Influencers in the financial services industry get more clients, higher net worth clients, and better client retention. To be an influencer, you must provide educational information – for free – on a regular basis. This information should be of real value; new and relevant developments in the industry, useful advice for wealth management, and anything else that potential clients might expect to pay for. People take to the internet to research financial topics long before they consider hiring an advisor. When they find quality, valuable information, they’ll trust the source… and if the source is you, that’s good news! You don’t have to be a wildly successful advisor to become an influencer. In fact, anyone can position themselves as an industry leader online. Here are some ways to share valuable advice and become an influencer in the financial planning industry:
● Blog: Put a blog page on your website and post to it frequently and consistently. To get started, just list as many interesting financial topics as you can think of, and pick the most compelling ones to start writing about. Look to other financial blogs for ideas. If content creation isn’t your area of expertise, you can hire a free-lance writer or marketing company to take care of the copywriting. If you can write blogs yourself, consider guest-blogging on other websites. This will benefit them by providing them with free content, and you by increasing your exposure and linking viewers back to your website. The more places you appear on the internet, the more credible and influential you become.
● Social Media: Social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram are great for sharing small tidbits of information and linking to articles and blog posts. Many influencers across all industries do more post-sharing than post-writing. Keep up with current news that relates to finance and your clients’ interests and share compelling articles and blog posts that you find while searching. Part of being an influencer is interacting with the community, so use your social media posts to open conversations. Ask your followers what they think about a certain topic and link them to an article about it. Some social media platforms allow you to post a poll, which is useful for engaging your followers as well as finding out their attitudes about certain topics.
● Newsletter: A monthly or quarterly newsletter is a great way to keep your clients and prospects updated and continually position yourself as an influencer. It makes your business look official and trustworthy when you take the time to put together a monthly newsletter that benefits your readers by offering valuable information. An email newsletter can do the trick, but a print version may portray you in a more high-end, professional way.
Creating and sharing useful content is the key to becoming an influencer in the financial services industry. As an advisor, achieving this status builds credibility, increases your exposure, and builds relationships with prospects before you even meet them.
