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FAQ

Enhanced advertising package FAQ’s

• Enhanced advertising package - what’s in it for you?
  • Website, email and call back requests straight through to your company
  • Priority listing for search results in your region
  • Monthly reporting showing the success of your enhanced advertising package
  • Access to our online service "Professional Connections" generating extra business and quality referrals by collaborating with mortgage advisers, solicitors and independent financial advisers outside your current professional network.
  • Have your say - join the Bluebook (directory of Media IFAs), and gain opportunities to provide informed comment and case studies to journalists on the latest news.
  • You will be featured on our 'find an IFA' iPhone application which is available to download for free from the Apple App Store
  • Social media profile links - you can add your LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter details to your profile

  To find out more information about advertising on unbiased.co.uk’s ‘find an IFA’ search please click here. This includes details of the advertising options available to you, the benefits of advertising with us and also the costs.

• I’ve just subscribed, when will my enhanced listing show?
  Following subscription, the consumer facing advert on the ‘find an IFA’ search on unbiased.co.uk will be updated with all of the features of the enhanced advertising package within seven working days of payment details being taken. If you have chosen to subscribe by direct debit, we will email confirmation to you following the successful set up of the payment scheme. If you have chosen to make payment by credit card, we will forward a receipt following successful payment.
• Why have I received notification that the direct debit amount has changed?

  If your monthly subscription is set up after the 19th of the month, the timescales involved with setting up direct debits and requesting the first direct debit payment do not allow a payment to be taken on the 1st of the following month. In this instance, a double payment is set up to be taken on the 1st of the next month to cover both full months (for example, if a direct debit is set up on the 20th January, the first payment will be a double payment on 1st March to cover your subscription for February and March). We will email confirmation of the amounts due before each payment is taken.

  To subscribe to the enhanced advertising package, or for further information on subscription, please call 0870 325 9019 or email ifaadvert@secure.unbiased.co.uk.

• How will the enhanced advertising package help me if all my business comes from existing clients and client referrals?
  Unbiased.co.uk searches match enquirers’ needs precisely with the information shown on IFAs’ entries. Therefore if you only want to receive a particular type of lead we can structure your entry to ensure this happens (e.g. by product area, payment method offered, gender of advisers available and incremental qualifications held). Unbiased.co.uk is a not-for-profit oganisation that runs a year round campaign to promote IFAs and the advice process in a positive light, therefore subscribing to the enhanced advertising package is funding your very own brand campaign.
• Why should I sign up to the enhanced advertising package when I feel that the quality of leads I have received from IFA Promotion has been of low quality?
  If you feel you are receiving low quality leads, it may be time to fine tune your entry on unbiased.co.uk. As we match enquirers search requirements closely to those of the IFA entries, it is important that your entry closely matches the type of business that you want to attract.
• Why should I pay extra for the enhanced advertising package if my unbiased.co.uk ‘find an IFA’ entry is already working for me?
  With the web now being the tool of choice for research, once the consumer is online they will want to carry out as much of the research process as possible. IFAs subscribing to the enhanced advertising package are able to display their email and web links on their entry which allows the consumer to visit your virtual shop window, continue their online research process, and decide if they want to come and see you. It is important to note, unbiased.co.uk is a not-for-profit oganisation that runs a year round campaign to promote IFAs and the advice process in a positive light, therefore subscribing to the enhanced advertising package is funding your very own brand campaign.
• Why should I sign up to the enhanced advertising package when I’ve never had a single lead from unbiased.co.uk?
  It is unlikely that you have never received a single lead. You can call the contact centre on 0330 303 0025 to check how many times your entry has been viewed by consumers. If you still feel that your lead levels are very low it is likely that the information on your entry is incomplete or not suitable for the type of business you want to attract. Alternatively, you may be receiving leads from us and not realise it. If a client specifies the web as where they found you, it is most likely they found you through us! We bid on thousands of search terms on Google and optimise our website for natural search engine visibility. We place the ‘find an IFA’ search on other reputable websites as well as online and offline editorial. It is therefore very likely the consumer found you through our adverts or listings on the major search engines. Subscribing IFAs also benefit from a monthly report showing how consumers have interacted with their entry during the month.
• How will the enhanced advertising package help me if I don’t have a website?
  Not having a website could certainly be detrimental to your positioning in today’s online world. However if you don’t have a website you can still use the enhanced advertising package as a method of promoting yourself on the web. Consumers using unbiased.co.uk to ‘find an IFA’ will view your profile, which can help offset the fact that you don’t have a website.
• Why do I need the enhanced advertising package if I advertise in Yellow Pages/Thomson (or another online directory)?
  The cost of unbiased.co.uk’s enhanced advertising package is only £299 per year, which means only one lead is needed per year for this to more than pay for itself. If you are advertising on the web you will already be aware that it has become the tool of choice for people looking for local IFA details. If you are only advertising in published directories now may be the perfect time for you to test some online marketing activity. We ensure that we have full coverage across paid for search, natural search listings, white label searches, print and online editorial. Unbiased.co.uk is a not-for-profit organisation and we use the money generated by subscriptions to further promote IFAs and the advice process in a positive light, which generates more traffic and thus more enquires coming to you via our website.
• Is there any point signing up to the enhanced advertising package when I’m not in a good residential area?
  Consumers often search on their work postcode as well. To make the most of your entry ensure that you have all of your business areas, payment options and qualifications listed. An alternative is to register your home address with us too. Subscribing to the enhanced advertising package is an extremely cost effective way to ensure your details are seen by more consumers who are looking for precisely what you offer.
• I don’t believe website advertising is relevant to financial advice – so what’s the point of the enhanced advertising package?
  Consumer demand would say that this is not the case. If you want your services to be seen, the enhanced advertising package is an extremely targeted marketing tool. The web is fast becoming the consumers’ research tool of choice.
• Why should I sign up to the enhanced advertising package when I don’t advertise anywhere else?
  Your competitors do and are. If you are looking for specific leads, you can tailor your entry on unbiased.co.uk so that we only match you up with those particular consumers when they search. Subscribing to the enhanced advertising package means that more of these highly targeted enquiries will find your business details as opposed to those of you competitors. Unbiased.co.uk is a not-for-profit organisation and we use the money generated by subscriptions to further promote IFAs and the advice process in a positive light.

