Your chances of converting social media leads into clients is much higher if you have a defined marketing strategy, according a survey of advisors released Wednesday by New York-based Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc.
Advisors are getting better at converting social media leads into clients, according to the survey of advisors, with 41% reporting success this year compared to 34% in 2019.
Having a defined marketing strategy made a difference, according to the survey. Fewer than one in three (28%) respondents had a defined marketing strategy, and more than half (57%) who did converted a social media lead to a new client, compared to 36% of those who did not, Broadridge said.
Respondents with a defined marketing strategy on-boarded an average of 41 new clients in the past year, versus 17 for those without a defined marketing strategy.
“Digital media usage is a bright spot and continues to show upward-trending success, as advisors double down on digital strategies and maximize the use of websites, LinkedIn and Facebook to generate leads,” said Kevin Darlington, general manager and head of Broadridge Advisor Solutions, in a release.
Three in four (76%) advisors with a defined marketing strategy feel somewhat or very confident in meeting practice growth goals, while only 61% without a strategy feel this confident.
More than half the respondents (61%) said their websites could be more effective in generating leads, and 31% plan to spend more on their websites in the year ahead.
After websites, the most-cited areas for increased marketing spending next year were in-person events (27%), word-of-mouth and referral programs (25%), social media (24%) and video content (23%).
Only 10% of advisors report being very satisfied with their marketing return on investment, down from 15% in 2021.
The online poll of 401 financial advisors, with US$10 million or more in assets under management, was conducted between Sept. 29 and Oct. 10. Online polls cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.