5 Free, Effective Ways To Expand Your Digital Presence

5 minutes read

Among new financial advisers, a common obstacle is marketing. Many popular forms of advertising, such as YouTube videos or infographics, now require the aid of professional editors, designers, copywriters, etc. to be effective. For a newcomer to the market, the cost in time and money can be daunting.

The good news, however, is that there are plenty of free ways to expand your digital presence.

1. Highlight clients in positive ways, to encourage shares

How do you respond when a client posts something interesting? How about when they reach a milestone? In some cases, helping to highlight these will channel their followers toward you as well.

For example:
Say your client has a family business, run by their parents. If their business has just expanded, you could make a post about key business lessons to learn from them; or why such clients inspire you. If your client’s business is active online – and they like the message – there’s a good chance they will also share your post. This is a good way to bring yourself to their attention.

You can also do this when your clients win awards, competitions, get promotions, etc. With their permission, share a message about how you learn something from it, or why you think they’re deserving of it.

By highlighting your clients’ successes, you demonstrate that you care and pay attention to them (and yes, they may also share that post and raise awareness for you; but this shouldn’t be the main reason. Having a good image is a side-effect of supporting your clients).

This is a more “natural” way to be introduced to strangers online.

Almost everyone gets spammed by introduction messages on Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. But when you appear on a friend’s feed, there’s greater authenticity: such posts are curated by the system.

Readers are more likely to accept them, when a friend is bringing it up. E.g., when a friend shares a product with you on social media, you are more likely to look into it, than when it’s just another random ad.

2. Syndicate content with associates or other active social media users

A simple way to do this is to cross-post.

For example:

Say you start a social media profile to advertise your services. Your associate also does the same. You could come to the agreement that, once a week, you will share and post one piece of their content; and they will do the same for you.

In this way, each of your social media profiles will have links to one another; and the two of you can grow your readership with little incremental cost.

(Do note that you need to change headlines and content slightly however, as Google tends to lower the ranking of obviously duplicated content. If you’re writing articles like this one, you should at least change the headline and opening paragraph).

It’s especially if you can syndicate content with someone who has a larger following than you. But to do this, you need to ensure you’re creating useful content (if you outright approach a major influencer or website, they will likely decline to do this for

free).

3. Don’t be all business; have seasonal content as well

Not every post you make needs to be about finance, insurance, or something job related. Be relatable: find a chance to get circulated outside your field, by tapping on seasonal content and trending topics.

Seasonal content refers to posts about Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Hari Raya, Deepavali, Christmas, etc. This is something you can easily plan for, as you already know it’s going to happen every year.

It can be as simple as wishing your clients well for the season, or as elaborate as writing posts that are relevant to the day (e.g., make an infographic on saving during Christmas shopping). This is easily shareable content if you capture the right spirit, and it costs

nothing to time it with the season.

Be sure to keep all such content clean and family friendly though!

4. Optimise your SEO without hiring an expert

Use free tools like Ubersuggest, to find the right keywords. You can also use tools like AnswerThePublic, to check what questions people are asking online.

This helps to conserve time and energy, as you don’t need to wildly guess at what sort of posts will “work”. Check for the most popular queries and words, and use them as your guideline. It only takes two to three minutes using the above tools, to decide on a

list of possible topics.

If you have a website, such as a blog, get used to using Google Analytics. Keep track of which posts perform best, so you know to make related content. This will help you to expand your digital presence, without having to hire an SEO expert for now.

(You may need a dedicated SEO professional’s help later; but that’s something to think about once you have hundreds and thousands of followers. Until then, it makes sense to use the free DIY route and learn the ropes).

5. Follow a calendar, and be regular

The simple reason most people fail to take off is lack of regularity. You can’t generate sufficient “buzz” by posting about your services only once a week, or once every few months.

At minimum, you should be posting around three times a week; and ideally you should do so every day. These don’t have to be very long or elaborate posts; but they must be regular and frequent.

It’s also better to have a set schedule, rather than to work sporadically. One post a day, for seven days, is better than spamming 10 or 12 posts on a single Friday evening.

Use a simple tool like Google calendar or Google sheets, to plan the posts. Once you settle into a routine, it will feel less bothersome.

Expanding your digital presence is free in terms of money, but not time

This is an unfortunate reality of social media and digital marketing. While many of the tools available are free in terms of monetary cost, they do require time and effort.

Later, when you’re more successful, you may be able to hire experts to manage it for you. But for now, you can consider these efforts to be “sweat equity” in your own business.

At Exodus Capital, we provide close mentorship for our new finance professionals; part of this includes helping you to understand insurance as it moves into the digital realm, and how to take advantage of new marketing tools in a cost-effective way.

Drop us a message if you’re interested in going digital, or want to join the insurance industry with a head start.

Disclaimer:
The content, views and thoughts expressed in the post belongs solely to us and not of Manulife Financial Advisers Pte Ltd or any group of organisations. It may not be applicable to everyone or all contexts. None of the information stated here constitutes an offer to buy or sell product, financial instrument. Any expression or opinion is personal to the author and the author makes no guarantee regarding the completeness and accuracy of any information supplied.