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Watch a video of Samantha discussing marketing in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
As we play our part to practice social distancing to help curb the spread of the coronavirus, many advisory firms are moving to cut costs to their marketing budgets. According to a Gartner poll, almost two-thirds of markets expect moderate or significant budget cuts in 2020 relative to their original marketing plans due to COVID-19.
Should you pause all ads, stop all marketing and end all outbound communication to prospects and clients?
The short answer is no. Investors need (and want) to hear from you now more than ever.
We are facing a historic moment – this is the greatest amount of time people have ever spent online. Not being where clients and prospects are spending their time is the biggest mistake you can make. This is the best time for you to double down on your marketing efforts and fully embrace a digital communications process.
No marketing budget? Seven free tools to drive success
At Twenty Over Ten, I recommend advisors design their marketing strategies to cover, “the big four," which includes content creation, social media, email and website search optimization (SEO). These pillars of marketing can all be managed by you or someone on your team for free. You just have to be willing to take the time to learn the requisite tools. Luckily, there are many tutorials, videos and guides on these topics. Here are seven of my favorites:
1. Graphics: Canva
Canva is a free visual content creation tool that is made for non-designers. Not only does it have an extensive library of pre-designed, pre-sized templates, but it also has thousands of premium-quality design elements, ranging from custom fonts to free stock photos.
Canva offers a free version and is great for small businesses because it allows them to create beautiful, on-brand images that can stand out on social media, email, etc. Studies show that if you hear a piece of information, then three days later you’re only 10% likely to remember it. But if you add a picture, you’re 65% more likely to remember it. Canva gives you an easy way to incorporate the very important aspect of visual marketing into your arsenal.
2. Video: Headliner
If you read my last article, you know how bullish I am on including video in your content-marketing initiatives. Headliner is another free tool that we use frequently at Twenty Over Ten to quickly transcribe videos and add text overlays. Once you upload the video file from your phone, the tool automatically transcribes it for you. All you have to do is pick an orientation – landscape, square, or portrait, and then share. Pro tip: Sometimes, the transcription “bot” isn’t 100% accurate. Read through the transcription and edit any errors or misspellings.
3. Screen sharing: Loom
Loom is available as a browser extension or an app download and is another great, free tool to record your screen. It is a real time-saver to show someone how to do something. Rather than trying to get some time on their calendar, you can record your screen and send a link for them to watch and listen at their leisure.
4. Meetings and webinars: Zoom
With everything moving to digital due to COVID-19, hosting webinars and virtual meetings is a great way to generate leads, showcase your expertise as a financial advisor, and transform your ideas into lively, engaging events. Zoom is a software application that allows for video conferencing, online meetings, chat and mobile collaboration. Zoom Video Webinar has a multitude of options, letting customers pick plans that range from having 100 participants to 10,000 participants, starting at just $14.99 per month. You can even sign up for a free, basic plan if you’re only hosting 100 participants or fewer. For more information on hosting effective webinars to generate leads for your advisory business this is a great place to start.
5. Photos: Unsplash and Pixabay
When you need a strong image or stock photo, Unsplash and Pixabay are two websites that our team of designers highly recommends. Unsplash has beautiful photography and you can always find something that will inspire you in its collection. There are a lot of landscapes, buildings, nature, and artistic shots available absolutely free. Additionally, it offers 10 new photos every 10 days, so you never run out of options.
6. Keywords and SEO: Google search console
Google search console is a free tool that helps users uncover great information about your site and visitors. Use it to find out:
- Which keyword searches caused your site to appear in search results?
- Whether some queries result in more traffic to your site than others?
- What sites are linking to your website?
- How is the mobile version of your site performing? and
- Index coverage reporting.
If you’ve never used Google search console and don’t know where to begin, this step-by-step basic beginner guide can help.
7. Website optimization and traffic: Google analytics
Google Analytics is another Google tool that is part of Gsuite; it enables you to track more than 10,000 metrics. Google Analytics is incredibly useful (and free, of course), and it separate from your search console. It uncovers intelligence on the traffic your website receives. Some of the biggest key performance indicators (KPIs) I recommend advisors track within their Google Analytics include:
- Total number of visitors to your website
- Total number of pages a user will visit in one session
- The three most visited pages on your site
- Acquisition of visitors from social media and other referral sources
- Bounce rate
- Conversion rates

Budgeting time for marketing
Your Digital Marketing Is More Important Than Ever During COVID-19
With everything canceled, how will you continue to reach clients and prospects at this time?
The answer: digital marketing
There is no better time to get started or double down on your digital marketing efforts and you need a space to manage it all.
Our team can help.
Visit https://leadpilot.io/ and schedule a 1:1 call with our team today to learn more about Lead Pilot and try it out for free for one month.
I know what you’re thinking – Great, I’ve got all these free tools to use, but no time to put them to work. Yes, you’ll need to carve out some time for your marketing efforts as balancing priorities are even more important now. In a recent survey and webinar we conducted at Twenty Over Ten, we quantified the average time advisors allocate to different areas of their digital marketing efforts:
Communication Channel
|
Time Commitment
|
Website
|
10-15 hours / month
|
Social media
|
1-3 hours / week
|
Blogging
|
15-20 hours / month
|
Email marketing
|
1 hour / week or less
|
Despite this data, the time it will take your firm to execute certain tasks will and should look different from other businesses! Why? Everyone operates differently – with different staff members, etc. as well as varying client types that you want to attract.
Step back and take a look at the bigger picture – what does success look like for your business? Once you hone in on what you want to do with your marketing – whether it’s to gain new clients or increase current client engagement – narrow down your options for how to get there. Instead of taking on too many tasks and spending time everywhere, you will only be spending time on those specific things that truly matter and will help you achieve those desired results.
Samantha Russell is the chief marketing and business development officer at Twenty Over Ten (a digital marketing and website development company for financial advisors). Samantha helps financial advisors create digital marketing strategies that produce explosive growth through website development, content marketing, SEO, social media and video.
Read more articles by Samantha Russell