Industry Guide · 15 chapters · first chapter coming soon
Google Ads for Financial Advisors, Built for the Client Worth $10,000 a Year.
An advisory firm shares the search page with national wealth managers, robo-advisors and lead sites that pass one prospect to several advisors, and every ad it runs answers to securities rules on testimonials, ratings and performance. These fifteen chapters build a Google Ads account in the order that works, using real searches, ads, websites and client reviews from one example market, the San Francisco Bay Area. The method works for RIAs, financial planners, wealth managers and broker-dealer advisors anywhere in the US.
A Booked Call Is a Lead. The Signed Advisory Agreement Is the Win.
New to Google Ads? Begin with Chapter 1. Each chapter builds on the ones before it.
Measure
Count calls and forms, send back the clients who sign, and know what a client is worth
Send Back the Signed Client
Hiring Searches Before Questions
What a $1 Million Client Is Worth
Build
Win the searches where people hire an advisor, with ads that stay inside the SEC rules
One Page per Service
Seeding Keyword Planner Right
Known Searches, Then the Niche
Manual Bids Until 30
Clients' Words, Not Their Reviews
Launch
Settings to fix before the first dollar goes out, starting with Google's targeting limits
No Age or ZIP Targeting
Scale
More reach once the account knows what a signed client looks like
Performance Max With Custom Segments
Demand Gen on YouTube
The Map Listing First
AI Max Last
Advisors
Bonus chapters: the SEC Marketing Rule for Google Ads, and lead sites vs your own ads
Bonus: The SEC Marketing Rule
Bonus: Lead Sites vs Your Own Ads
The Rollout, Month by Month
The order matters as much as the campaigns. Each step waits until the one before it has taught Google something.
Isolation and brand
Exact match on the searches where people hire an advisor, plus your firm's name in a campaign of its own.
Exploration
Broad match with a target CPA once calls and forms from real prospects reach about 30 a month. Bigger accounts get there sooner.
Performance Max
The usual pace, not the rule. It waits for about 30 quality conversions a month, with custom segments built first.
Demand Gen, Local Services Ads and AI Max
YouTube before the search, pay-per-lead ads once Search is working, and Google's newest automation last, with "guaranteed" blocked.
How to Use This Guide
Starting a new account?
Read in order. Tracking and the client-value math come before the first keyword.
Chapter 01 →Worried about compliance?
Every chapter flags the SEC and FINRA rules that touch it. The bonus chapter on the Marketing Rule covers testimonials, ratings and keeping a copy of every ad.
Chapter 14 →One example market
Examples come from San Francisco Bay Area firms, described as we found them. Run the same steps in your own market.
Chapter 05 →Google Ads for Financial Advisors
Clients Who Pay $10,000 a Year Rarely Leave. The Hard Part Is Meeting the Next One.
We've run paid ads for 25+ years and seen just about every way a budget goes sideways. Get on the phone with someone who does this every day. Bring your questions, your numbers and your skepticism. You'll hang up knowing what we'd do, whether you hire us or not.
Or see how our Google Ads management works.