401kExperts 009: Capturing 401k Leads Online

Ask the 401k Experts

Episode #9 Capturing 401k Leads Online

Whether you get organic traffic to your website (i.e. people find you through Google searches), or you send people directly to your website (by sharing a direct link on your social media profile or business card, etc.) unless the only purpose of your site is to be a pretty business card, you want to make sure you have a way to capture the name and email address of those who visited your site so you can follow-up with them and find ways to serve them.

In this episode, we’re going to talk about how you do that – how you turn online prospects into online leads who give you permission to reach out and start a relationship with.

To summarize…

• Most people who visit your website online will leave your site and never return
• While you have them there, why not serve them? – Give them something of value they’re willing to exchange their email address for
• It can be a PDF file, a short video, a checklist – something easily consumable (doesn’t take hours to read or watch), that gives them a quick win
• You can have the Investment Committee Starter Kit and pull out one template from that kit (or the whole thing) to give away if you don’t know where to start

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Mentioned in this episode:

• The Investment Committee Starter Kit Download

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Transcript:

Hey Sharon, here

In the last episode of the Ask the Experts podcast, I talked about driving traffic to your website. In this episode, I want to give you a quick tip on how to turn that traffic into leads. So let’s get started.

When plan sponsors find your site, your online store, it’s never wasted traffic since you have your website set up properly, you can start to create authority, credibility, and name recognition with your prospects.

But the truth is most people will leave your site and never return.

So the saying goes, While you have them there, why not serve them?

Why not give them something of value that will keep you in front of them longer and give you an opportunity to serve them down the road, something that can turn that prospect into a lead?

There’s a marketing term that’s thrown around a lot called a lead magnet or a freebie or an opt in offer, and it’s an important term to know because you want to have something on your site that leads people to give you their email address.

Once you have that, it’s like getting someone’s business card handed to you in person, but it’s the online version where they freely gave you their information so you can follow up with them about the topic they’re interested in.

Too many advisors have a form on their site that simply reads, sign up for my free newsletter and that’s not a very strong give. It doesn’t make me want to give you my email address – for what? For a newsletter? How does that help me? I can see how it helps you, but what’s in it for me? WIIF What’s in it for me? That’s the question your plan sponsors have on their mind, if not consciously, subconsciously, what is the benefit?

So in the last podcast episode we talked about using the words people are actually searching for online to give them the content, the information they’re looking for, but to take it a step further to get them on your lead list… Once they go to your site, give away something related to that article. It’s not rocket science. But sometimes it is easier said than done – I get it.

Here’s an example, if you write an article on what should be included in 401k committee bylaws – in that article, you could offer a free template. Download the free committee bylaws template, just enter your email address for instant access.

Now you’ve gone from people in your store to people on your hot prospect list, potential buyers.

You should do that on every article you write. Ok – maybe not every article – you want to make sure that there is a purpose and a point behind it, but almost every article or post that you have on your site should give your readers something tangible relating to that article that they might exchange for their email address.

Maybe it’s the PDF version of the article if it’s a really long, really good one. The checklist version, the template list of do’s and don’ts, or maybe what to avoid.

The possibilities are endless. Time, however, is not – I get it.

You need to be spending your time building relationships and closing the sale. That’s what most advisors are good at. I get it. But until you have a lead, someone to get in front of to talk to, you kinda don’t have job. You have a skill, but that skill requires leads in order to work.

So yesterday on the 401kbestpractices blog, I released a free investment committee starter kit. It’s a full set of documents that includes education on why a committee’s important, how to set up a committee, key considerations, and a set of document templates. There are committee bylaws, sample meeting minutes, a sample agenda – several templates that each one alone could be used as a lead magnet or the freebie that you can give away on your website. So I’m giving that to you. I’d encourage you to download the free starter kit and model it so that you can give something away on your website to start turning your prospects into leads.

The PDF download, it’s copyright free. I’m making it available to the public in the public domain so you can totally swipe 100% of it.

Of course, I’d encourage you to make it your own. You can change the title to fiduciary kit or whatever you want. Maybe change the book suggestion that’s in there, but customize it a bit so it’s not exactly the same when you go to download it.

I think for a small fee maybe it’s like I don’t know, less than $50, you can have the PowerPoint version, so swiping it becomes super easy. It's as easy as opening the file and making couple changes then downloading it as a PDF and getting it posted on your website.

But whatever topic you write about, make sure you give something away that would be valuable to plan sponsors. That gives you a real lead, their name and email address so you can follow up with them in the future for the opportunity to identify what they need and help them.

In the next episode of the Ask the Experts podcast, I’ll give you some ideas for what to follow up with so you can turn that lead into an appointment and put your relationship and sales skills to work.

Until then, have a great week.

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Disclaimer: The information provided in these videos is for professional use only and not for use with plan sponsors or plan participants. The information provided, ideas, opinions and commentary are meant to be educational and general in nature and any reference to ERISA or retirement plan regulations is not meant to be legal or financial advice or an interpretation of the laws, but rather a general discussion. Check with your ERISA attorney and compliance department for the applicability of any matters discussed to your specific situation.