MenuThe $2 million campaign is fully funded by individual members and reinforces the importance of choosing a financial planner who is a member of the FPA. It is currently running nationally across metropolitan and regional TV and print media, as well as a range of online websites, and includes a Google Search Engine Optimisation strategy.
Highlights of results to date include:
- Online advertising has generated nearly 2,000 clicks through to the FPA website at fpadifference.com.au, with the click-through rate at more than 3 times the industry average
- Over 6,000 click-throughs have resulted from Google searches
- Consumers looking for an FPA financial planner on the FPA website has been boosted by nearly 20%, an increase to 700 searches per day since the campaign began
- The FPA website now attracts over 1,000 unique visitors per day, up from around 600 prior to the campaign
While the campaign is designed to create brand awareness of FPA members over the long term, some FPA members are seeing immediate benefits in the form of new clients.
Cameron Howlett, a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP) in Melbourne said “I’m thrilled to see the FPA promoting the benefits of our professionalism to consumers, and even more delighted that I have directly benefited from the campaign in securing new business from clients looking for a qualified and professional adviser, especially in this tough market climate.”
Formal consumer awareness tracking will take place next month. At that time, the FPA will also survey member responses to the advertising. “We have worked hard to engage our members in the campaign,” said Lindy Jones, the FPA’s General Manager of Marketing who works closely with a Committee of FPA members to develop and test marketing initiatives.
“When we launched our campaign to members on 1st September, we had a record 4,000 hits to our website over the next 2 days. By and large, the sentiment from our members has been one of welcomed support for the campaign. They feel that the creative is strong and the execution is professional. This is evidenced by a number of requests from members wanting to post the TV and print ad on their own websites. Most importantly, with consumer confidence in both advice and markets at a low, members feel that now is absolutely the right time for the FPA’s differentiation message.”
Jones and her team collate and analyse member feedback on a daily basis. “It’s no surprise that we have also heard from the sceptics. For them, the key point we make is that the campaign is working, and working well. The results speak for themselves.”
The FPA has received positive consumer feedback on the FPA website, including a South Australian photographer who commented on how confusing it was to find a professional and appreciated the FPA’s effort to address this, and a Victorian consumer who said he did not use a financial planner but clicked on the online ad and now would consider an FPA financial planner.
“We’ve said to our members from the outset that we take their investment in funding the campaign very seriously, and delivering value for money to our members is paramount,” said Jones. “Before a single ad ran, we had secured media discounts that gave us over $3 million of value from a $1.3m TV spend. The preliminary results are encouraging because they tell us that the campaign is not only working to achieve our longer-term objectives for members, but the high volume of website traffic suggests an immediate short term benefit as well.”
Work has also commenced on planning the next stages of the campaign which will be revealed at the FPA National Conference in Brisbane on November 16 – 18.
