Edward Simpson

Don’t charge the billable hour at the introduction stage? Feel like your inbound enquires are window shopping or worse still, looking for freebies?

Do you feel that sometimes you’re on a treadmill?

It’s a common problem, one that many fee earners believe they can’t avoid.

This doesn’t have to be the case. Did you realise that by using ‘smart content’ ‘video’ you can convert inbound enquiries without repetitive introduction emails/phonecalls and so forth. By scripting your website and marketing assets in a certain way, you can actually bring your prospective client closer by answering the standard questions in advance, thus reducing your lead time to billable hours.

If you invest nothing into your marketing budget than time this year, you can still see results.

1. Take the time to get all of the fee earners around one table to discuss the most commonly asked questions by new clients
2. Have each of the fee earners formulate how they answer this question and decide on the best delivery of that response
3. Go to your competitors website and see if you can find the information there
4. Visit your own website and try and find the information there (if it takes you more than 30 seconds to find it, you will have lost that visitor)
5. Take one morning to write a new introduction to your website (or we can do this for you) that will answer the most commonly asked questions quickly.

And one more thing that will once again only cost you a little time, video these questions (we can design an opening and closing sequence for use in line with your brand guidelines) and answers and use them as a way of introducing your clients to your account handlers.

By investing this small amount of time, you will have brought all of your fee earners one step closer to billable hours, and saved your company countless hours throughout the year.

We work with our clients to free up their time at the introduction stage, do drop me a line to see how we can save you up to 30 hours a month.

By Edward Simpson

Almost every business now has a website, but the similarities stop there… The quality and success of company websites is as varied as the companies themselves.

So will an SEO campaign actually help your business?

The first thing you have to do is answer these questions:

What is the function of your website?

Is it to convert new clients?

Is it to service your existing clients?

Is it to create enquiries?

If you cannot answer these questions, SEO is definitely not for you. Until you understand that core function of your website, it is impossible to optimise it effectively.

But if you know what the core function of your website is, and the design is perfect, you may still not be ready for the next step…

Is the text written in such a way that it truly engages with the visitor whilst fulfilling its SEO role also? Remember, the content on your site is crucial for your site to perform well in SEO rankings, yet it also has to be engaging enough to keep the visitor on your site. So the task becomes more complex. Visitors to your website are savvy, and from the moment they land on your page they must be engaged.

Your website visitors have come seeking business intelligence and if the information isn’t both easy to access and engaging, they will simply keep on searching the web until they find a provider that can give them the answers they are require, in a way they enjoy.

Within the Offshore centres over 80% – yes 80% – of the websites are brochurial, and two dimensional. They are not even an effective communications tool, and have little or no value add to the recipient. However, a well designed site with a function, can achieve so much through SEO.

Finscoms specialise in creating engaging content that will not only optimise your website for search engines, but also fulfil the desires of your visitor that will engage and inform them and most crucially, create inbound enquiries.

So you may not actually require an SEO campaign at all. Indeed, you may not even need to redesign your website.

But what you must have, is engaging informative content that gives your visitor the information they require quickly.

Get in contact with us for a commitment free discussion on how to make your website the most effective business development tool in your company.

Edward Simpson

Edward Simpson

Have you been tasked with the job of building your Fund’s LinkedIn presence? Whilst it may seem a little daunting at first (especially if you’re not familiar with the site), you will soon find it very beneficial and even enjoyable to use. Here we’ve shared some of the ways you can utilise LinkedIn to increase your digital reach.

Don’t treat it like Facebook or Twitter

Before you get started on using LinkedIn to increase the digital reach of your fund, it’s important to bear in mind that it’s not your average social media site. Whereas people expect to be marketed to on sites like Facebook and Twitter, LinkedIn users do not have the same expectations. In fact hard selling and overt marketing is frowned upon. Instead you need to take a more tactful approach to increasing your digital reach on LinkedIn. It’s all about building meaningful connections and presenting your fund as an industry leader via your profile and participation in groups.

