Google Ads for financial advisers: essential tips for success

Keen to drive revenue with Google Ads for financial advisers? This article will get you well on your way. 

Believe the hype. Google Ads really can be a vehicle for transformative revenue generation. Not least for financial advisers.

But getting big results requires a nuanced approach – understanding not just the technicalities of the ad platform, but knowing your business, knowing your industry and knowing your audience. This article will help to get you set up for success.

Like the sound of 1,400% growth?

We are experts in using Google Ads to grow revenue. Our case studies speak for themselves. If you’d like to know how we could help your business thrive, ask for a free proposal. We will lay out what you can expect within three months of working with us. Let’s get started.

“Leads for Dubai property are typically expensive due to the high-net worth requirements & high competition in a niche market – but Adbetter were able to deliver a consistent flow of new clients at a lead price 25% under what we were achieving with the previous agency managing the campaigns.” – Hamid Jaafri, CEO, One Investments

Google Ads for financial advisers: a quick introduction

Google Ads is the platform that allows you to publish and manage ad campaigns across Google’s vast digital estate. The main component of that is the Google Search Network, which you will already be familiar with from your own search activity.

As you know, the first few results of most searches are ads – paid for by companies who want to make sure their brands are seen by potential customers. These ads look similar to regular search results. The key difference is that the advertiser has paid to occupy the top spots in the search rankings.

But Google’s advertising estate goes way beyond search to encompass the Google Display Network: a vast collection of websites, mobile apps and video libraries – including YouTube – where you can also advertise your brand.

Push and pull: GSN v GDN

The Google Ads platform gives you access to both the Google Search Network (GSN) and the Google Display Network (GDN). Yet while they share a platform, they are very different beasts.

In short: one captures demand, the other seeks to generate it. Let us elaborate.

With search, you are getting your brand in front of people at the precise moment they are expressing an interest in the products or services that you provide. You are capturing demand, pulling high-intent audiences towards you.

The Google Display Network flips the script. In the simplest terms, your ads are served to people who are simply browsing the web or opening apps. 

With these ads you are seeking to generate demand, pushing your services out to the world in the hope that someone is interested enough to click.

>> Getting results from Google display ads for lead generation

3 advantages of using Google Ads to promote financial advisers

1. Vast audience reach and targeting

8.5 billion searches per day and a display network that covers 90% of the web. Google puts a mind-bogglingly vast audience at your fingertips.

But it’s not the size of the audience that matters. It’s the sophisticated audience targeting tools that Google gives you access to.

Used correctly you can make sure your ads are served only to people who are highly likely to be interested in your products or services. We’ll talk more about that shortly.

2. It’s cost-effective and accountable

It’s all too easy to fritter away precious advertising budgets. 

PPC – Pay Per Click with Google is one of the most accountable forms of advertising on the planet. You only pay when someone clicks – and if they’re clicking there’s a reasonable chance they have absorbed your message and are at least half interested in becoming a customer. 

Compare that with advertising in a print magazine, for example, where you pay for the placement, regardless of whether people read your ad or not.

Like Facebook Ads that we run for financial advisers, Google also makes it easy to control your ad spend. You can set daily, weekly or maximum budgets – and hit the pause button whenever you feel the need to rein in your spend. 

Every penny is accounted for in the performance data Google lays out for you. So you can see exactly how much bang your buck is generating.

3. Instant results, immediate feedback

SEO is an essential endeavour. But it can take weeks, even months, for your efforts to be reflected in the search rankings. With Google search ads, the results are pretty much instant. 

Armed with the right keywords and enough budget, you can propel your business straight to the top of the search results.

It’s the same with the Google Display Network. Once your campaign is approved, your ads are out there in cyberspace working for your business. And you can track your campaign performance in real time. 

If things start tanking or – let’s be optimistic – working a little too well, you can react accordingly. So you stay agile as a business.

Google Ads for financial advisers: getting set for success

Okay, we’ve set the scene. Now let’s look at some tips that will help to make your Google Ads for your financial advice firm a success.

Be prepared to pay

Google Ads works by bidding on keywords. And there’s no denying it: keywords related to financial services are expensive compared to most other industries. 

That’s because winning a new client can be extremely lucrative. High ticket, high reward.

That makes it important to…

Know your numbers

Before you get going with Google Ads, you need to run your numbers. It’s important to know the average LTV of your customers, how long it takes for them to convert and so on. 

Only when you know your numbers can you determine how much you are willing to bid for your keywords. So do the commercial side of things before you start getting creative.

Know the regulations

As you know, there’s a lot of rules, regulations and red tape when it comes to financial services. In order to show your ads in the UK you will need to complete a verification process – which includes demonstrating that you are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Finding your financial services audience on Google Ads

Your next customers are out there. Whether your ads find them or not depends on your ability to utilise Google’s powerful audience targeting tools. Here are some tips.

Lead quality v lead quantity

What would you rather have: lots of half-interested leads or a few really interested leads? The answer will differ from business to business. 

But it’s important to know what matters to you before you start defining an audience. 

Lots of businesses spend a small fortune trying to convert prospects who have very little purchase intent.

Finding your keywords, finding your audience

Broadly speaking there are two ways to find your audience with Google Ads. Firstly you can specify certain keywords or search terms that you want to appear in the search results for. 

Secondly you can use the audience targeting tools to zero in on your target audience. Audience variables you can work into your targeting include:

• Marital status
• Homeownership status
• Parental status
• Education background
• Hobbies and interests
• Employment status and occupation
• Plus an awful lot more

Used correctly, these tools can help to make sure your ads are served only to the people who are likely to be interested in your products and services – keeping your campaign lean, mean and efficient. 

