If we compare financial services to a race, marketing would be one of the first obstacles that financial advisors would need to overcome. Business marketing involves informing potential customers about the services your business offers in order to encourage them to move further through the sales pipeline.
To be successful in marketing your services, you need to reach the right people at the right time. Hitting a bull’s-eye can feel like trying to do so blindfolded, but it does not have to be such a difficult task.
With the right marketing strategy, financial advisors can attract and convert prospects into regular referral sources. They can also reengage existing clients, turning them into regular referral sources. These ideas will help you grow your financial advisor business both internally and externally.
1. Ditch The General Messaging
To be a successful financial advisor, you need to market to your audience and no one else.
“You can’t be everything to everyone,” says John Anderson, managing director of advisor services for Independent Advisor Solutions by SEI. “Prospects will seek out experts to solve their issues, so create personas that you can use to help focus on your ideal client’s needs and concerns.”
He suggests that content marketing campaigns are a great way to target your client base through social media platforms such as blogs, podcasts or videos. If you want to be seen as an expert, focus on one persona and show how your expertise applies to them. This will help you stand out from generalist advisors. This is a great option because it is low cost and can be used on multiple platforms.
Your UVP is what makes you unique and can help you find your target audience. It can also be used to craft a personal message.
Your Unique Value Proposition is a statement that explains what benefit or value your clients will get from your services. Answering this question can help you understand what makes you unique as a financial advisor.
What makes you and your company different from any other financial advisor in your town? This is a question that Jordan Maxwell, creative manager at M&O Marketing, asks.
“Have you niched your services down to one focal point that not many other advisors offer? Do you have a lot of involvement in your community, charities or local small businesses? Do you have a company dog that everyone swoons over and is in the office every day?”
3. Optimize Your Website for Your Ideal Client Persona
When creating a website, financial advisors should have their target clients in mind and create the website with them in mind. This will help to optimize the website. A website that is not specific to any one audience will not generate a lot of traffic from potential customers.
Broadridge Advisor Solutions’ Kevin Darlington suggests making your firm’s website a one-stop shop for all information on your offerings as an advisor in order to optimize it for educational, connective, and lead-capturing purposes. This way, prospects can research on their own time.
“Your website should also be a straightforward way for prospects to get in touch with you, with all contact information readily available,” he says. “It’s easy to do and can be as simple as adding blog content or an email capture form.”
4. Personalize Your Online Presence
You should tailor your online presence to your target audience in the same way you personalize your firm’s website.
For example, after Sarah Reznick, a financial advisor with Edward Jones in Newbury Park, California, updated her personal brand online to include her accomplishments and local community philanthropic involvement, she saw an increase in the number of prospects reaching out to her through the “contact us” form on her site.
She mentioned that when she asked her clients specifically what brought them to her, they all mentioned her biography on her website.
5. Be a Resource Matchmaker
If you cannot be the expert in every area of financial planning, then you must allow for the fact that you cannot be everything to everyone.
Advice for professionals is transitioning from wealth management to longevity planning. Julie Genjac, managing director of applied insights at Hartford Funds, says professionals should connect their clients to resources for aging, transportation, health care, and caregiving.
A panel of experts on longevity can be gathered from the community, which can be easily turned into a virtual event if necessary. These experts can include directors of assisted living facilities, elder law attorneys, certified specialists in aging-in-place, or geriatric care managers.
6. Understand Your Clients’ Goals and Motivations
After you determine what your target audience wants, you can adjust your message so that it speaks to that need or desire.
If you’re not clear on what’s motivating your target audience, ask them. The best way to find out what your clients want is to ask them directly or to find others like them on social media and see what they’re talking about.
Think about following the same people that your clients follow on social media. This probably means that what matters most to them is important to you and can help you understand their goals and motivations.
7. Use A Public Relations Approach
” As a financial advisor, it is important to build credibility. An organic public relations approach can help improve your credibility and brand quickly, according to Nick Vecore, a public relations executive at M&O Marketing.
“Opposite of advertising, organic public relations allows you to get your message and thoughts out to the public without paying to have it published.”
If you are quoted as an expert in the news or if your business is featured in a large-name media publication, this can act as a third-party endorsement. According to him, organic public relations can help you gain your prospects’ trust and get them to ask for your recommendations.
8. Host Your Own ‘Genius Bar’
An expert suggests that financial professionals take inspiration from Apple Inc.’s customer support genius bar when hosting their own technology-based client events.
“You need to be patient and understand that there is a learning curve for everybody.” “Technology can be scary and confusing for people of all ages,” she says. “You need to be patient and understand that there is a learning curve for everybody.” So, why not have a group of clients and their guests bring their tablets and smartphones to receive some free tech support?
“At the beginning of the event, share a story of how technology has helped you or a family member in a positive way,” Genjac says. “Then ask clients to take out their devices, and help them download apps for ride-sharing, shopping, entertainment and budgeting.”
Every time one of them uses an app they downloaded at the event, you’ll be top of mind.
