How to Generate Leads for Financial Advisors (In 2024)

Generating leads will be more important than ever for financial advisors in 2024 as the industry continues to change and become more competitive. 

With the rise of robo-advisors and online financial services, traditional financial advisors need to find new ways to reach potential clients if they want to grow their business.

That being said,

Before you pick up that phone and call everyone like crazy pitching sales, remember this: significant interactions over the phone are rare. Your top objective when calling should be to pique the prospect’s interest enough to schedule a face-to-face meeting with you. 

In other words, BE BRIEF, BE BRILLIANT and MOVE ON. 

Leave them full of suspense and wanting more.

This guide provides an overview of the most effective ways for financial advisors to generate leads in 2024, including updating your website, social media marketing, hosting events, networking, getting referrals, content marketing, paid advertising, and using chatbots.

The key here is to have an omnichannel approach that provides value to potential customers at every stage, builds relationships over time, and positions you as an expert adviser worth meeting.

With the right strategy focused on helping prospects, not just selling to them, you can thrive in 2024 and beyond.

Update Your Website

Having an up-to-date, mobile-friendly website is crucial for generating leads in 2024 as a financial advisor. Your website serves as the digital face of your business and a key resource for attracting and capturing new clients.

To maximize leads, ensure your website:

• Is fully optimized for mobile devices. Over 60% of website traffic now comes from mobile, so a mobile-friendly site is essential. Use responsive design, limit scrolling, increase tap targets, and test across devices.

• Allows visitors to easily request information or schedule appointments through lead capture forms. Include forms throughout your site especially on service pages. Reduce barriers to contact you.

• Has a blog filled with SEO-optimized content published regularly. Target informational keywords and answer common client questions within your posts. This provides value and surfaces your site in search engines, directing more visitors.

• Highlights your areas of expertise, credentials, and value proposition. Include testimonials and case studies demonstrating success. Build trust and credibility.

• Is kept up-to-date across all pages. Review your content periodically to fix outdated information. Stay on top of trends that’s affecting clients to provide current advice.

An optimized website establishes you as an authority in financial services and gives visitors many opportunities to convert into leads. Dedicate time each month to enhancing your site for the modern digital landscape.

Leverage Social Media

Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook provide excellent opportunities for financial advisors to generate leads. Here are some tips for using social media effectively:

Maintain an active presence on major platforms

Consistently post updates, share articles, and engage with your connections and followers. Participate in relevant conversations and groups. The key is to provide value - don't just promote yourself.

Share relevant content

Post articles, infographics, videos, and other content that would interest your target demographic. This shows your expertise and gives people a reason to connect with you.

READ: Digital Marketing For Financial Advisors: 2024 Update And Trends

 

Engage with followers

Respond to comments, answer questions, and interact regularly with your connections. Build relationships over time through thoughtful engagement.

Run paid ads

Most social platforms offer paid advertising options. You can target ads very specifically to reach your ideal prospects. Promote content offers, events, downloads, and other calls-to-action that encourage people to contact you. 

Test different audiences, creatives and offers to see what converts best.

The key to success on social media is to post consistently, provide value, and engage authentically with your target audience over time. Leverage the unique features of each platform to build connections, raise awareness, and generate leads. 

With a thoughtful social strategy, these networks can become a significant driver of new business.

Host Events

Hosting events is a great way to generate leads for financial advisors in 2024. Both virtual and in-person events allow you to showcase your expertise and build relationships with potential clients. Consider hosting webinars, seminars, workshops, or networking events.

Webinars

Webinars are an easy way to reach a large audience virtually. Use webinars to teach prospects about relevant financial topics like retirement planning, investing, taxes, and more. Webinars establish you as an expert and allow you to provide value to attendees. 

Make sure to have a call-to-action at the end to convert webinars leads into clients.

Seminars

In-person seminars are another avenue to demonstrate your knowledge. Seminars can be held at your office, shared workspaces, hotels, libraries, or other venues.

