LinkedIn is a popular social media and networking tool for professionals of all backgrounds, but it’s especially appealing to financial advisors. As a marketing tool, LinkedIn can help you increase brand awareness and connect with potential clients seeking financial advice. If you’re not using LinkedIn to market your business, it may be time to rethink your approach, and LinkedIn marketing for financial advisors can help you maximize your potential.
The Importance of LinkedIn Marketing for Financial Advisors
If you’re already using social media, email, and digital advertising to promote your business, why is LinkedIn important to your marketing plan?
The simple answer is that it gives you access to a huge pool of potential clients, not to mention endless networking opportunities. LinkedIn is used by an estimated one billion people worldwide, making it a treasure trove of potential for consultants.
Most users use the platform to find jobs and build their network, but they also interact with individuals and brands. Being active on LinkedIn allows you to highlight your expertise, share your knowledge with interested prospects, and make initial contact with potential clients.
You can use LinkedIn’s built-in tools to generate targeted leads that may be actively seeking your expert financial advice. You can also use LinkedIn to drive traffic to your website, encourage visitors to subscribe to your email newsletter, or schedule a free consultation to discuss your financial plan.
LinkedIn Marketing Strategies for Financial Advisors
A LinkedIn profile is the first step in marketing your business, but it’s not the only one. The following strategies will help you maximize LinkedIn’s potential for new client acquisition:
1. Grow your network
For advisors, networking is an essential part of running a financial advisory business. And that’s exactly what LinkedIn is inherently designed for at its core. The most effective ways to build your network through the platform are:
- Join relevant groups specific to your industry or that of your audience.
- Connect with your existing contacts.
- Ditching the cookie-cutter approach and personalizing your outreach to send targeted connection requests.
Trying to connect with strangers is a bit like cold calling, but you can warm the room by mentioning a common connection or interest. And don’t forget to make sure your profile is fully optimized, as it helps build trust.
2. Position yourself as a thought leader
Imagine you’re looking for financial advisors on LinkedIn. You find two profiles that seem like a good fit. The first advisor’s profile has hundreds of posts where he shares his thoughts and expertise on financial topics and industry news. The other has a headshot and some basic information, but nothing else. Which of them would you rather work with?
LinkedIn values content creation. If you don’t, you could be missing out on opportunities to market your business. Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating your LinkedIn content:
- Answer the questions your audience is most likely to ask.
- Address their pain points – what is challenging or stressing them about their finances?
- Engage with your audience by responding to comments and sharing content if you think it’s valuable.
- Avoid aggressive sales tactics and let your content speak for itself.
Creating a content schedule also encourages you to be consistent, which helps build a following on the platform. For example, if you post on the same day at the same time, your followers will have something to look forward to, as long as you regularly share useful, insightful, or interesting content.
When it comes to the type of content you share, you can try different formats to find what resonates best with your audience. For example, you could share the following:
- Educational or informative articles
- Case studies
- Infographics or charts
- Videos
- Quotes
- Related news
- Interviews you’ve done
You can also try cross-posting in collaboration with other consultants. For example, if you were a guest on a finance podcast (or vice versa), you can both share a link to that podcast on your profiles.
Should you post content on your personal or business page? This depends on the size and goals of your company.
If you run a small business, prioritizing a Page may be a better option for building your personal brand, while larger companies may benefit more from creating content for their Company Page.
3. Run LinkedIn Ads
LinkedIn also allows you to create digital ads, and if you use Facebook or Google to promote your business, it may already be part of your marketing strategy. Creating a LinkedIn ad campaign allows you to target potential customers in your contact list or filter by specific characteristics such as job title or company name.
When deciding whether to proceed with a campaign, ask yourself:
- Who do you want to reach through the platform?
- What type of message do you want to convey with your ad?
- Where do you want your ad to appear?
On LinkedIn, you can: Create sponsored content ads that appear directly in your audience’s feed or sponsored InMails, which you can use to send personalized messages to potential customers. Meanwhile, dynamic ads can help you grow your audience and gain more followers. This can also be helpful if your goal is to become an influencer on the platform.
Each ad type serves a different purpose and costs differently. Evaluating your marketing goals and budget can help you determine which campaign type makes the most sense.
4. Use LinkedIn Analytics
LinkedIn Analytics gives you the data behind your profile, insights into:
- Who views your profile
- How your audience engages with your content
- The number of likes your content receives
Which industries get the most visitors to your profile, what time of day your profile is most active, and which posts get the most or least engagement. Looking at your analytics data can give you a better understanding of how to design your content marketing plan.
For example, if you see that posts about real estate planning get the most engagement and people typically view your profile at 10am on Tuesdays, it tells you what to post and when.
5. Marketing with Sales Navigator
Lead generation tools make it easy to find leads that fit your ideal customer profile. LinkedIn Sales Navigator is a built-in lead generation tool that you can access for a fee from your profile.
With Sales Navigator, you can:
- Prioritize accounts with the most connections
- Identify key signals that indicate when to post and how to increase engagement
- Build warm connections with prospects and other professionals
- Make the most of InMail connection requests
With many of the best customer relationship management (CRM) tools on the market that Sales Navigator integrates with, it helps you create a more seamless marketing experience for your business You can use this tool alongside other automated marketing tools to find better qualified leads for your business.