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Ten simple and proven New Year internet resolutions for IFAs in 2010

As New Year headaches begin to ease, many consumers will experience a hangover of a different sort as their spending over the Christmas season catches up with them.

Those consumers with New Year Resolutions to sort out their finances will inevitably use the Internet to find an IFA, but unfortunately many IFAs online presence will do little to attract people to make contact because their websites are often dull, lifeless and do little to communicate professionalism.  So it’s very important to make sure that your listing on unbiased.co.uk is complemented with a simple but effective website.

Despite IFAs working very hard to reach the highest levels of professional standards by examination, consumers can see little evidence of it from many IFAs’ websites.  And it’s still the case that at least a quarter of IFAs still don’t have a website so will never be found by consumers who use the Internet.

But the good news is that 2010 will be the year when IFAs finally embrace the Internet as a mainstream marketing and client communication tool.  Many IFAs have traditionally believed that their clients (particularly older clients) are not interested in receiving communications or services via the Internet, but Google, search engines and social networking sites are rapidly replacing the telephone directory as the preferred means to find an IFA.

So here are ten simple and proven New Year Resolutions for IFAs to enhance their Internet presence:

1. Communicate much more with existing clients by email and through your website.  Start today by sending out a New Year newsletter giving ‘Ten Financial New Year Resolutions’ for clients and website visitors.
   
   
2. Commit to adding regular (weekly) new content such as articles to your website.  This keeps people coming back to your website and helps to improve your search engine results.
   
   
3. Give your website a ‘human touch’ by including professional photos of every IFA and member of staff.  Include hobbies and interests and avoid too much boring stuff.  Remember that ‘people buy people’ online just as much as they do face to face.
   
   
4. Encourage clients and site visitors to get their financial news from your website.  Write a three paragraph summary of the weekly financial news and put it on your website every Monday morning.
   
   
5. Start using video as a communication tool and to add value to clients.  Record your weekly news summary and post it on to your website.  This gives people an opportunity to see and experience you and also increases the amount of time they spend on your website.
   
   
6. Set up your own Channel on YouTube and upload your videos.  Don’t worry about the quality – it is the content that people are interested in.  YouTube is also a search engine and is second only to Google. Take a look at the amazing videos which these two IFA firms have produced:  http://www.ifalife.com/ifavideo
   
   
7. Create new sections on your website which contain content which is exclusively for existing clients and professional connections.  Add to it regularly and build community by encouraging people to add their own thoughts and comments.
   
   
8. Add a Press and Media section to your website.  Get in the habit of writing regular press releases (monthly) and post them on your site.  This will add to your content, will help improve your search engine rankings and will prove to site visitors that your business is live, busy and active.
   
   
9. Set up profile pages on LinkedIn, IFA Life, Twitter and Ecademy.  Also set up a business page on Facebook.  These websites will broaden your reach on the Internet, help your search engine rankings and will attract new business to you.  Spend fifteen minutes every day adding content to your profiles on these sites. Click here to learn how to set up your Facebook business page http://www.ifalife.com/articles.asp?AID=518
   
   
10. Finally, brainstorm and develop ‘financial information products’ for people to purchase from your website.  This adds to the perception of your expertise and creates a valuable new income stream.
    
    
11. Bonus New Year Resolution - Write an Internet Marketing plan.  Whilst many IFAs have written marketing plans for 2010, very few have written a specific Internet marketing plan.  At the very least, IFAs should include a separate section within the marketing plan detailing how they will use the Internet and in particular social networking sites to both attract new clients and to add value to existing clients.

For many IFAs, the Internet is still a baffling place.  But it’s now vital that every IFA in the UK has a website because that is how the overwhelming majority of consumers will search for financial advisers.

If you haven’t yet got a website, then getting one should be your first New Year Resolution.  Next, follow the steps above.  And if you want to find out what other IFAs are doing online, then take a look at IFA Life at http://www.ifalife.com where you’ll find thousands of IFAs who are sharing ideas and learning from each other. 

Good luck – let us know how you are getting on!

Philip Calvert
IFA Life