Article

How to leverage your Financial Advisor Website – Case Study

by | Apr 23, 2022 | Case Studies

The most significant challenge for most independent financial advisor websites is standing out to their clients, before going to a more prominent firm. 

Even though, in most cases, they offer a more targeted and, therefore, better service. 

But how can you position yourself and optimize the messaging of your financial advisor website to reflect your value?

In this case study, you will learn how to leverage the most powerful marketing asset that you already have- your website- to gain more clients! To do this, we are using one of our clients Milestone Asset Management Group, as an example. 

Milestone AMG came to us with some common frustrations:

  • Their pre-covid strategy, hosting local marketing workshops, wasn’t an option anymore. They needed help transitioning to a digital marketing strategy.
  • Their website didn’t reflect what they currently offered and didn’t communicate the value of their services.
  • Their messaging and website copy sounded like traditional advisors and didn’t reflect their personalities. They wanted their unique voices to come through to connect and identify with their ideal clients.

These are the most important goals they had in mind when working with us: 

  • Transition to a winning digital marketing strategy foundation to see growth in post-COVID-19.
  • Create a website that is 100% congruent with who the firm is today and where it is going.
  • Integrate all their online marketing tools into a marketing hub, a strong foundation they owned, controlled and could build on. 
  • Have a marketing asset that attracts the right clients and increases the firm’s AUM.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways we helped AMG accomplish their goals:

  1. Uplevel their Brand Story and Message 
  2. Created a Unique Discovery Process 
  3. Adopted Authority Web Design and Development 

Brand Story and Message

Your brand story and message are critical for an effective financial advisor website that converts. If done right, it makes who you are, what you do, and who it’s for abundantly clear. You want your ideal client to think, “This is exactly what I’m looking for!” when visiting your site and seeing your material.  

Here are some elements to consider:

  • Above the Fold 
  • Authority Triggers
  • Targeted messaging
  • Clear Calls to Actions (CTA)

Above the Fold

The Above the Fold is the first impression viewers see when clicking on your site. Including a benefit statement here is vital.

Looking at their website before the redesign, you can tell that there is a lack of clarity and specificity about what their services include and whom they target. 

How Milestone AMG’ website looked before our redesign

After our redesign, it’s obvious what they do and for who. Their benefit statement is “Financial planning for career professionals and executives. You don’t have to do the heavy lifting anymore. Let us do it for you!”, followed by a Call to Action button “Start now and talk to us today.”

The Above the Fold after our redesign

Authority Triggers

Additionally, we have implemented Authority Triggers to the Above the Fold. Authority triggers are elements in the design and copy that position your brand or firm as an, you guessed it, authority. Here we used media mentions.

Targeted messaging

To get super clear on what makes you different from other financial advisor websites and whom you serve best, we use a specific process that helps us craft the most fitting copy. 

Many agencies will interview their clients to learn more about their goals and business to compose copy for their site. We like to go a step further. 

Besides interviewing Michael from AMG, we also interviewed three of his clients. Understanding his clients’ views of his value and service allowed us to use their exact language to craft a highly targeted message. It now directly speaks to the desires of his ideal client. 

Targeted messaging on the Homepage

Clear Calls to Actions (CTA)

To capture leads that identify with your message and brand, we want to make it clear and easy where to go to take the next steps. The harder it is for visitors to find what they are looking for, the more hesitant they’ll be to take those steps. 

Therefore, we insert CTA’s on the home page and some key locations on the site. The CTA link directs the visitor to the unique discovery process page. 

Calls to Action on the Homepage

Ready to take your Brand and Message to a new level?

Learn more about the concept here, or if you need help:

Unique Discovery Process for Financial Advisor Websites 

The UDP is a page on your financial advisor website that clarifies what prospects can expect when following the next steps and what they’ll get when signing up for your service. 

The goal is to remove ambiguity or confusion so the visitor is confident in taking the next steps. To do this, answer the following questions on your Unique Discovery Process Page:

  • Who is your offer for?
  • What is your process?
  • What does the service entail?/ What can they expect to receive?
  • Why should they sign up?

What does the service entail?/ What can prospects expect to receive?

The product mockup gives the viewers a tangible product they can understand and grasp. Prospects have the chance to identify if this is what they need or not before booking the call. 

Who is your offer for?

Viewers self-qualify through the identity bullets before booking a call. Qualifying leads before scheduling a call saves time and ensures that you only receive ideal requests. 

The Unique Discovery Process Page

What is your process?

