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On February 14 at 1:30pm this article was corrected to show that the Red Sox beat the Yankees in the ALDS, not the World Series. They beat St. Louis in the World Series.
Just like the 2004 Boston Red Sox who pulled off an underdog victory to beat their rival New York Yankees in the ALDS and win greatest World Series in history, you too can achieve comeback greatness. Advisor websites are typically stiff and boring. Here’s how to get put them in the lineup for a homerun.
What is the goal of a website?
As I discussed on a recent podcast with Dan Solin, How to Not Screw Up Your Website, the goal of a website is for people to connect with you.
But typically advisors have seen the website as an opportunity to show their competence.
It’s very hard to show competence and warmth at the same time. Does that mean you throw your professional credibility out the window? No, it’s a delicate balance. The main goal is that the viewer should like, connect with, and relate to you.
Websites that connect with the reader on a human level win like the Red Sox. Websites that try to present the advisor as some lofty, superhuman, perfect financial figure come across as distant losers like the Arizona Diamondbacks, who lost 111 times in 2004.
“About you” versus “About us”
I’d hate to break it to you, but nobody really cares about you.
It is an awfully forward thing to assume that, just because they visited your website, somebody wants to hear you talk about yourself. Advisors make this same mistake with brochures. Assault the reader with all the advisor mumbo jumbo and your $2,000 investment winds up in the trash can.
There are ways to work in your deal while framing it in the context of whom you serve. Start with the end and work backwards. Talk about the experience people have and what problems they typically have that lead them to you. Then you can slip in your beloved personal timeline somehow.
Yeah, I know, you’ve been doing this 20 years and your management team has a combined experience of over three decades. Is that how the story goes?
Element of surprise
I was looking at an advisor website the other day and there was a real picture of the advisor. Yes, the actual advisor – not a stock photo. She was sitting cross-legged and barefoot which reminded me of yoga class. Yet the overall effect was professional. She came across a relatable, human and even slightly comical.
Not everyone is going to like it – but that’s how you know you’re a brand.
Say what you will, it wasn’t what I expected from an advisor website. But that stayed with me and prompted me to want to learn more. You may not be so bold to appear shoeless, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find ways to surprise the reader.
Other ways could be:
- Naming your pages funny things instead of the normal “contact” or “services” tabs. You may sacrifice some SEO, but if that’s not important then go for it.
- Including pets or your children (if you are comfortable)
- Showing appetizing food (feast your eyes on our year-end tax planning package)
- Using props (hugging a giant stuffed animal – we’re the sweetest and most sensitive advisors out there)
- Picturing yourself skydiving holding your company logo
What the letter from the CEO should say
You come across genuine when you talk to people in the first person. I’m not sure why more companies don’t do this.
Have you ever read a mission statement on an advisor’s website? Wait, you started your firm 20 years ago because you wanted to make a difference in the lives of affluent individuals, families, and business owners. That’s so novel! You were fed up with the sorry state of the commission-greedy industry so you struck out as a pure fee-only RIA firm.
The letter from the CEO should be two paragraphs long and talk directly to the people in the first person. It should answer the question of what you want the person reading the page to carry away. What is your number-one gift to them by having them visit your website?
Something they can watch or listen to that portrays you as human.
It could be a podcast, embedded link of a YouTube video, Instagram story, etc. Whatever it is, keep it to 20 seconds or less and say or do something entertaining.
In my How Not to Screw Up Your Website podcast, Dan Solin gave listeners some great tips for shooting website videos. Don’t stage them as advisors typically do, sitting at your desk or talking on the phone. Get a few shoots of yourself doing things that a normal human being does, like parking your car in the morning and smiling at the parking lot attendant, buying your coffee from the Starbucks downstairs, sitting in your living room talking to your family, etc.
Something they have to sign up for
There are different ways of doing this depending upon how obtrusive you want to be. Some websites have a pop up box asking people to fill in their contact info and join their newsletter list. For others, it’s a simple opt-in form in the margin. Or you could include the first few lines of an article as a teaser and then prompt people to enter their contact info to read the full article.
However you do it, there has to be a way for people to join your database. If you don’t ask, then they won’t offer. Asking for something in exchange for the valuable content you give out is not a problem – just make sure it is exactly that – information that people can’t get anywhere else and that they will feel is worthy enough to exchange their email address for.
Don’t give away your jewels without asking for some way to give them more of it!
Sara’s upshot
If you’d like to hear new, fresh tips from me and Dan about how to create a winning website, please join us for a webinar on February 19th at 12:30 PM EST by registering here.
Sara Grillo, CFA, is a top financial writer with a focus on marketing and branding for investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor and worked at Lehman Brothers. Sara graduated from Harvard with a degree in English literature and has an MBA from NYU Stern in quantitative finance.
Read more articles by Sara Grillo
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
