Our industry is so behind.
You know this.
We were ten years late getting to social media. Advisors just now are looking at shooting video (5 years late) and we wonder why we have trouble getting eyes on our material and driving traffic to our websites?
For many years IMOs and FMOs (Independent Marketing Organizations and Field Marketing Organizations) were always on the cutting edge of financial services marketing.
They are about to be taken over. DMO’s like us are going to change the whole game. DMO is Digital Marketing Organizations.
My mother gets 6-8 seminar invitations every week. They might look a little different but they are all the same. They are selling you something. It may be something you need, but very few people like to be “Sold” to anymore.
This is where DMO’s will make IMOs/FMOs obsolete.
Most advisors are taught to go right for the sale. Close the damn business as fast as you can. Unfortunately, pushing for a sale is like asking to get married before you have ever even courted, kissed, or met their parents. You have to warm people up over time, then they will buy from you not get sold by you.
That is a powerful differentiation.
In my first book, The Social Media Handbook for Financial Advisors, one of the first points made is a modern truth in communications. “You have to communicate to your audience in the medium they want to be communicated to, at the time they are there.”
So how do you do that?
You MUST HAVE:
- evergreen material that is available to them when they want it, not when you want to give it to them.
- original content, that allows people to get to know you.
- a reason they should connect and listen to you.
- something unique, truly unique.
- a strategy, a social media communications strategy. You have to cover all of the bases.
- Written
- Images
- Videos
- Audio
None of the above items are optional. You must have them all or you will miss a segment of your target market. Then you need to have a soft call to action. And no that is not, “Come in for a free 30 minute consultation.” That is like 6 months into dating. Slow down. The sales process has changed. You need to change with it.
Could you imagine if your IMO/FMO spent money to help you with digital? How much farther that money would go?
Digital dollars are worth 4-5 times print dollars. Which means you get 4-5 times the exposure with digital dollars versus that 10,000 postcard mailer. People do not throw away digital marketing. They remain and continue to work for you. People need to see your message 10-15 times before they will decide to act on it. Your digital efforts continue to work for you. Think about it, a podcast never dies. It remains and continues to work for you. A seminar invite does not have that longevity. That means you are sending those seminar mailers many times for the same impact – and they are more expensive. You are just throwing money away.
Change is hard, but those who do are ahead of the game. Don’t get left behind.
Find a marketing company who can do it all (digitally) and has financial services experience. Or, force your IMO/FMO to become a DMO for you.
Find a DMO soon, or the train will leave the station without you.
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