The document discusses how financial advisors can better generate leads from their websites through the use of landing pages. It explains that landing pages allow advisors to capture contact information from visitors by offering them something in exchange, like a downloadable white paper. The document outlines best practices for landing pages, including using clear calls to action, focusing on one offer per page, and directing website visitors and other marketing efforts to the landing pages. It emphasizes testing different types of offers that will appeal to an advisor's target audiences in order to maximize lead generation from landing pages.

2. MARKETING
N
early every adviser has a
website today. The website has
replaced the brochure as the
must-have marketing communication
piece. But if you’re like many advis-
ers, you’re probably frustrated by the
number of leads you receive from your
website. After all, you spent dozens
of hours writing content and working
with a web designer—shouldn’t your
site produce leads? You may even have
online forms for people to sign up for
your newsletter or schedule a consulta-
tion. And still, the leads only trickle in,
if at all.
Here are the three main reasons why
you aren’t generating leads from your
website:
1. People aren’t visiting your website
to begin with.
2. You don’t have a compelling call
to action to encourage people to
provide their contact information.
3. You aren’t placing enough calls to
action on your website.
Generating traffic to your website
warrants a separate article, so it won’t
be addressed here, but you can begin
tackling the call-to-action issues
through landing pages.
Although you ultimately want
people to contact you for an appoint-
ment, many visitors to your website will
not immediately be interested in your
services. But even if someone isn’t ready
to become a client, you still want to
capture his or her contact information
so you can market to him or her in the
future. It doesn’t make sense to waste a
good web lead just because that person
isn’t ready to become a client. And that’s
where landing pages come in.
What Is a Landing Page?
A landing page is a web page you create
that allows you to collect a visitor’s
contact information through a web
form. Usually a landing page offers
something tangible in exchange for
contact information. For example, a
landing page could offer visitors the
opportunity to download a white paper
by providing you with their name, email
address and phone number. Once the
form is completed and submitted, the
PDF of the white paper would open
immediately or would be emailed to the
lead. In turn, you receive the contact
information for the lead.
A landing page is focused on
one offer or call to action, such as
“Download the e-book: Top 10 Financial
Mistakes People Make in Retirement” or
“Sign up for our next webinar: 5 Ways to
Increase Your Social Security Income.”
It’s short and to the point.
A landing page should not be
integrated into your website navigation
through drop-downs or menus, but
should instead be a separate page that
visitors reach by clicking other buttons
throughout your website (for example,
the “Download our latest white paper”
button on your home page).
What Types of Calls to Action Work?
You want contact information from as
many people as possible who fit your
ideal client profile or target market.
Therefore, you should have a variety of
calls to action. The offers you want to
make available can come in a variety of
forms, such as events, webinars, videos,
e-books, white papers, online courses,
appointments, financial assessments or
a series of emails (for example, “10 Days
of Retirement Tips”).
Instead of offering content on just
20 Practice Management Solutions | September/October 2012 www.FPAnet.org/PracticeManagement
Capture More Online Leads With
Landing Pages
by Kristen Luke

3. MARKETING
www.FPAnet.org/PracticeManagement September/October 2012 | Practice Management Solutions 21
one type of subject, tailor the content
for the specific audiences (“Retirement
Tips for Baby Boomers,” “5 Financial
Steps to Take After the Loss of a
Spouse”). Having content on a variety
of topics and in a variety of formats
will increase the likelihood that one of
those topics will spark an interest with a
visitor and get them to take action.
If you struggle to create your own
calls to action, you may want to consider
some companies that have created lead
generating content such as Boulevard R
(www.boulevardr.com) or My New Financial
Advisor (mynewfinancialadvisor.com). These
companies offer visitors the opportunity
to create their own financial or retire-
ment plan in exchange for contact
information. While these are both good
resources for capturing some leads, not
every visitor is going to want to provide
their personal financial information to a
website for a free financial plan. For this
reason, it is important to have different
offers for different audiences—and each
offer should have its own landing page.
Landing Page Components
A landing page should include a strong
title, such as “Free e-book: 10 Secrets of
Successful Women Business Owners.” It
should be followed by a short descrip-
tion summarizing what visitors are
getting and why they should sign up or
download whatever it is you are offering
them. Use bullets and numbers when
possible for easy reading. Also include a
visual element if possible. For example,
include a thumbnail image of the white
paper or a screen shot of the title slide of
your webinar. On the sign-up form you’ll
at least want to collect first name, last
name and email address. Decide which
other information you want to collect,
but remember—if you require too much
personal information, it may discourage
visitors from filling out the form.
Your website should have call-to-
action buttons throughout the site
(home pages, sidebars and on your blog,
including the end of each blog post)
that link to your landing pages. Also use
landing pages if you are using online
advertising, including Google, Facebook
and LinkedIn ads. By directing people
who click your ad to a landing page, you
will be in a better position to collect
their contact information instead of
just directing them to your website and
hoping they will contact you.
Landing pages also can be used
in conjunction with email campaigns
and social media. Instead of sharing a
document directly through a link on
your social media profiles and email
campaigns, provide a link to the landing
page where visitors can download the
same information in exchange for their
contact information.
Finally, consider using landing pages
for offline campaigns, such as print
advertisements and direct mail pieces,
where you provide a call to action and
direct people to the landing page to
redeem the offer, and as a result, collect
contact information.
How Do I Create One?
Your webmaster should be able to
create a landing page for you and set it
up so that you receive an email when
a new lead is captured. Functionally, it
is no different than a contact form on
a “Contact Us” page; the content of the
page is just different.
If you don’t want to involve your
webmaster or want to create multiple
landing pages, test their effectiveness
and carefully analyze the analytics of
your pages. Landing page platforms are
available to make this easier. A platform
such as unbounce (unbounce.com) works
well for beginners, while a platform
such as HubSpot (www.hubspot.com) is
appropriate for more advanced market-
ers looking to integrate all of their
online marketing into one system.
Kristen Luke is president and CEO of Wealth Manage-
ment Marketing Inc. (www.wealthmanagement
marketing.net), a firm dedicated to providing market-
ing strategies and support for independent advisers.
Landing Pages: What
You Need to Know
• Landing pages can be a step in
the right direction to generate
leads from your website.
• To be successful with landing
pages, provide offers that are
unique and appealing to your
ideal client.
• A generic “complimentary
consultation” landing page
will not generate the volume
of leads you desire. However,
a “Free e-book: 5 Strategies
to Getting Money out of Your
Business” landing page may be
of enough interest to a business
owner to provide you with his
or her contact information for
future marketing campaigns.
• The key is to provide frequent
and interesting offers through-
out your website and other
campaigns to generate leads
from your landing pages.
—Kristen Luke
“It doesn’t make
sense to waste a
good web lead
just because that
person isn’t ready to
become a client. And
that’s where landing
pages come in.
”