The Internet is the greatest marketing resource for an advice-based professional. Don’t be passive with your on-line presence. If you are not Internet savvy, someone on your team needs to be. It is a looming marketing disaster if clients are more Internet savvy than the practice and its advisers.

Clients expect a professional Internet presence for their advisers. Go on the offence and use the 7 unparalleled marketing benefits of Internet and social media marketing:

1. Reach – avoid the traditional boundaries of geography, limited financial resources, and limited market data, to reach prospective clients. Identify client micro-niches and market directly to them using targeted messages. A priority is to reach prospective clients outside existing client and referral networks.
2. Presence – establish a powerful on-line presence 24 hours, 7 days a week, in target client communities, i.e. where clients are active on-line. Have professional profiles where clients are on-line and where prospective clients conduct searches. Create a library of organic content to be found by prospective clients – this not only creates a strong presence but protects the on-line reputation of the practice and advisers. This is the basis of Inbound Marketing.
3. Engagement – engage clients and referral sources on social media to be up-to-date with changes and special events in their lives.
4. Influencer Marketing – leverage the on-line presence of thought leaders and influencers to engage and share content with their audiences. Become an influencer in your areas of expertise.
5. Low cost distribution of educational content – publish free, high quality content using Education Based Marketing and email. Consistently publish content to build a personal brand.
6. Viral distribution and Drip-feed Marketing – digital information is easily shared and forwarded by clients to their expanded networks. Schedule regular publication of items to target markets.
7. Social proof – clients provide positive endorsements through their Comments, Shares, Likes, Retweets, etc., on social media accounts. These actions support traditional testimonials.

Being active on-line means using the best marketing practices of 2018 to complement traditional off-line marketing and sales methods. Note: this information is taken from my free PDF download 'Financial Planner's Marketing Blueprint' available from my website.