BDH Sterling used to pay hundreds of pounds for ads but a refined marketing strategy means it can now connect with its target clients for a fraction of the cost.
The firm wants to be number one in UK-Australian cross-border advice and to achieve this growth it felt a marketing push was needed.
Surrey-based BDH Sterling operates in the UK and Australia and specialises in serving clients who relocate.
There are a number of specific issues these clients face, says group managing director and co-founder Simon Harvey, especially around tax and transferring their pension assets. And for a long time the niche positioning of the firm alone has ensured a healthy client flow.
It is one of the only chartered financial planning firms with dual authorisation in the UK and Australia and "because of our positioning, we get a lot of direct enquiries," says Harvey.
He adds: "We want to grow the business to a significant size and to do that I think we need to do more.
"That's why we've got a marketing strategy that we've continued to work on and evolve how we can differentiate, how we can promote our service or how we can reach more people."
To attract the right clients for the lowest cost it markets predominantly on social media.
It works with lead magnets - or content that is designed to peak people's interest such as articles offering 10 Top Tips for Brits retiring in Australia - which people can download, in turn prompting initial engagement with the firm.
Social media allows the firm to set detailed criteria for the people it wants to reach and hence put paid ads in front of a highly targeted audience.
Then, about five days later, those engaging in the lead magnets are sent a scorecard, asking them a number of focused questions, for instance how ready they are to retire in Australia, what they know about their pension entitlements and the Australian pension system.
Once completed, the scorecard provides them with an assessment of how ready they are for retirement. If they've indicated they are interested in advice, the firm will contact them to invite them to a webinar or an initial meeting.
"If someone's taking the time to go through that process and complete the scorecard we know that they're fairly engaged," says Harvey.
"So we might then invite them to webinars on topics that are focused on the challenges they might face such as the pension transfer piece, or currency conversion, or tax issues for people with assets in the UK."
The conversion rate from people downloading the initial report to becoming clients is low, he says, but that's to be expected as most might not be ready to receive advice at that stage.
Out of 100 people downloading the report about 20 would complete the scorecard. But the conversion rates from the first meeting to engagement is high, at around 50 per cent.