Like webinars, ensure your seminar provides useful information to attendees while positioning you as a trusted advisor. Have lead generation materials available and a sign-up for your newsletter.

Workshops

Workshops are more interactive than webinars and seminars. 

Attendees can ask questions and engage with you and other participants. Consider hosting workshops to help prospects create financial plans, educate them on services, or provide market updates. Workshops allow you to directly interact with potential clients.

Collaborate

Partner with other professionals like accountants, estate planners, and attorneys to co-host events. This widens your reach to new audiences while providing a value-add for attendees. Joint events also reduce planning overhead and allow you to share marketing efforts.

Hosting webinars, seminars, workshops, and other events positions you as a thought leader while generating new leads. Consider both virtual and in-person events to expand your reach. Use events to provide value, build relationships, and grow your pipeline.

Network

Attending industry conferences and events is a great way for financial advisors to connect with potential clients and referral sources.

Conferences like the AICPA Engage Conference, FPA Annual Conference, Finseca’s LAMP Conference, MDRT’s global conferences, and Schwab Impact attract thousands of advisors, investors, and other finance professionals. 

Walk the exhibit hall, attend sessions, and participate in networking events to introduce yourself and collect business cards.

Follow up after the event to build those connections!

Moreover, joining professional associations like the Financial Planning Association (FPA), National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), or your local estate planning council also provides networking opportunities. These groups hold local chapter events and meetups where you can mingle with fellow advisors and prospects.

Get involved by volunteering for a committee or leadership role.

READ: How To Find High Net-Worth Clients [7 Secret Strategies]

 

You can also develop relationships with centers of influence who can refer clients, such as accountants, attorneys, mortgage brokers, and insurance agents. Offer to give educational presentations to their clients on topics like retirement planning or estate planning.

Send articles or invite them to events to stay top of mind. Then, thank them for any referrals they send your way.

Expanding your network both online and offline takes persistence, but is vital for generating leads as a financial advisor.

Referrals

Referrals from existing, satisfied clients are one of the most effective ways for financial advisors to generate new leads. Clients who are happy with your services will be eager to recommend you to friends, family members, and colleagues who may also need financial planning and advice.

Ask existing clients for referrals

Don't be afraid to ask your current clients directly if they know anyone else who could benefit from your services. Many clients will be more than happy to share your name and recommend you. So, make sure they have business cards or easy ways to share your contact information.

Create referral programs

Consider creating a formal referral program that rewards clients for referrals who become new customers. This could be a monetary reward, gift card, or other incentive. Track referrals so you can thank clients when their referrals turn into new business.

Maintain contact with past clients

Keep a database of past clients and reach out to them periodically. Update them on new services you offer or articles/resources that may interest them. Past clients may think of you when a friend or family member asks for a financial advisor recommendation. Stay top of mind.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways for financial advisors to generate leads in 2024. Consistently publishing valuable content attracts and engages your ideal prospects.

Blog

Having a blog on your website allows you to showcase your expertise. Focus on topics your target audience cares about, like retirement planning, investing, taxes, estate planning, etc. Optimize your posts for SEO by including relevant keywords. Promote your latest posts on social media to drive traffic.

Newsletters

Send out a monthly or quarterly email newsletter to your prospects and clients. Share your latest blog posts, market insights, upcoming events, etc. Use calls-to-action to convert readers into leads. Offer an opt-in form on your website to grow your subscriber list.

Videos

Create short, educational videos to share on YouTube and social media. These could be overviews of financial topics, responses to frequently asked questions, explanations of current events' impacts, etc. Videos establish you as an authority and get prospects used to hearing your voice and seeing your face.

Podcasts

Launch a podcast focusing on financial topics to increase your reach and credibility. Distribute your podcast on platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, etc. Promote new episodes on your website, newsletter and social profiles. Consider collaborating with other advisors or experts to create content.

