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Can digital marketing drive leads? Yes, says James Comblo of FSC Wealth Advisors in Fishkill, New York. A third-generation advisor with nearly $250 million in assets under management, Comblo is focused on providing holistic planning to clients he calls “blue-collar millionaires.” Finding and attracting these clients to the firm’s website, however, has been a process he’s spent nearly a decade building and refining. Today, his website and the content he creates help garner thousands of qualified leads.

Comblo describes his trial-and-error process to digital marketing — from updating his website (which, he admits, he has done three times), to becoming a thought leader, to Facebook ad campaigns — and shares what he’s learned along the way.

A modern, holistic approach to a third-generation business

Comblo’s company was started by his grandfather in the early 1980s, and then run by his uncle in the 1990s before he took over in the 2010s. “There’s been a complete shift in how we do business from even 10 years ago to now,” he says. These days, anyone may be able to manage an investment portfolio, but clients are more likely to want answers, guidance and leadership. Comblo’s firm tries to take a more holistic path.

“My belief is that the wealthy, ultra high net worth people have had access to [holistic planning] for generations,” he says. “And now, because of technology and things that have allowed us to do it at a much more efficient pace, we’re bringing that to Middle America and the blue-collar millionaires.” He adds that he believes these are the people who can benefit the most from this type of planning.

Getting started in digital marketing

Reaching out to Middle America investors required a new type of thinking. “Back in 2015, we were trying to figure out a new way to get in front of more people,” says Comblo. Members of his team weren’t comfortable doing traditional marketing seminars, and they were wary of the upfront costs involved in a strategy that might not pan out. “I said, ‘Well, I’m young. Social media is a thing. I know other companies and other industries are using it. Why can’t we?’” After doing some research, he decided that digital marketing was a strategy worth trying.

The foundational work started not on social, but on the firm’s website. Comblo's first goal was to create a blog that captured the interest of web users, and the firm redesigned its website to accommodate it. In his research, he learned that if you could get other companies to quote you as a source, it would help drive leads back to his website. He even used Help a Reporter Out, an online tool that helps connect journalists to subject matter specialists.

“The earned media — being quoted or sourced in different articles — that was immediate. But it didn’t really drive any business or anything like that,” Comblo says. The blog was working with existing clients who engaged with the content with interest, but it was not driving new leads. “So, we hired somebody to help us.”

A consultant helped FSC Wealth Advisors redesign their website again, this time with a more client-friendly approach. “It still wasn’t so much about the clients. It was more about what we could do for clients, which I think was maybe a snag in the whole process,” he says. Another redesign would happen before they got it right.

Testing social and Facebook advertising

Over time, Comblo gained confidence and experimented in other areas of digital marketing, including social media. “I started looking at paid ads on Facebook, for instance. And you could do it very cheap. And I just tested a whole lot of different ideas, keywords, groups of people based on age, based on location … I just tested a whole lot of stuff.” Ultimately, this testing led him to the point where the site was getting a lot of clicks for a small amount of money. (Even professional marketers were impressed.) 

“It was like dipping my toe in the water, trying a lot of different things with little amounts of money to see where we could then put bigger amounts of money. And you know, hopefully, the way I think about it is like, you pour gasoline on a fire, and then it just takes off,” he says.

In terms of organic social, he tries to break content into smaller, more digestible pieces. “I think I read that in a book somewhere, so we tried to implement that strategy,” he says.  

A website where the client is the main character

A next step for Comblo was working with digital agency FMG Suite, which sparked a third website redesign. “They were incredible at helping me get to the next level of, you know, getting people going to the website,” he says. They helped him execute a website that was all about the client. “Anybody out there who comes to our website, they’re the main character in the story. We’re kind of like the guide. And we can help them navigate the path they’re on,” he says.

“One thing I’ve done a good job of throughout my meetings is documenting the questions that are asked, and then we find commonalities.” For example: Is my money going to last? Am I paying too much in taxes?

Content and video marketing

Comblo admits the work has been incredibly time-consuming. For example, it involved him creating two blog posts per month for two to three years. But building that library has helped make things easier over time. “I feel like we’re at a point now where I can start to take old pieces and just refresh them,” he says. Importantly, he adds, he doesn’t just repurpose them. He updates them, builds different ideas from them, and links them to other articles throughout the website.

He also pays attention to search engine optimization (SEO), by targeting keywords that the big companies aren’t targeting. “We try to own the smaller keywords,” he says. “Basically, if a keyword has over 2,500 searches a month, that’s not where we’re going to put our money or our thought process. We’re going to look for one that has 500 to 1,000 searches a month. And we know that we can own that niche or that keyword.” Even if they were to do paid social ads (which they don’t do, he says), it would be much more cost-effective to target those smaller areas of interest.

Recently, he and his team have pivoted to video marketing. The firm sends out a monthly video email, with a clip that’s around two minutes long. Clients say they love it, he says, “because they feel like they’re maintaining their relationship with me.” It helps with prospects as well, providing them with someone they can see, hear and know what to expect from even before you meet. “The goal at the end of the day is just to help more people make the right decisions and have the right information that they need at the moment that they need it, so that they can put themselves in a better position going forward.”

How his strategies are paying off

Comblo says that version 1.0 of the website did not get any leads; version 2.0 got hundreds, possibly thousands. But with the launch of the new website, he is seeing even more qualified leads through the site. “So that is a leap, like a quantum leap forward for us as a company. And I think it’s purely based on the wording and the way that we did the website itself.”

“I think we could be doing better, maybe just from a nurture campaign standpoint.  We’ve got people coming to the website, they give us their email, whatever it is, and how do we make sure that we stay top of mind with them, constantly giving them timely content that matters, that helps them make a decision?“

What he recommends to other advisors

Comblo thinks one of his superpowers is knowing there’s a lot he doesn’t know. But he relies on logic when learning something new. “I just need somebody to be logical with me, like, ‘Hey, we're going to do this, this is going to be the process. And here’s what we can expect, as the result may not go according to plan.’”

He also listens to expert advice. “I think stages are important,” Comblo says. At conferences and events, he is not afraid to go up to an expert after their presentation and ask for help. He encourages other firms to be open to advice and hiring the right experts. “I think if you’re one of those people who’s going to say, ‘Sounds good in theory, but in the end, I want it to be my way,’ it’s going to be a wasted investment. But if you’re willing to take advice and understand that maybe you’re not the expert in this area, it can pay off for years to come.”