Create a strong company profile

Your LinkedIn profile needs to be fully branded so that viewers instantly recognise it as belonging to your business. Make sure to use official company logos as your imagery and keep the tone of the content consistent with that of your website.

Remember it’s not enough to simply build a profile on LinkedIn for your fund. In order to increase your digital reach and help people find it, you need to update it on a regular basis and appear active.

Offer compelling content

As we mentioned before, LinkedIn is not the place for gimmicky sales pitches or spam links to your website. Instead it is a place for highly compelling content. You can either post directly on LinkedIn; using the blogging tools or you can link to content you have created on your website or an external blog. Either way, it’s important to deliver thought provoking content that educates and informs your audience. It should be the type of content that highlights your fund as an industry leader.

Post great content directly to LinkedIn and it may have the potential to go viral. LinkedIn are always on the look out for good content and if yours ticks the boxes, they will increase its visibility and send more readers your way.

Make it personal

As well as creating a LinkedIn company profile for your law firm, it is recommended that you get as many employees at the firm as possible to create their own profiles. This will help clients put a face to a name and see that your firm is far more than just a website.

Join groups and participate

Joining groups and actively participating in discussions is a great way to increase the digital reach of your fund. Make sure you join groups within your niche and spend time getting a feel for the discussions before you participate. Use LinkedIn groups wisely and you may end up finding a number of new investors there.

Use sponsored updates

Like many other social media platforms, LinkedIn allows firms to advertise their content on a pay per click basis. So if you are looking to give your content a boost and target it at potential clients, this may be something you want to consider. Sponsored updates will feature on individuals’ LinkedIn feeds and stand a higher chance of being read. Just make sure your content is worthy of their time or you’ll be wasting your money.

So if you haven’t already, now’s the time to sign up to LinkedIn, create a strong profile and start making those all-important connections that will increase the digital reach of your company.

Please contact us if you have any questions about using LinkedIn for Marketing.

Edward Simpson emds@finscoms.com

Edward Simpson

The financial industry was a little late getting into the digital marketing arena, but they have been quick in catching up. Well, many of them have…

One of the most common lines I have heard from companies based in offshore centres is they only have a website because their competitors have one too. They tell me all of their business is based on referrals and any new business comes via this referral network, often these sites don’t progress further than an ‘online brochure’ it is this ‘brochurial site’ which creates the first impression of your brand.

Well, things have changed. Your clients are already looking online to investigate whether they can get a better service for less elsewhere, and unless you are competing online you will start losing business. The moment one of your referral network decides to test another provider, your business will slowly start to shrink.

Due diligence is part of everyone’s working life these days, but so many businesses forget about this when it comes to marketing.

If you have been advertising in the same publications for the last decade, I want you to ask yourself why. If you can say that you gained clients as a result of this advert in the last 12 months (and can actually name these clients) I would recommend continuing advertising there. But if you are one of the many businesses out there who cannot say for certain how much business your advertising budget returns, I would ask you to stop spending now. From display advertising to professional directory listings, if you cannot show for certain how that investment has been turned into solid business for you, you are almost certainly losing money.

If you pay to contribute editorially to industry publications for “thought leadership” talk to me as we work with our clients to be their own publisher’s why pay to publish?

The likelihood of that article turning into a piece of real business is too slim. You first have to hope that the right person picks up the publication in the first place, then you have to hope that they chance upon the page with your article, and then you have to hope that they have time to read the whole article!

Let me save you time and money when I tell you that your website can be stronger than any industry publication ever can be when it comes to generating new business and better still, you already own the platform.

