The weird, the wild, the WTH…every month, we’re sharing the industry observation, marketing mystery, or growth dilemma that gets our team fired up.
This Month: If You Aren’t Willing to Fund Your Digital Strategy, Don’t Do It at All
Budgeting $400 for your monthly ad spend?
Financial services keywords routinely cost $50 per click in competitive markets. You’re looking at roughly eight clicks and less than one lead a month (and that’s being generous with an exceptional 10% conversion rate).
We run into the paid advertising paradox over and over: Firms commit a modest budget to a digital campaign as a “test,” get little in return, and walk away convinced digital marketing doesn’t work.
But underspending is only fueling a self-fulfilling prophecy. The firms that see the best results understand four fundamental pillars of digital marketing:
Their machine learning systems need consistent data to identify patterns, optimize targeting, and reduce wasted spend. Underfunded campaigns never generate enough activity for the algorithm to improve while well-funded campaigns get smarter every week., creating a gap that continues to compound over time.
Limited budgets also force narrow targeting, which leads to fewer conversions and less overall data.
If a typical client generates $100,000 in lifetime value, a $2,000–$5,000 cost to acquire that client is still a 20–50x return. Even after accounting for servicing costs, firms often tolerate CAC in the low thousands given the long-term value of a client.
With a proper budget, you can test different creative approaches, from messaging angles to design variations, and use the data to decide what’s working and what isn’t.
You also open up the ability to deliver specific ads to highly segmented audiences, so that business owners exploring exit strategies and tech employees navigating equity comp see their exact pain points reflected in your campaigns instead of one generic pitch.
We’ve covered this before, but it bears repeating: sending one email or making a single cold call to your digital leads is like setting money on fire. Leads that come in through digital channels need dedicated, multi-touch and multi-channel nurtures to move through the funnel from prospect to client.
We’re never advocating for spending recklessly; in fact, our digital team analyzes every campaign on a daily basis to track performance, spend, and opportunities to make improvements. We are advocating for making an investment in digital marketing that reflects the realities of today’s platforms, your competitive landscape, and your growth goals.
If you’d like some guidance running the numbers for your firm, we’re here to help.
As we approach our five-year anniversary next month, we’re excited to announce that we’ve recently expanded our physical presence to the Midwest. Led by Partner and Chief of Client Strategy Joe Steuter, the new Omaha location will serve as the central hub for our Event Strategy and Multimedia teams, as well as create a more accessible, centralized meeting point for employees and clients nationwide, complementing our headquarters in King of Prussia. Stay tuned for more Intention.ly locations coming later this year!
If you’re heading to Finovate in San Diego, look for Advisor Brand Builder as part of Sunday’s demo sessions. Joe Steuter takes the stage at 12:06 PM on May 5.