Guest Post Outreach

Approach other financial blogs and websites to contribute guest posts. This raises awareness of your expertise and links back to your website. Focus on reputable, high-traffic blogs that reach your target audience. Make sure to meet their editorial standards.

Repurpose Content

Take existing content and present it in new formats for additional exposure. Turn blog posts into videos and podcast episodes. Break long posts into smaller pieces to create a series. Reuse content on new platforms by tailoring it for their users. Update and adapt evergreen content over time. Repurposing expands your reach and saves time.

Paid Advertising

Paid advertising can be a highly effective way for financial advisors to generate leads in 2024. With more people spending time online, leveraging digital advertising platforms like Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn to reach your target audience where they already spend their time can provide a constant stream of new leads.

Google Ads

Google Ads allows you to display ads at the top of Google search results and on relevant sites across the Google Display Network. You can target your ads by keyword, location, interests, and more to reach people actively searching for financial planning services. Focus on producing helpful, informative ads to capture interest.

Facebook & Instagram Ads

With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook and Instagram ads give you access to a huge audience. You can target very specific demographics and interests to make sure your ads are seen by people likely to need financial advising services. Use compelling visuals and ad copy in ads linking to landing pages with lead gen forms.

LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn advertising lets you target the platform's 675+ million professionals with customized ads. Focus your targeting on job titles, employers, interests, and other filters to reach business owners, executives, and other high-value prospects. LinkedIn ads can drive traffic to your website or LinkedIn profile.

READ: 20 Lead Generation Tips for Financial Advisors (2024)

Retargeting Campaigns

Retargeting involves serving customized ads to people who have already visited your website. This targets people who are already aware and interested in your services, pulling them back to complete a lead capture form. Retargeting has high conversion rates due to this existing familiarity.

Emerging Platforms

In 2024, explore expanding your paid advertising to emerging platforms like TikTok and YouTube. Video ads on these highly engaging platforms can further widen your reach, especially attracting younger demographics.

Moreover, maintain a test budget to experiment with new advertising opportunities as they arise.

With the breadth of paid advertising options in 2024, financial advisors have more ways than ever to place their services in front of motivated, high-intent audiences actively searching for the solutions they provide.

Developing an omnichannel paid advertising strategy can provide a predictable funnel of inbound leads.

Chatbots

Implement chatbots on your website to engage visitors and qualify leads 24/7. Chatbots can start conversations, answer common questions, and book meetings or appointments with just a few clicks.

Consider using chatbot platforms like ManyChat, MobileMonkey, or Chatfuel to create chatbot sequences tailored to your business.

You can also leverage chatbots on social media platforms like Facebook Messenger to reach prospects where they already spend time online.

Build a chatbot to deliver helpful information to users who interact with your page or ads, or program conversational content to nurture relationships over time and transition social followers into sales leads.

Chatbots enable around-the-clock lead generation while removing the need for manual follow-up. They scale personal connection and interaction that would otherwise require your constant time and attention.

With chatbots handling many common interactions, you can focus on priority prospects while leads flow in on autopilot.

Conclusion

Out of all the lead generation techniques discussed in this guide, there is no one "silver bullet" method that dramatically increases leads overnight. The most effective strategy is to utilize a combination of inbound and outbound tactics across multiple channels.

The key is consistency - you must commit to regularly publishing helpful content, optimizing for organic discovery, engaging on social media, hosting events, and leveraging paid ads.

While quick fixes like buying email lists might generate short-term results, sustainable lead generation requires an integrated approach.

When it comes to execution, start by identifying low-hanging fruit that aligns with your strengths.

For example, if you're an engaging speaker, focus on hosting seminars or webinars. If you're a great writer, ramp up your content production. Monitor the success of each channel and double down on what works, while phasing out what doesn't.

Lead generation is not a set-it-and-forget-it endeavor. You need to continually test new strategies and refine based on data. The financial services landscape is constantly evolving.

Your approach must adapt to attract prospects over the long term sustainably. With a thoughtful strategy like The Taylor Method, you can build a steady stream of qualified leads.