Speaking with NAPFA at the Bentley University Campus

John Stone and Kristen Luke (via Skype from San Diego!) spent the morning with a group of financial advisors as part of their monthly program.

We discussed the landscape of new marketing including the key elements and concepts that drive the adoption on digital marketing strategies. We also took a tour of the "tools of the trade" and discussed ways that advisors are using social media today. Finally we discussed the call to action - how to get started with social media and new marketing.  Our new program: Digital Marketing for Financial Advisors is launching this Spring and offers advisors an opportunity for hands on workshops to build their web presence - social media, content development and website strategy.

Big national brands and their local affiliates can accelerate their charity impact AND drive brand value by using a network approach like good2gether.

Companies want to accelerate the impact of their charitable programs.  The terrible news from Haiti is re-focusing us on getting involved and “doing good”. While pursuing charitable programs for all the right reasons, leading brands and small businesses are also asking the question:  “How can we continue to accelerate our charitable impact while better communicating our positive activities with our target audience?” Bad press from the economic downturn and financial meltdown has had a negative impact on many corporate brands – particularly in the financial services industry. These brands would benefit from both accelerating their charitable impact and showing the world the good they do for important causes.

As we look at this challenge, we can see the obvious alignment with new marketing and social media – but obvious strategies may not be quite enough.  We can accelerate our activities and get people involved using Facebook and Twitter, however as more and more brands use social media, it is difficult to get heard through the noise. This is one reason that I am so excited about the potential of using a compelling new networked solution for charitable impact: good2gether.

The good2gether Do Good Channel is a powerful way for brands to extend reach and awareness while also connecting their network of partners, affiliates and customers with local nonprofits that mean a lot to them. The networked approach lifts all boats – the brand, the affiliate networks, and the local charities.  The good2gether ecosystem uses social media and web services sharing to extend the velocity and impact of the charitable mission while providing the big brand a powerful messaging opportunity. Partners and affiliates can also “do good” in their local community while being associated with a national brand's program and benefiting from the halo effect of charitable giving. The local charity benefits from local sponsorships and focus – while being a part of a much bigger global network.

How does this all work? Here is a basic approach:

• Quickly and easily set up a BIGBRAND Do Good Channel and connect this with your charity website
• Create compelling content including digital video about the charity programs and the positive impact the BIGBRAND has on society
• Use social media to syndicate this across the web and social media
• Use the good2gether network to aggregate cause engagement for the BIGBRAND affiliates and partners and local charities
• Cross-promote the BIGBRAND charitable activities through online media (e.g. USA Today) and social media (e.g. Facebook and Twitter)
• Newspapers and media companies need local content. Local nonprofits have it. Local charities everywhere can enter their information for FREE
• The good2gether network helps the BIGBRAND and their local affiliate’s target new audiences to find and share ‘do good’ engagement opportunities, events and activities – through widgets web sites, media outlets,  affiliate web pages and the charity do-good pages
• Take advantage of additional sponsorship opportunities that drive brand image as well as introduce potential revenue. It's not just free. You can actually make money with good2gether
• Excite your target audience – particularly tech-savvy folks online - to “do good” while they recognize your sponsorship behind the cause!

We are working with a few brands to explore the potential impact of the good2gether platform, along with Good2gether's Greg McHale. You can find out more from Greg at www.good2gether.com and Contact Revenue Architects to learn more.

This is the time of year for lists – holiday shopping, family dinners – why not add on one more: Getting started with your 2010 new media marketing agenda! 

During 2009, you likely learned about the potential role of social media in your marketing plan. You recognize how the explosive growth of social networking - with tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Viddler, BlogTalkRadio, and YouTube - is fundamentally changing the way your clients learn, evaluate and ultimately make their decisions. You recognize that these web 2.0 tools are an increasingly important influence in the buy-sell process. Buyers seek evidence online to validate decisions and get instant feedback from others by listening and participating in the online conversations.  

