This article was first featured in Financial Advisor Magazine on Feb 6th, 2023.
According to Pershing Advisor Solutions, over 60% of investors believe that most financial advisors make the same promises. That means it’s hard for would-be clients to tell the differences among them. And that’s a big deal, especially since differentiation is critical to attracting clients.
So, what can you do to stand out to your target market?
One of my favorite answers to this question is that you can showcase your emotional intelligence on your website—demonstrate that you understand the motivations driving your prospects and show how you can solve their problems.
This is a complex process, so to guide you, I’ve outlined my top five tips for elevating your website and highlighting your EQ.
Define A Tone For Your Brand
Have you ever been to a company’s website and immediately formed an opinion about the brand’s personality? That’s not by accident. Websites are designed in a way to evoke a specific feeling.
Knowing that, how would you want a prospective client to feel when engaging with your brand? Most advisors say they want visitors to feel calm, secure, relaxed, etc. That’s an effective approach because finances can be stressful; by providing an opposite emotion, you position yourself as a solution.
But if you want to stand out, you have to make it more personal. Should you make the mood friendly and approachable? Or professional and precise? Your decision often comes down to the type of client you want to attract.
Use The Right Words
It’s important to highlight your services and credentials, but at the end of the day, prospects who visit your site are forming an impression about your brand’s personality and the values of your firm and then deciding whether they want to learn more. Remember, we are all humans first, and although visitors may read about your unique financial planning process, if the “feeling” they get from your site doesn’t resonate, they’re unlikely to want to meet and get to know you.
To demonstrate your emotional intelligence, you must use the right language when discussing your services. To do this, focus on the emotional outcomes your prospective clients are seeking. For example, instead of saying, “We help clients save for retirement,” you could say, “We help clients live a retirement where their choices aren’t dictated by money.”
The second option speaks to what each of us wants: to not worry about money when we retire (something more resonant than a discussion about saving). As you examine your website, look for places where you have described what you do and how. Do these “hows” and “whats” allow a client to feel something? If not, edit them so they do. You will powerfully differentiate yourself.
Don’t Ignore Color Theory
Colors often represent how we feel about things. Every color has its own set of emotional influences and can impact the way clients perceive different companies and products. Color can also affect behavior, particularly that of people learning about new ideas or relationships. This is partially the reason so many industries tend to share certain colors in their brands, logos, and website designs.
For example, blue creates a sense of calm and serenity, red can generate feelings of excitement and power, green tends to evoke feelings of health and wellness, and yellow inspires optimism and happiness. Blue and green are common for many advisors, and with good reason: The emotions associated with them are the same ones advisors want their clients to feel.
All this is important to remember when you’re developing or redesigning your site because color not only has power over emotion but also influences your site user’s ability to navigate and access its features. Even if blue and green are key, don’t be afraid to include other colors in your design or adjust the ways you use color to reflect your personality and intent.
The right colors, ones that align with your brand and its personality, can affect the way prospects engage with your website and, ultimately, influence whether they reach out directly to you.
Use The Right Images For Your Brand
Imagine a couple, holding hands, walking down a beach. For some reason, they’re in all-white clothing. We’ve all seen images like these on people’s websites, and the message is always clear: This is a happy retirement.
But such images are also used so often because they work and show the power of design.
Your prospective clients want to see themselves, or people who have similar goals, when they look at your website. They want to know that you “get” them. Like tone and language, the images you use on your website should appeal to your target audience and reflect your brand. And like colors, they will often evoke emotions of their own. For example, a brand that wants to feel approachable and friendly might show a family gathering or event, while a brand that wants to feel sophisticated might opt for more abstract images or limit the number of images outright.
Use Content To Highlight Your Services
Perhaps you’ve written an article on current events, or perhaps you have written an educational resource that’s been on your blog for years. Whatever it is, original content is a great way to address client concerns or highlight your range of services. In fact, according to an eMoney survey, 63% of consumers believe informative and educational content would make an advisor stand out.
Positioning yourself as a source of information can attract prospects, help you retain clients, and even help generate referrals. Timely items about real-world events perform best and also give you what I call a “referrable moment”—such content gives your clients a reason to talk about you with other people during ordinary conversations. But don’t forget to write about more evergreen planning topics as well, things that highlight the range of problems you solve (in estate planning, tax optimization, education planning, etc.). Not only are these topics continuously relevant, but you can repurpose your material about them down the line.
Wrapping Things Up
Standing out as an advisor in a busy marketplace can seem like a daunting task. You have built your business to serve particular types of clients well, so if you can demonstrate your emotional intelligence, you’ll better position your brand. As you redesign or update your website, use the tips I’ve listed here to help you speak directly to the needs of your clients and prospects so that they can see and, more importantly, get the feeling that you are the right advisor for them.
