paper, Connecting with Clients, highlights that financial advisers are not meeting their clients’ expectations in the digital space. All generations identified electronic newsletters and digital/social media as their favoured ‘one-to-many’ communications methods, but the research showed that those mediums were being underutilised.
The case for a strong online presence will only become more compelling, so here are five tips to help you up the ante.
1. You need a strategy
It might be tempting to jump straight in when it comes to a brand new website or social media account, but before you do, make sure you understand how digital technology will complement your business.
The focus should be on building a meaningful and relevant online presence by first defining your company’s value proposition, and your preferred clients.
Only then can you provide useful content and develop relationships with your target market.
2. Empower your website
Unless it does the basics well, your website could undermine your business. Make sure your website is user-friendly by:
- Showcasing your value proposition clearly and concisely on the homepage.
- Making it easy for visitors to move around your site with clear calls to action and links to other pages.
- Placing your most-valued clients at the centre of your content.
- Using key words that relate to your business to help your website climb the search-engine ranks.
- Making it easy for visitors to get in touch with you with your contact information clearly displayed.
- Monitoring your site. What’s working? What’s not working? And always refine.
3. Embrace social media
Social media is a powerful tool, but make sure you choose the right channel for your target audience and objectives. Start out with one channel, commit to posting on a regular basis (once a week to begin with) and be sure to provide valuable content.
- LinkedIn (3.6 million Australian users) enables you to leverage your network – including industry contacts, potential and existing clients and media – with key messages about your business.
- Facebook (13.2 million Australian users) sits at the more personal end of the social media spectrum.
- An official company Twitter account (over 2.5 million active Australian users) allows you to monitor mentions of your company and competitors, and make announcements or initiate and contribute to trending topics.
If you are operating multiple channels, don’t reinvent the wheel for each new post. You can utilise the same content across all your social sites but make sure you tailor it to each channel’s audience.
4. Be smart with your content
Quality content is not always about generating new or originally-sourced material. Instead, curate relevant and useful information from different sources and present it in an engaging way to your target audience.
By posting relevant and interesting news, blogs, articles, whitepapers, case-studies, or how-to content, you’ll attract traffic, encourage sharing, and position yourself as an expert and thought leader on key issues with peers, and potential and existing clients.
5. Don’t set and forget
Gone are the days where just having a website was enough. Your online presence – website and social media channels – needs to stay current with fresh and engaging content. Make sure you link your channels too, don’t operate them in isolation, that way you can create your own digital eco-system.