General IFA subscription FAQ’s

• Definitions

  Single site – any company that advertises just one office on unbiased.co.uk and is either directly authorised, or is an appointed representative with a Principal company recognised by IFA Promotion as an IFA Network.

  Head office and branches – any company that lists multiple offices on unbiased.co.uk would be registered on our database as a head office with branches. Any large national company where all offices share the same FSA authorisation number are also registered as head offices with branches, as are appointed representatives of companies that are not networks.

  Due to the variety of types and complexities of head office to branch relationships for different companies advertising on unbiased.co.uk, these subscriptions must be updated by the unbiased contact centre by calling 0330 303 0025 or by email: ifacontact@secure.unbiased.co.uk.

• How do I register my IFA business?

  To be eligible to advertise on unbiased.co.uk you must have an individual at the branch address authorised by the FSA to conduct investment business, provide whole of market advice and provide a fees option. To find out more information about advertising on unbiased.co.uk’s ‘find an IFA’ search please click here. This includes details of the advertising options available to you, the benefits of advertising with us and also the costs.

  IFAs that hold mortgage permissions as part of their FSA authorisation and have at least one authorised whole of market mortgage adviser based at the branch are also able to advertise on our ‘find a mortgage adviser’ search. For more details about unbiased.co.uk’s ‘find a mortgage adviser’ search, please click here.

  Subscribe to our enhanced advertising package and you can also join our Professional Connections service, which enables you to connect with other mortgage advisers, solicitors and IFAs outside of your current professional network.

  Single site - To register your company and advertise on our ‘find an IFA’ search please visit our online registration pages here.

  Head Office / Branch - To register your company and advertise on our ‘find an IFA’ search, please complete and return the Subscriber Form. For assistance with registering a Head Office or Branch listing, please call our contact centre on 0330 303 0025 or email: ifacontact@secure.unbiased.co.uk

• How do I get my login details?

  Single site - To update your profile please visit the ‘manage your account online’ section of our website. If you are an existing member of IFA Promotion and are using this facility for the first time, please use the "Forgot login" facility on the right hand side. Simply key in your email address and we will email you your login details. If you have any problems please call our contact centre on 0330 303 0025 or email: ifacontact@secure.unbiased.co.uk.

  Head Office/Branch - Due to the variety of types and complexities of head office to branch relationships for different companies advertising on unbiased.co.uk, these subscriptions must be updated by the unbiased contact centre by calling 0330 303 0025 or by email: ifacontact@secure.unbiased.co.uk.

• How do I amend my record?

  Single site - You can amend your company profile and upgrade your advert at any time using our online account management system. This allows you to control your profile so you can make sure that your advert is attracting the kind of business you want. To update your profile please visit the ‘manage your account online’ section of our website. Here you will be required to enter your account number and password to login.

  Head Office/Branch - To update your profile please complete and return the Subscriber Form with any relevant updates. For assistance with updating a Head Office or Branch listing, please call our contact centre on 0330 303 0025 or email: ifacontact@secure.unbiased.co.uk

• How do I know my record has been amended?

  Single site – A confirmation email will be sent to you within a few minutes of logging out of the ‘manage your account online’ section. This email will be sent to the email address you have specified as the account’s admin email address. The consumer facing advert on the ‘find an IFA’ search on unbiased.co.uk will be updated within seven working days of the update.