Too often an ‘offshore’ service provider works on a referral that has generating via say New York, to London then to say Malta. The large offshore firms invest in push marketing – sending out for example newsletters, content and so forth, this is a well trodden path given little or no response, if your ‘inbox’ is full of similar unrequested brochures/newsletters/updates etc then like our clients do, its time to break out from the traditional offshore marketing mindset, and develop ‘inbound’ marketing strategies…

Many marketing companies will tell you that it will take two years and a large investment to see proper return on investment from your marketing efforts. We present clients with measurable results and are accountable from the very start.

Our team have over 40+ years of experience with traditional and digital marketing within the offshore sector, we would be more than happy to pass on to you some tips to help you achieve success to boost your visibility online, no commitment is required!

Edward Simpson emds@finscoms.com

20 Tips for Implementing the Marketing of Your Fund

 TIP #1: Without an effective marketing infrastructure – marketing of the fund, group or individual level is virtually impossible. A few essentials:

• A business and marketing plan for the fund, groups, and individuals.
• Someone assigned to coordinate the marketing activities of the fund. In a large fund a marketing director and a team of marketing professionals are typically employed. Small Funds appoint a focal person such as the administrator or office manager.
• A Fund identity plan that is used consistently in all external communication collateral marketing materials such as letterhead, business cards, web sites, powerpoint presentations, brochures, newsletters, press releases, media kits, seminar handouts, etc. This plan should be developed to differentiate and reflect the image of the Fund.
• Quality collateral marketing materials.
• A content-driven web site. The web site should be database driven to facilitate easy updating.
• A contact database of clients/investors, referral sources, target and prospective clients, media sources, etc.
• Content such as articles, case studies, performance reports, that demonstrate the unique capabilities of the Fund.

TIP #2: Don’t copycat. Brand yourself. Look for ways to differentiate yourself and your Fund from your competitors. Become the only Fund that can do what you do. Create a five-year plan for goal accomplishment.

TIP #3: Launch a program to obtain client feedback on client needs, opportunities, and quality of Fund services. A follow-up/problem resolution system must be part of the program.

TIP #4: Create the culture and environment. Marketing and client service needs to be incorporated into the culture of the Fund. All staff should have a role in marketing. Over time a marketing mindset will emerge.

TIP #5: Provide marketing training/coaching staff.

TIP #6: Improve time management skills of everyone in the Fund.

TIP #7: Establish daily marketing goals and measure your personal marketing results on a daily basis. Analyze successes and failures.

TIP #8: Get out of the office. Visit a client’s place of business once a month.

TIP #9: Write an article every other month.

TIP #10: Take a client to lunch once a week.

TIP #11: Improve your communication skills with both clients and office teammates.

TIP #12: Prepare and submit press releases monthly to clients, prospective clients, and media.

TIP #13: Learn how to become “solutions orientated” and become a consultant to your clients as opposed to simply their asset manager. Think out-of-the-box and outside of typical frameworks in which you are comfortable.

TIP #14: Explore the feasibility of ancillary businesses.

TIP #15: Get your newsletter on track and on a consistent basis (at least quarterly).Send via e-mail.

TIP #16: Join trade associations and make contributions in the form of articles, speeches, conference attendance, etc.

TIP #17: Establish a marketing library to include general materials on marketing as well as specific publications related to your clients business.

TIP #18: Create a new client niche and market your unique experiences intensely. Strive to develop a national reputation in the niche.

TIP #19: Focus your marketing on no more than 2-3 key areas in which you can differentiate yourself.

TIP #20: Develop and practice the following leadership behaviours:

• Formulate and articulate a shared vision for the Fund.
• Lead the fight for constructive organizational change.
• Develop and foster an effective management team.
• Develop problem solving and multiple options thinking skills.
• Take intelligent risks.
• Make tough decisions.
• Establish both Fund goals and performance goals.
• Seek input from others.
• Coach and develop others.
• Confront and deal directly
• Hold everyone in the Fund accountable for actions and performance.

Many funds do not have the time or skills to necessary to implement these tips, we do, talk to us to see what we value we can bring to your fund.

Ken Carmody    kmc@finscoms.com