We all seem to do it (and don’t say you haven’t). You login to LinkedIn, fish around for some people that have many years in a company, are retired, or look for signs that this individual has earned a lot in his career, probably has a 401(k), stock options, or some asset that can be easily moved to you to manage and you both sail off into the sunset.
It can work, which is why we decided to talk about prospecting ideas for financial advisors using LinkedIn.
Reality check, everyone is doing the same thing. Not only that, there are probably another 5-10 (at least) people messaging, request for connecting, selling, or just want something from them.
Inboxes are becoming flooded with generalized, non-personalized, not-applicable, off-the-mark messages that dilute the potential LinkedIn has for financial advisors. LinkedIn is beginning to become more saturated with those looking to make a transaction versus those looking to build a relationship and actually add value to a prospect.
Most of this is not exactly your fault, especially if you are under the umbrella of a large firm that has very strict polices on content. Some of your LinkedIn accounts may be under the firm in order to better enforce their rules and guidelines. You know this by trying to login into LinkedIn and you are met with a LinkedIn block of some sorts.
It is frustrating since you are responsible for building your own book of business but are constantly met with red tape, management, big brother spying, compliance over every little item and nothing but generalized content that 54 other advisors in your area are already sharing.
In order to make content stand out, you need to understand the behavioral finance heartstrings of your prospects. Take the time to stand on the other side of the fence to think about what is most important and will perk your ears.
You want your prospects to become a sponge, to absorb information because you are offering insights and intelligence that they need. You want them to feel that is it as if you wrote that piece of content specifically for them. You want them to get to the end of the article and feel that they have no choice but to call you to discuss that topic.
While your demographic and major concerns will change based on the market you are going after, according to Gallup, this is where you should be focusing your content efforts.
- Healthcare cost – 17%
- Lack of money/low wages – 11%
- College Costs – 8%
- Taxes – 8%
- Cost of owning/renting a home – 8%
The list goes on but these are the top 5 problems you should focus on. If nothing is done about healthcare, the amount of people that are concerned about this will only climb higher as the years go on.
Similar to straight volume cold calling back in the 80’s-90’s and even early 2000’s, the rise of social media had given advisors and marketers new avenues to explores. Very new, untapped marketing channels could provide a new flow of prospects. The key was to let this vein flow until it was tapped or flooded with competitors, in which we are rapidly approaching (if not already).
How much business have you received off of social marketing? How much of it are you incorporating into your prospecting? Are you doing too much of it? Too little or not at all?
LinkedIn by itself will disappoint you completely. While a good tool for connecting with professionals, clients and prospects, it will not provide you the information you need to market to new prospects. Prospects want to do business with people they are referred to, that can understand issues affecting them, that listen and can put trust in. People cherish a phone call, a lunch, an in person meeting or just a real conversation.
Building a process is much easier when working backwards. We suggest you read this article we put together on helping break down a desired end result.
Every so often, we need to add or augment a base product or service with another item to make it better. Think about how your business has evolved over the years. Many of you advise on banking, loans, insurance, Long Term Care, medical, retirement, social security, etc.
Gone are the days of just pure investment advice. There are too many options and competitors to let that be the only avenue of business you conduct. The other problem is that if you are not talking to them about those other things, someone else is and wondering why you have not brought them up or discussed them.
As we progress into 2020 and the information age, it is important to have as much information on prospects before even having a conversation with them. Is it a coincidence you receive ads on your phone on something you were researching? Perhaps it was a new vehicle or product. Take note of the ads that occur on your streaming music, YouTube, or internet searches.
At Odegee, we see new and traditional forms of marketing continue to pave the way for financial advisors to prospect new clients. The data we compile and put together is specific to you, the financial advisor. It helps cultivate new relationships, identify potential referral opportunities and enhances the social media platforms you are already currently using.