So think about the common denominators – such as age, occupation, income and so on – that are shared among your existing clients.

Another benefit? When you have a clear picture of who you’re talking to, it’s easier to craft a message that resonates.

Bring people to your office

There’s nothing like doing business face to face. Another targeting option that Google offers you is geographic location. And – obviously – that can be extremely useful if you are trying to attract new clients to your office. 

Simply set your campaigns to display only to people within a certain radius of your location. You can even set your ads to display during certain times of day to align with your office opening hours.

Embrace negative keywords

Just as you can define keywords that you want your ad to be shown for, you can define keywords that block your ad from being shown. 

Why would you want to do this? Let’s say you have an ad based on the keyword “financial adviser Bristol”. You’ll want to make sure people searching for “financial adviser jobs Bristol” are excluded from seeing your ad – because they will obviously have no interest in your services. 

Specifying negative keywords keeps your campaign targeted and efficient while reducing the chances of you paying for a click that won’t create new business.

Branding and creative for financial adviser ads on Google

You’ve thought carefully about the type of people you want to target. Now you need to create the ads that you’re going to serve to them.

Get your mindset right

Before you begin writing, imagine yourself reaching out to an audience of one. Put yourself in your reader’s position. Think about their desires and doubts. Their ambitions and anxieties. 

Address your reader directly with “you” focused messaging. Consider their potential objections or barriers to purchase and show how you can help to overcome them. Good marketing is about human connection.

Make it snappy

Whether you are advertising in search or across the Google Display Network, you have a second or two – sometimes less – to pique the curiosity of your reader. Keep your message short, sharp and punchy.

Embrace social proof

Customer testimonials are compelling. Especially if they show how you overcame a customer’s scepticism before obtaining the desired results. Anything that helps to reduce uncertainty and bring more clarity to the decision-making process is going to work in your favour.

Showcase your credentials

Investment. Wealth management. Inheritance. Without wishing to state the obvious, people take their personal finances very seriously. 

Your audience needs to feel reassured of your credibility. So make sure your ads showcase any relevant professional qualifications, certifications and awards as well as membership of any industry or regulatory bodies.

Go granular, improve your quality score

Google rewards relevance. Consider creating separate campaigns for each of the key services that you want to promote. These ads should drive traffic through to landing pages that are unique to each ad – and nothing else. 

Done correctly this will improve your quality score – a measure of how relevant your ads are to your website. The better your quality score, the less you will have to bid for your favoured keywords.

Thinking beyond the click

Okay, you’re happy with your ads. But hang on, you need somewhere to send your audience after they’ve clicked. Here are some quick tips for an effective campaign. 

An intro to landing page best practice

If you are driving traffic to your website, you should have specific landing pages for each of your campaigns. (As we mentioned, it will help your quality score.) Landing pages are a separate science all of their own. But here’s a super-brief rundown of some key considerations.

• Design and copywriting. Your landing page should feel like a continuation of the ad your visitor clicked through from. Use similar images and colours, make sure your logo is prominent and so on. Your design should be optimised for mobile and feature a compelling proposition above the fold.
• Create a closed journey. Single-mindedness is a strength when it comes to landing pages. Limit navigation options and stay focused on one clear call to action.
• Utilise social proof and trust signals. Customer testimonials are a great way to build credibility and establish trust in your company. If applicable, utilise trust signals such as industry accreditations, qualifications or awards.
• Gather data. The main aim of your landing page is to gather information on your lead. Create a form that allows you to start the marketing conversation.
• Remember your GDPR obligations. For your forms that means having a tick box that asks people to actively opt in to your comms. Be clear about who will be contacting your lead and how they will be contacted. You must also provide a link to your full privacy policy.

Executing your Financial Advice ad campaign

Your ads are ready, your landing page is looking good. Time to pull the trigger on your campaign…

Test, test and test again (and again)

Google will give you the option to submit multiple variants for each constituent part of your ad – from visual assets to headlines and descriptions. By doing so you can easily create an ad with dozens of variants. 

Google will then test different copy and image combinations and preferentially serve the ad variants that have the best chance of getting the right results for your business. Feed the machine.

Measuring a campaigns performance

Your ads dashboard will provide you with lots of data on how your ads are performing. Pay close attention. It holds secrets that can transform your campaign performance. And by extension, your profits.

Performance tracking: measure the metrics that matter

When you are looking at your data, adopt a detective mindset. Try to identify trends in the ads that are performing best. Is there something in your messaging that seems to be encouraging clicks?

When you know what’s driving results, you can double down on those strategies – creating additional ad variants based on what’s working and ditching the stuff that isn’t.

>> Why Facebook Conversions API (CAPI) is crucial to advertisers

Consider working with an expert (like us!)

Of course, the real insight comes from looking at the full customer lifecycle. For this holistic view you must have the right tracking set up to capture all points in your customer acquisition journey, right from the first click through all onward KPIs such as landing page conversions.

It takes time and technical expertise to get this kind of tracking in place. Which is why many businesses don’t bother. But if you are serious about driving transformative revenue from Google Ads, it’s essential.

How do we know? Because this is what we do day in, day out. We know the paid media tactics that get results. We know what levers to pull and when. And we share all of that insight with you – via clear dashboards and custom reporting. 
Sounds good? Ask us for a free proposal and we will work up a strategy – showing the results you could expect in the first three months of working with us. Let’s get started.

You might be interested in these articles too:

>> A complete guide to Facebook ads for financial advisers
>> Investment leads: get more, gain more
>> Lead generation for financial services: 16 tips for getting big results