We work with leading wealth managers and financial advisors who recognize that their clients are using social media and the web to help them evaluate an advisor. The content and professional credentials visible online are an increasingly important part of their decision process.  Successful advisors use their online presence to drive new business. They use blogs, Facebook Groups / Fan Pages and Twitter to engage in the online conversation increasing referrals and attracting new clients.

However, new media marketing is not a panacea. Your online presence and activity won’t replace your existing relationship building activities and the quality work you perform with clients. Your approach to new media marketing should be authentic – engaging in meaningful activities around the quality of your work and personal relationships.  Tackled the right way, a new media marketing approach will further accelerate your growth.

But where do you begin? Which networks should you join? How do you build an online presence? How do you avoid introducing risk with your current brand? What is involved in using social media and inbound marketing techniques day-to-day?  To help you get started, we developed the following checklist. This ten-step plan will guide you in taking positive steps forward in your new media marketing plan. With a thoughtful approach and a committed strategy, you will be rewarded with professional online presence and accelerated growth.

10 Steps to Get Started with New Media Marketing

1. Define your purpose.  Determine in advance why you are engaging in new media.  Is it for educational purposes or to market your business?  If you don’t have clear intentions, how can you expect to have clear results?
2. Find your target market. Join the social networking sites which are comprised of your target niche market.  Remember that the most popular social networking sites might not be the sites where your ideal clients visit.  Go to where your potential clients are and don’t just spend time with your peers. 
3. Craft your message. Your audience will only hear bits of pieces of your message at a time, so it is critical that you consistently and frequently broadcast a clear message about who you serve and what you offer. Don’t make your audience guess what you do, make it clear to them.
4. Gather and create content. Content is king in new media marketing.  Demonstrate your expertise by educating your audience through blogs, articles, videos, or podcasts.  Gather or create useful content to aid you in your new media marketing efforts.
5. Build your web presence & social media profiles. As you build out your profiles, you will be building a web presence that will give you a footprint beyond your website. This presence will increase your exposure to potential new clients. As you decide to participate in LinkedIn, Facebook, or other networking sites, it is important that you complete your profiles.  A person is likely to only visit your profile once, so make a lasting first impression.
6. Build your network. The more people you connect with on social networking sites, the more people will see your message.  Make a conscious effort to continually build your connections on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and other networks you are targeting.
7. Promote your profiles and cross connect. Let people know you are on the various social networking sites by promoting links on your website and email signature.  This will help you organically grow your network. The more sites where you connect with someone, the stronger your relationship will become.  Where it makes sense, find and connect with contacts across multiple social media sites.
8. Build an inbound strategy. Craft a strategy for your own website and your email/newsletter marketing programs. It is important that when potential new relationships click back to your website that they experience your brand in the right way. Ensure your website is professional and visually branded for your target audience and includes interactive web features like RSS and social bookmarking. Search engine optimization (SEO), landing page lead capture, and lead nurturing should be part of your website strategy.
9. Communicate Persuasively. Ensure your messages are sharp and clear. Are you delivering a persuasive message? Is your logic clear and concise? Are you listening and empathetic to client needs?
10. Actively engage. Use social networking sites and your website as a way to promote your content to your targeted market.  This helps educate your audience and keeps your name top-of-mind.  Social media is the same as any networking or marketing strategy – the more consistent you are, the better the results.  Actively participate in the various social networking sites on a weekly basis to achieve the greatest results.

About Kristen Luke

Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a firm dedicated to providing marketing strategies and support for financial advisors. Kristen works with independent advisors to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back office support required to implement the strategies. For more information, visit www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net. 

About John Stone III

John leads Revenue Architects and provides consulting, general management, education and solution services focused on profitable revenue models and integrating sales, marketing and technology systems. Clients include Putnam Investments, Natixis Global Asset Management, Charles Schwab, and HighMark Funds.  For more information visit www.revenuearchitects.com.

This Post by Kristen Luke was published on her blog on November 22, 2009. 

