This post is an excerpt from The LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors. The course is an online self-study course to learn everything you need to know to get new clients each and every month using LinkedIn.
If you’re a financial advisor and you’ve taken the time to learn how to use LinkedIn, you’re ahead of the game. Less than half of advisors are actively using LinkedIn today. But if you’re like most advisors, you’re still waiting to land your first new client from LinkedIn. If you’ve created a great profile, worked to grow your network, and shared content that positions you as a subject matter expert, you’re more than halfway there.
The next step is to get more aggressive on LinkedIn by connecting with prospects you do not already know and explaining what you do and how you can help. It’s estimated that only about 4% of financial advisors today are actively using advanced LinkedIn techniques to connect with new prospects.
Here’s how it works:
- Search for Qualified Prospects
- Send Them Connection Requests
- Send an Introductory Message to New Connections
- Offer Valuable and Relevant Information
- Follow Up to Answer Their Specific Questions
Search for Qualified Prospects
You’ll want to use LinkedIn’s search features to set up some saved searches for your unique demographic. You can search by location, employer, job title, keywords, and much more. Let’s say you want to work with employees of Chevron that live in your city. You would search by location and current company.
When I search for Chevron employees in San Francisco, I get 5,848 results. If you’d like to search for people who live in San Diego and used to work at Qualcomm, you would use the location and past company search functions and get 8,523 results. You could then reach out to those people to offer a report for rolling over their Qualcomm retirement plan.
Send Connection Requests
Once you’ve identified the prospects you’d like to be connected with, it’s easy to send a connection request. Simply click the “Connect” button next to their name in your search results. Expect about 25-30% of people to accept your connection request if they do not know you.
You can increase this rate by customizing your LinkedIn headline to make it clear what you do. For example, “Independent Qualcomm Benefits Specialist Serving Qualcomm Alumni in San Diego” will likely get more accepted requests than the generic “Financial Advisor” headline.
Send an Introductory Message
Once someone has accepted your LinkedIn connection request, it’s best practice to send them a follow up message to begin the relationship. Feel free to use any of these samples to customize your own message.
Employer Based Campaign
Hi _____,
Thanks for accepting my connection request. I am an independent financial advisor that helps XYZ employees prepare for a secure retirement. My team and I are local experts in the XYZ benefits package and recently released this report, How to Maximize Your XYZ Benefits Package. If you or anyone you know needs help navigating their retirement plan or has any questions, please let me know. Thanks,
Your Name
888-870-2450
http://website.com
Demographic Based Campaign
Hi ____,
Thanks for accepting my connection request. I am an independent financial advisor that helps people within 10 years of retirement prepare for the transition. My firm specializes in retirement plans to provide income for life. We recently released a report on “Creating Income for Life” that I’m happy to share if you’re interested. If you or anyone you know needs help navigating their retirement plan or has questions, please schedule a short phone call using this link.
Thanks,
Your Name
Hobbies or Interest Based Campaign
Thanks for connecting! I wanted to introduce myself and see how I may be able to help you. My firm, Equestrian Wealth Management, is an independent investment management firm based in Southern California that helps fellow equestrian clients spend more time with their horses and less time worrying about their financial future. We help our clients plan for a variety of goals, from funding their children’s education, to accumulating fulfilling retirements, to supporting causes they believe in, to creating lasting legacies. We also offer 401(k) and other retirement planning solutions to business owners. If you or someone you know could use my help, please don’t hesitate to call me at 888-481-1807.
Thanks,
Your Name
Offer Valuable and Relevant Information
As part of your introductory message, it’s powerful to send a free piece of content with valuable and relevant information for the prospect’s specific situation. This could be a report, a blog post, or a video that gives away 90% of what you know for free. The goal is to position you as a subject matter expert, show the prospect that you understand their unique situation, and prompt follow up questions about their specific situation.
For those prospects who are close to retirement, a Social Security report could be appropriate. For employer-specific campaigns, a guide to maximizing the benefits at the target company is a great choice. Another option is a Case Study report that shows how you’ve helped clients in a similar situation. By giving away valuable information, you show the prospect that you’re credible and knowledgeable about their needs.
Follow Up to Answer Their Specific Questions
A week after you’ve sent the initial message with your valuable resource, follow up to offer specific guidance if they have questions. Send a link for them to schedule a 15 minute phone call to get answers to their questions and offer to add them to your newsletter list, where you’ll share relevant content on an ongoing basis.
Now that you’re connected to new prospects, they’ll see the content, updates, and posts that you share on LinkedIn. This will keep you top of mind and remind them who you are and how you can help. Over time, you’ll grow your network of qualified prospects and become known as the “person to see” for their peer group.
To learn more about advanced marketing techniques on LinkedIn, enroll in The LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors. The course is an online self-study course to learn everything you need to know to get new clients each and every month using LinkedIn. The video course walks you through step-by-step instructions to:
- Optimize your LinkedIn Profile
- Grow your online network
- Search for qualified prospects
- Engage prospects and set appointments
- Use LinkedIn Ads to create a steady stream of new leads
Featuring dozens of real life examples from top financial advisors, the course includes free supporting resources including checklists, examples, worksheets, and more.
Need Help?
If you have questions about this topic or anything regarding LinkedIn, send me a message or email me at [email protected]. To get all the latest marketing tips, join my newsletter here. And of course, for more LinkedIn Quick Tips, check out The LinkedIn Guide for Financial Advisors, available on Amazon now! We also offer a Social Media Optimization Service to help you make the most of your social media accounts.
ABOUT CLAIRE
Claire Akin runs Indigo Marketing Agency a full-service marketing firm serving top independent financial advisors. Claire is a former Investment Advisor Representative who holds her MBA in Marketing from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego as well as a BA in Economics from UC Davis. It’s her goal to help advisors leverage content marketing to grow their businesses by embracing a true specialty.