And as an added bonus, think about hosting this event as a “virtual hands-on event,” for those clients who may not feel comfortable attending in person. Your clients will learn new tech tips and tricks from start to finish.
9. Embrace Technology
According to Don Aven, a principal at Edward Jones, clients are increasingly turning to technology for their needs and some even prefer it over face-to-face interaction. This means that financial advisors need to keep up with the times by utilizing technology to stay connected with clients and build their practices.
He encourages financial advisors to use tools that are both personal and technologically advanced.
Technology can help financial advisors deepen their relationships with clients and make them feel understood and in control of their financial future, according to Aven.
10. Set Goals
This may not fit into your typical marketing strategy, but it is still very important. If you don’t have a target, nothing else matters. Why do some people seem to work so hard for so little? Some people seem to have everything they want even though they don’t work as hard as others.
These people appear to have a natural knack for success. The difference is goals. A small proportion of people have goals, while the rest do not. People who succeed have goals because they know where they are going. Sounds too simple, but it’s true.
You cannot achieve your goals without first having a strong foundation.
I love setting goals. Goals are awesome. I’m excited when financial advisors write to me about their goals of crossing the million-dollar mark or changing one hundred lives.
Unless you have a plan and a system in place to achieve your goals, they are nothing more than wishes. One example of a goal could be to write a 50,000-word novel, or another example could be to set up a system that would enable writing 500 words per day.
See the difference? The first person is likely to take action, while the second person is likely to continue to wish for something.
The system serves as my foundation. I can develop the habit of writing every day, which will help me achieve my goal.
11. Know Your Target Market
You should be able to describe your perfect client to me so that I can visualize him or her with absolute clarity. You should know your target audience’s demographics, including their age, gender, and where they live. You should also know how they think, which is known as psychographics.
Don’t try to convince yourself that you market to everyone. If you do this, you will fail. Remember that if you specialize in a particular area, you will be more likely to know your ideal client.
Many financial advisors focus on assisting those who are self-employed, going through a divorce, retired, widowed, or employed as executives at a company. You could make a niche for yourself as the financial advisor for a specific group of people, like dentists or plumbers.
You shouldn’t think that if you try to reach a lot of people, you’ll get more customers. In reality, the opposite is true. As you go narrow, you will get more clients.
Do not mistakenly believe that “women” is just a small segment of the market. Or “small business owners”. Or “retirees”. These aren’t specific enough.
Focusing on a specific niche is the key to making your marketing more effective.
I’m going to let you in on a little secret: it is very difficult to become financially successful by trying to give people what they need. However, it is much easier to achieve wealth if you give people what they want.
Although most people may need your financial advising services, this does not mean they will be enthusiastic about using them. The most effective way to make money is to identify potential customers who express interest in your product and engage with it.
For example, if you share an article about budgeting, income investing, or annuities, and someone comments or sends you a message saying they plan to implement your advice, this person is a potential client who has shown that they value financial planning.
If someone is regularly sharing your content or engaging with it, they may be interested in your services.
. If you want to succeed in your field, use social media to provide content that solves problems associated with your niche. The more specific you are, the better.
12. Get Your Own Financial House in Order
Some financial advisors make a serious mistake by doing this. Fortunately, it’s easily fixed. Owning what you sell is one of the most important marketing principles.
If you are in the business of selling insurance, it is essential that you carry insurance yourself.
If you create financial plans for other people, it’s important that you have a plan for yourself as well.
You should have your finances in order if you want to give financial advice to others.
You cannot be successful if you are not proud of what you sell. I’m aware that there are people who make a lot of money by selling useless things.
So what? Though money is only one aspect, it is not the most important, of what makes someone a success. Making money while losing self-respect leads to a decline in mental and emotional well-being, creating a negative outlook on life.
If you are not convinced by what you are doing, then you should not continue with it. Or find something you DO believe in. You’ll thank me later.
You might feel hesitant to do things that are necessary for marketing, such as making calls and sending flyers, because you are afraid of rejection or because you want to remain modest.
A tremendous shift occurs when you market! You are doing a disservice if you don’t market. When you’re trying to grow your business, you’ll need to take decisive action and get your name in front of as many potential customers as possible.
If you don’t advertise your business, you are missing out on potential customers and the revenue they would bring. Your services are also missing out on being seen by those who need them the most.
Your beliefs about money can affect how much money you make.
Some people feel uncomfortable about asking for or taking money from others.
One of the best business books I’ve ever read is an obscure book called “How To Sell At Prices Higher Than Your Competitors” by Lawrence L. Steinmetz. In that book, Mr. Steinmetz said that he would fire any sales representatives who were looking for the best deals when shopping for themselves.
The sales reps would assume that their prospects were price shopping just like they were and would give them a lower price as a result.
The representatives would mistakenly think that their potential customers bought based on price. From the seller’s perspective, price is often more important than it is to the buyer. If someone is trying to sell based on price, they will have to do a lot of mental gymnastics to justify the “cost”.
Negative beliefs can sabotage you in different ways. If you can change the way you think, your marketing will improve.
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