In
the old days, financial reps might have opened a
practice in a storefront type location with a big sign
outside to identify the practice and what it does.
High-rise office buildings have gradually overtaken the
landscape where the only signage may be a line item on a
lobby directory. Financial reps, therefore, have had to
turn to other means to market and identify their
practice with the public. Along with
traditional advertising venues, the World Wide Web (or
internet) has emerged as a marketing tool for
independent financial reps. A website can be
a great equalizer; the smallest firm can look like a
giant corporation with the right
website.
Many
financial reps have built websites to present an
identity for their practice and to provide a portal to
clients for information. The success experienced by
using a website can depend on several factors.
The
website as a marketing tool:
Many websites use outside services to list their site on
popular search engines. The search engines themselves
(i.e. Yahoo, Google, AOL, AltaVista, etc.) offer listing
services for a cost. Often this can get quite pricey. A
newer technological trend is to use a PPC provider (Pay
per Click). With such providers (Overture is probably
the largest and best known at this writing: www.overture.com),
you can select certain listings and bid on the position
your listing would hold in a search. Anyone clicking on
your listing and ending up at your website would
generate a cost for that listing (often in the $.10 and
up range per click). You may also be able to set a
budget for your PPC monthly costs. Once the
collective hits on your site from the search engines
reaches your budget amount, you are prompted to add
additional money to your account or the listings suspend
until your account is replenished. If you elect to spend
$50 per month, as an example, and your click-through
costs average ten cents each, you would have to exceed
500 hits on your site from the search listings before
running out of money that month. This helps to control
your marketing costs while keeping you in front of the
search listings.
The
website as a data collector:
Do you have a website that has the capability of
collecting information on your visitors? If not,
financial advisors are missing an opportunity here. A
website can be designed with something as simple as an
information request form. This form might ask for such
basic information as name, company, phone number, email
and topic of interest. It could also contain a place to
type in a message. Therefore, a visitor wishing
additional information or wanting to sign up for a
newsletter, etc. can fill in the form and the
information is then transmitted to the owner of the
website. Some websites contain free tools or other
giveaways that require a similar form to be filled out
prior to receiving the tool or giveaway. This may prove
to be an effective means of mining visitor information.
And, because it is opted for by the visitor, there is no
danger of being labeled a spammer. (Purveyor of
unsolicited email advertising)
The
website as an interactive tool:
A few financial advisors have chosen to use their
website in a more sophisticated way, by adding
interactive elements to the site. Such elements
could include links to outside information sources such
as stock market data (i.e. electronic ticker tape),
stock and bond lookup services, investment research,
etc. Additionally, such interactive elements as a series
of short media clips on specific subjects, or news
sources related to client interests that are updated
frequently can be a reason for clients and other
visitors to return to your site over and over again.
Another
key to success is the extent of sophistication you can
use in your website. This is dependent to some extent on
what you may be allowed to do by your broker/dealer
and/or State and Federal Law. You should start by
checking with those sources to determine what latitude
you have in developing a website. Assuming you can
proceed, the next step is to determine whether or not
you can develop a site on your own or if you must use a
website development service (approved or provided by
your broker/dealer). Many broker/dealers have provided
such services at a discount to their reps. The b/d may
insist that you use only the approved vendor(s) for a
website or they may allow you to choose between vendors
and/or developing it yourself (subject to compliance
approval).
Keep
in mind what your goal for having the website is. If, on
the one hand, it is merely to have a site, without any
marketing capabilities or client interaction, then it is
probably not worth the price, regardless of how
inexpensive a particular package might be. In other
words, what is the point of having a website if you do
not intend to use it in any meaningful way? If, on the
other hand, your reason for having the site is to
encourage clients to use features such as account
lookups, client document storage, news features, etc.,
then this can have a direct positive impact on your
practice. From an efficiency standpoint, the more your
clients use such features, the less they are calling
your office for the same information. This frees up your
time and your staff for other tasks. If, by leveraging
the marketing capabilities of your website, you are able
to secure additional clients, then the cost and effort
associated with maintaining your website can be better
justified. And, a website can become a profit center for
your financial practice.