We worked with Milestone AMG to create their unique process, “the financial roadmap,” clearly explaining how they work with their clients. With specific steps, all questions prospects may have are being answered here. The copy and messaging lead them organically down the funnel to eventually book the call, the ultimate goal. 

Why should they sign-up?

Specific and clearly defined results are critical when it comes to online conversion. If people don’t understand what they’re getting before they sign up, they’re not going to try to figure it out, but instead, click away. Additionally, leveraging IP’s power (intellectual property) demonstrates that your service is like no other and a proven strategy. Upgrade your branding by using the ™ symbol and make your process unique. 

This was just a brief summary of the unique discovery process. If you want to go into more depth about this topic and how it improves conversion on your financial advisor website, we recommend checking out this article.

Authority design and development for financial advisor website

Your website should be a digital marketing asset under your ownership and control. To achieve this, let’s look at some key elements in your Webdesign and development: 

  1. Branding 
  2. Ownership
  3. Content
  4. Speed 
  5. Performance Metrics

Branding 

The design of your website should reflect your personality. Having cohesive branding and graphics throughout your site allows viewers to connect to and identify with your brand. Click here to learn more about Great Website Design.

Ownership

If you don’t have ownership or control over your website, it’s not an asset but a liability. To have complete control of your website, build it on a platform that gives you full ownership. We recommend WordPress.org. Another aspect of owning a digital marketing asset is creating unique content.  

Milestone AMG wanted to publish and feature their podcast on their website. Their financial advisor website is now a marketing hub, directing podcast listeners to their site and converting them to potential leads or subscribers. 

Content

Your content can help you increase visibility but should ultimately serve you as a marketing tool for conversion. 

Milestone AMG wanted to publish and feature their podcast on their website. Their website is now a marketing hub, directing podcast listeners to their site and converting them to potential leads or subscribers. 

Speed

Site speed before our web development
Improvement of site speed after our web development

Fast site speed, especially on mobile, is a ranking factor. In other words, if your site’s slow, your content will not rank. Milestone AMG’s old site had a mobile speed of 9/100. After the redesign, we bumped it up to 93/100, which helped rank their content on Google. 

Performance Metrics

Metrics of Milestone AMG Website before new web design
Metrics after the launch of new web design

To measure your website design and development success, you should pay attention to the key metrics. Looking at Milestone AMG’s site, we can see improvements in all the core analytics after their new design went live. Let’s look at the most important metrics:

Bounce rate

Before the redesign, Milestone AMG had a high bounce rate of 60.31%. In contrast, a few days after the new design launch, the bounce decreased to 22.1%. Bounce rate is the percentage of people who visit your website but don’t take any action on your site. This metric is so important because it shows you how well your site is performing in conversion. Every click is an opportunity to gain a lead. Optimal Webdesign and development can help you convert visitors. 

Average Session Duration 

The average session duration reflects how much time visitors spend on your site. Optimizing your messaging and calls to action captivate readers and allow them to get familiar with your brand and service. It’s more likely for prospects to move along the sales funnel when they immerse themselves in your content and have a chance to identify themselves as your ideal client. 

There’s a lot that goes into web design and development, for more information on what makes a great website design, click here.

Final Thoughts 

It takes only 7 seconds for people to form a solid impression of your brand. According to Investopedia, there are over 100,000 independent financial advisors in the US alone. It’s essential that you position yourself as an authority online, and the best way to do so is through your website. 

Michael and Milestone AMG had a clear vision of what they wanted to convey to visitors to their site but didn’t have the know-how or tools to bring it to life. This case study should give you a foundational understanding of how to optimize your messaging, create a unique process and utilize your Webdesign to generate leads from your Financial Advisor Website and use it as a tool to grow your business. 

Need help turning your financial advisor website into a marketing asset? 

We can help!

Stay tuned!

Fed Up Looking Like Every Other Advisor Out There?

3 ways to market yourself online as a financial advisor lead magnet cover graphic

Discover 3 Simple Methods Top Financial Advisors Use To Stand Out With Our Free Cheatsheet

Get Started

Tell Us A Little About Your Project And We'll See If We Think We Can Help

We won't SPAM, hard sell you or light your phone up with 200 texts. Click the button below and you'll be on your way in 2 minutes or less. 

3 ways to market yourself online as a financial advisor lead magnet cover graphic

We've prepared the Cheatsheet

for you...

 

...just tell us where to send it.

You have Successfully Subscribed!