Facebook is one of many social media platforms you might choose to target in your marketing plan. True, there are quite a few cat memes and food videos floating around here, but there’s plenty of room for you to launch an effective marketing campaign and connect with your target audience. If you’re looking for a playbook guide to Facebook marketing for financial advisors, there are a number of strategies that are designed to produce results.
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Understanding the Value of Facebook Marketing for Financial Advisors
Facebook is a marketing channel that advisors can’t afford to overlook for one simple reason: Billions of people use it every month. While not every user on the platform represents your target audience, Facebook is a virtual sea of possibilities for advisors who are looking for opportunities to expand their reach.
When used effectively, Facebook can help you to generate new leads for your business and increase conversions. You have a chance to raise awareness about your brand and actively engage with prospective or current clients across the platform.
Facebook makes it easier to market your advisory business since there are so many ways that you can do it. Some of the ways that you can use Facebook for marketing include:
- Creating text, photo or video content
- Posting stories or reels
- Running Facebook ads
- Posting polls or surveys
- Creating a public or private Facebook group
- Hosting a contest or giveaway on your page
- Sponsoring a marketing campaign in partnership with an influencer
- Hosting live events, such as webinars or Q&A sessions
There’s no cost to open a Facebook account for your advisory business and you can develop ad campaigns that align with your budget. You’re not required to use ads at all if you’re finding success with some of the other marketing methods listed above. But if you do decide to run ads, Facebook gives you the tools you need to track different metrics and measure their success.
10 Facebook Marketing Tips for Financial Advisors
Now that you have an idea of what Facebook can do for your advisory business, it’s time to dig into some actionable ways to use it. Here are 10 common tips and tricks to help you leverage Facebook in your marketing plan:
1. Set up a professional-looking page. To use Facebook marketing, you’ll first need to create a business page. At a minimum, your page should include a banner image that ties into your branding, a professional photo of yourself and all relevant contact information that a prospect would need to get in touch with you.
Once your page is set up, tell people about it. Invite people from your friends list to like and follow the page and encourage them to share it with others who may be looking for an advisor to work with.
2. Define your goals. Marketing on Facebook or anywhere else can end up being a wasted effort if you don’t have any clear goals in mind. When setting goals for Facebook marketing, ask yourself what you specifically hope to get out of it.
For example, your goals might include:
- Gaining 1,000 followers within the first 30 days
- Acquiring two new clients per month
- Increasing brand awareness within a 10-mile radius
These kinds of goals work because they clearly define an end target. Once you have that target in mind, you can figure out what steps you’ll need to take to get there.
3. Set a content schedule. Consistency is one of the most critical elements required to be successful with Facebook or any other social media platform. You want your followers to come to expect content from you at regular intervals so that they’re routinely showing up to see what’s new.
The frequency with which you post is up to you, but Facebook marketing experts often recommend posting one to two times daily, every single day. If that seems like too much to handle on top of what you’re already doing to scale your business, you might consider outsourcing content creation and posting to an experienced social media manager.
4. Test different content formats. In the early stages of growing a Facebook following, it can be difficult to know what kind of content will resonate most with readers. Trying out different formats can give you a better idea of what people want to see most from you.
For example, you might try:
- Posting a poll or survey
- Sharing a photo or meme
- Asking a question that’s designed to encourage discussion or debate
- Sharing a relevant news story
- Telling a personal story that your target audience can relate to
- Posting a short video clip explaining a financial concept
- Running an hour-long livestream where you answer questions from your followers
The number one rule for marketing as an advisor on Facebook is creating social media content that’s designed to draw people in and make them “stick” to your page. Otherwise, your posts are likely to get lost in the shuffle if your followers don’t feel compelled to stop the scroll and pay attention to them.
5. Join Facebook groups. Facebook groups can be a great way to market your business if you’re interacting with other members, answering questions and generally sharing your knowledge and expertise. If you’re able to provide a thoughtful answer to a financial planning question to a group member, they may be more inclined to visit your page and follow up with you to discuss how you might be able to help them.
One thing to note about joining Facebook groups is that there’s often a no-selling rule, meaning no sharing links to your business website or direct messaging group members without their express permission. Violating those rules could get you kicked out of the group and earn you a reputation for being overly salesy.
6. Start a Facebook group of your own. Running your own Facebook group is an opportunity to engage with your followers, rather than someone else’s. You can set the ground rules for joining and you have complete control over the kind of content you create and share.
Facebook groups may be public or private, and you can choose just one option or both. For example, you might set up a public group where you discuss financial topics with your followers and have a second, private group that’s just for your current clients. You can then offer exclusive content to those group members only.
7. Fine-tune your call to action. Including a call to action in every post can be an effective tool for driving conversions, since you’re telling your followers what to do next.
For instance, you might share a snippet from a blog post or article you’ve written and direct them to your website to read the content in full. Or you might ask them a question that’s designed to get them thinking about their financial situation and prompt them to give you a call to set up a consultation.
Your CTA doesn’t have to be the same thing every time, but it should be specific in giving your followers an actionable step they can take next.
8. Boost posts. Boosting on Facebook means giving a post you’ve written greater visibility, in exchange for a fee. It’s a simple way to get more eyes on a particular post rather than running a full-scale Facebook ads campaign.
Boosting can be helpful if you have seasonal content to share. For example, if one of your services includes offering advice on Medicare planning, you might boost a post asking followers if they’ve given any thought to the fall open enrollment period yet. And you can include a CTA to have them contact you to discuss whether they should consider making any changes to their Medicare plans.
9. Decide what Facebook ads might be worth to you. Boosting is more of a baby step to advertising on Facebook, but you might decide to take the leap and go all-in with a marketing campaign. In terms of how much it costs to market on Facebook, it depends on the number of ads you plan to run, how long you plan to run them and where you want them placed.
You might start small, with an ad budget of $20 to $30 a day. If you see a positive response from those ads and some tangible results, such as more clicks to your website, then you might increase your budget to $50 or $100 a day.
Again, Facebook ads are not required to market your business on the platform and some advisors may find more success with them than others. Knowing what you’re willing to spend and what you can realistically expect in return can help you decide if Facebook ads are worth it.
10. Track your results. Marketing is really a numbers game at the end of the day. You’re analyzing how many likes, shares, comments and clicks you get to see what content is working best for you and where you could improve.
Digging into the numbers can be time-consuming but it can be worth it if you’re able to identify your most valuable content. You can then either repurpose that content to be used across other social media platforms or replicate it to drive even more engagement.
Again, if all of this seems like too much to handle with your other responsibilities you might consider hiring a social media manager. Outsourcing tasks like social media content creation and posting, or even lead generation, can put more hours back into your working day.
Bottom Line
If you’re not using Facebook to market your advisory business yet, consider what you could be missing out on. Testing the waters with Facebook content or ads could help you tap into a reservoir of investors who are looking for exactly the type of services you provide.
Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business
- SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
- When leveraging social media for marketing, remember that you’re subject to regulatory rules and guidelines. Observing the proper protocol for social media compliance, including making the necessary disclosures, can help you avoid getting in trouble with regulatory bodies.
Photo credit: ©iStock/Tero Vesalainen, ©iStock/JLco – Julia Amaral, ©iStock/zamrznutitonovi