We hear it from our clients all the time, “I wish I could grow my marketing strategy with you, but our regulations would make it too complicated.”
Financial planning and wealth management is a highly regulated industry with federal rules dictating a lot of what we can do and say, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible!
In fact, because so many wealth management groups forgo marketing for this reason, it gives our clients leverage and an ability to get ahead of the competition in the area.
So, what options make sense for financial planners looking to dive into digital marketing for the first time? Let’s talk about the possibilities!
Local Search Marketing
If you’re just getting started with digital marketing, improving your local search presence is the first place to start.
Local search marketing is an optimization that helps businesses appear in local search results when consumers are searching for a business in that industry.
By having an optimized local search listing, your financial planning or wealth management business can rank higher in search results and stand out from your competition.
Ranking high in the search results can also help you be found and chosen by more local consumers.
It may be hard to believe, but 72 percent of consumers who perform a local search visit a business within five miles. This means you can’t ignore your local search presence!
If you’d like to learn more about how businesses appear in search results, check out this blog.
Paid Advertising
Advertising is everywhere and it can seem a little confusing on what type of ads will be best for financial planners due to concerns with compliance.
When it comes to paid advertising, display ads are a great option to help build up your business’s brand awareness.
These static display ads provide a simple branded design without the need to add complex compliance lingo. They can be easily approved and will help your business build name recognition quickly.
While there are a variety of other paid advertising strategies available, there are some options that don’t comply with FINRA policies.
However, working with a digital marketing agency that understands these pain points for the finance industry can help you build a strategy that meets your company goals as well as staying compliant.
Remember, other financial planners are in the same boat as you when it comes to digital marketing. When you work with the team at RevLocal, we can give your financial planning business the boost it needs.
Bonus Tip: You Need a Locally Optimized Website
This isn’t necessarily a digital marketing service like local search or paid advertising, but it’s a best practice you should follow.
On top of making sure your local search presence is top-notch, you should have a locally optimized website for your financial planning business.
As a financial planner, many companies provide you with a website to utilize. The downfall of these sites is that they normally aren't optimized for local search, which makes is even more important to have a locally optimized website.
Locally optimized sites are an extension of your website to help amplify your marketing efforts. Overall, these sites have a lot of local SEO value (which helps build on your local search ranking), encourages conversions and allows you to easily test different messaging.
Learn more about locally optimized websites in the video below!
At RevLocal, we create locally optimized websites to help you attract more local customers to your business.
Our team creates a site that is tailored to your goals and designed for consumers to take action.
Keep in mind that the goal of microsites is to not compete against your website. Instead, our website services help consumers find the information they need about your financial planning or wealth management business quickly and easily.
If you'd like to learn more about the benefits of our website services, check out some of our resources:
Final thoughts
Don’t let compliance and regulation scare you away from the opportunity to grow your financial planning business's digital marketing strategy!
With the help from the experts at RevLocal, we can craft a personalized plan to meet your marketing needs while being considerate of the compliance you face every day.
If you have questions or would like to meet with one of our consultants in your area, click here to request a demo.
This post was created in collaboration with Emily Decker, a Senior Digital Marketing Strategist in our Finance Pod.