Recently I have been conducting one-on-one LinkedIn training sessions for advisors on how they can better utilize the professional social networking site. Each advisor has different restrictions on how they can engage with the site depending on the rules set forth by their compliance department. I have found that most compliance departments will allow advisors to have LinkedIn profiles, but will not necessarily allow them to actively participate in groups, install applications, update their status or mass email their connections. For those advisors who are allowed to have a LinkedIn profile but have been restricted in their use of the site, there are still strategies that can be utilized to make LinkedIn a valuable sales and marketing tool. Below are four strategies to implement even if you can’t use LinkedIn to its fullest potential.

Strategy 1: Build Your Network

LinkedIn becomes more powerful as the size of your network increases. This is because you are only able to see profiles of people within your network (i.e. 1st, 2nd or 3rd Connections and Group Members). To make effective use of LinkedIn, you will need to continuously build your network. This will allow you to discover more potential clients and centers of influence. Start expanding your network by importing contacts. You can do this by selecting “Add Connections” in the Contacts menu and uploading a spreadsheet of your contacts’ email addresses. The resulting list will show you who is on LinkedIn and will allow you to send a mass invitation to connect.

Once you have started with your initial network, you’ll want to continue adding all new contacts to your network. Make inviting all new contacts to join your LinkedIn network a part of your weekly routine. This includes people you meet professionally and socially. You never know where the next client or referral will come from, so don’t exclude people from your network.

Another way to build your network is to install an Outlook toolbar which will notify you when an email contact is on LinkedIn. You can download and install either the LinkedIn or Xobni toolbar which will show you LinkedIn profile information about each of your email contacts and provide you with a link to send an “invitation to connect” request. These tool bars eliminate the need to manually look up a contact to see if they are on the site and then send an invitation request. Plus, they constantly remind you to build your network.

Strategy 2: Join Groups

You may have been told by your compliance department that you can’t post a discussion question, answer a discussion question, post a news article, or comment on a news article. That doesn’t mean that joining groups is a waste of time. Even if you never actively participate in a group, joining allows you to expand your network. By joining a group, you are able to view the profiles of everyone in the group. This helps when you are researching prospects since their profiles might not be available to you otherwise. In addition, you are able to send an email directly to fellow group members without being linked in with them through the “send a message” function. Joining groups provides you with direct access to hundreds if not thousands of individuals who would otherwise be outside of your LinkedIn reach. Just be cautious when emailing through LinkedIn since some compliance departments require a screenshot of the message you are sending including the name of the person to whom who you are sending it.

Strategy 3: Research Prospects

LinkedIn provides a wealth of information about a prospective client. By reviewing a prospect’s profile prior to your first meeting, you can discover past employment history, educational background, professional associations and personal interests. This will give you a better understanding of the prospect and may assist in directing the conversation during a first appointment. The only limitation with this strategy is that you are only able to view profiles of people within your network. Having a larger network, as described in strategies one and two, will increase the likelihood of being able to see a prospect’s profile.

Strategy 4: Research your Network for Introductions & Referrals

Do you know which of your clients have relationships with the types of people you would like to meet? If they have a LinkedIn profile you can easily find out. When you connect with your clients, centers of influence or networking contacts on LinkedIn, you can look through their connections to see who they know. By researching your LinkedIn contacts’ network, you can make informed decisions about who has the ability to make quality referrals and introductions and create a marketing strategy around that information. For example, you can ask for referrals and introductions to specific people within your contact’s network when you have a referral conversation. Or, you can plan a private client event and make extra effort to ensure that clients with strong networks attend. Researching your network will allow you to focus your referral efforts.

Conclusion

In my personal experience, the strategies listed above are acceptable by most compliance departments who allow advisors to use LinkedIn. However, you will want to consult with your compliance department before implementing any of these ideas to make sure you are in observance of your firm’s policies.

Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, an affiliate of Revenue Architects. Kristen works with independent advisors to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back office support required to implement the strategies.