  Head Office/Branch – A confirmation email will be sent to you from the contact centre once the requested updates have been made to your company profile on our database. Updates will be made within five working days of being requested by phone or received by email, fax or post. The consumer facing advert on the ‘find an IFA’ search on unbiased.co.uk will be updated within seven working days of the database update.

• How does the ‘find an IFA’ search work?

  Whenever an advert is registered or updated on unbiased.co.uk, the advert is allocated a grid reference, based on the postcode of the address registered. When a search is performed on unbiased.co.uk, to produce the list of nearest IFAs to the search postcode, a grid reference is also generated for the search postcode, and the search process then calculates the direct distance between these two grid references.

  Because of this search method, the search does not take into account postcode boundaries and geographical features (e.g. rivers). Distances quoted by the search are the straight-line distance between the grid reference locations of the search postcode and those of the nearest IFA.

  One possible reason for not being able to find your own company details when using a postcode other than your company’s own postcode to search on our website is because there are 8 other IFAs closer to the search postcode used.

  Selecting a search option (business areas, qualifications etc) which does not currently match the details in your company profile on our database would also mean that your company details do not appear in a list of search results, the list of advisers generated by the search contains the 4 nearest IFAs to the search postcode, that exactly match all of the search criteria selected. For example, if a search contains 4 specific business areas, all of these 4 would need to be included in your list of top 9 business areas for your company advert to be included in the search results.

  In addition, if your company listing is not currently subscribed to our Enhanced Advertising Package, you will also need to un-tick the box in section 2 of the search page for your company details to be displayed.

  For further information on the search options used by consumers, please click here.

  For a list of the top ten business areas used in consumer searches please click here.

• How do I order or download logos?

  You are entitled to display the IFA "pound sign" blue roundel wherever you want to promote your gold standard of service – Independent Financial Advice. Use it on your website, your stationery – email footers, letterheads, compliment slips, business cards etc, or on display in your window or office.

  You can download electronic versions of the blue IFA roundel by visiting our logos page.

• Where can I get hold of posters and guides?

  IFA Promotion in the past used to produce different posters and guides which were available to IFAs. These items are no longer available to order in hard copy; however the content of the IFA guides can still be viewed by clicking here.

IFA Qualifications FAQs

• Where can I add my FPC qualification?

  The FPC and equivalents (CertPFS, CeFA etc) are not qualifications listed on unbiased.co.uk as this is currently the minimum level of qualification needed to become an IFA. As all IFAs listed on unbiased.co.uk will be qualified to this level, these qualifications are not displayed separately and all qualifications listed within adverts on the website are incremental to this level.

• Why doesnt my company show when I tick “General” qualifications on the consumer search

  The “General” qualifications listed on unbiased.co.uk are incremental qualifications (and designations) to the FPC and equivalents that cover more than one product area. The list of “General” qualifications includes the DipPFS, APFC, ACII, FCII, ACIB, APFS, FPFS, CFP and Chartered Financial Planner, as well as the CII modules H15, H25, J07 and AF5..

• How do you verify my qualifications?

  CII / Dip PFS qualifications: With CII and PFS qualifications and designations we verify by cross-referencing your surname and date of birth with information provided to us by the awarding body once a month.

  If Your CII or PFS qualification or designation is not showing as verified when requested, it cannot be added to your company advert at that time, however we will keep a record of your request on our database, and will re-check for verification when we receive the next update from the CII & PFS. Once verified we will automatically add the qualification to your company profile.

  ifs school of finance qualifications: To enable IFA Promotion to list any ifs school of finance qualification on your company’s profile we need to verify the qualification with the ifs. Please complete the ifs school of finance verification form and post it to the address shown on the form. The ifs will then forward confirmation of your qualification directly to the unbiased.co.uk contact centre to be added to your company listing. ifs qualifications will be added to your company database profile within five working days of the postal confirmation from the ifs being received by the unbiased.co.uk contact centre. The consumer facing advert on the ‘find an IFA’ search on unbiased.co.uk will be updated within seven working days of the database update.

  IFP qualifications: If your qualification was taken through the IFP, we will contact the awarding body directly for verification of the qualification. We request confirmation of IFP qualifications on a weekly basis. IFP qualifications will be added to your company database profile within five working days of email confirmation being received from the IFP by the unbiased.co.uk contact centre. The consumer facing advert on the ‘find an IFA’ search on unbiased.co.uk will be updated within seven working days of the database update.

  Other awarding bodies’ qualifications: If your qualification was taken through The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland (CIOBS), CFA, PMI or CISI (formerly the SII), please fax a copy of the certificate directly to the unbiased.co.uk contact centre on 0870 325 9018. These qualifications will be added to your company database profile within five working days of the faxed certificate being received by the unbiased.co.uk contact centre. The consumer facing advert on the ‘find an IFA’ search on unbiased.co.uk will be updated within seven working days of the database update.