Marketing is something a lot of financial advisors chase but never quite master, oftentimes settling for short-term success. They might publish a social media post a couple times a month; send an email to their client list every once in awhile; publish a blog once in a blue moon. If only they could become more consistent, everything would be fine, right?
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Yes and no. Consistency isn’t the only issue. Markets are changing, consumers are evolving and people are growing tired of the same tactics. “Download an ebook” is a harder task than it’s ever been. In order to create successful marketing campaigns as an advisor, you need to offer unique messaging to the right clients consistently.
Say It Right
At some level, advisors all sell the same thing: an outcome. Whether you advertise comfort, stability or confidence, all advisors align life with wealth. Differentiating your firm’s story comes down to telling it authentically.
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From there, every advisor should have a core set of focuses or one singular focus out of the gate to gain the traction you need to really experience growth in marketing and the success that will propel you to the next level.
How Well Do You Know Your Clients?
How do you identify those focuses? Start with your client or ideal client, then ask yourself a few questions:
- How do I uniquely serve them?
- What does that look like?
- How do I replicate that?
From there, run through a three-day exercise:
Day 1
Write down as many observations as you can about your clients – age, gender, problems they face, areas you can help them, etc. How many do you get? You should know them well as you spend a lot of time problem solving for them. If not, this exercise will help you know your client better.
Day 2
Come back to the list and write more observations.
Day 3
Write even more observations. You may think that after two days of writing, you would have covered everything, but spacing out your time of reflection will help you dig much deeper.
Writing to the Right Audience
Now you have a substantial list of observations. Create a separate list of topics your clients need to know about – saving for retirement, tax reform legislation, retirement income planning, etc. From the two lists, identify the topics you can speak to. Outline the steps to helping them acknowledge the issue, the critical takeaways and the action items you can give them. Organize these topics into categories such as taxes, investments, savings and accumulation, client behavior, etc. Start writing about one of these problems once a day. If you’re not a writer or don’t have time to type out your thoughts, use your phone as a voice recorder – anything to get your thoughts down – and then send it to a transcribing company like Rev. Once you have a basic structure for your thoughts, you can turn them into blog articles or longer-form resources like a whitepaper.
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Amplifying Your Content
Once you have the information you’re an “expert” on, you can publish your insights as blog articles on your website. You don’t want to simply post it and move on to the next topic, though. Amplify your reach by pitching local media, posting on social media and emailing your clients. You can also convert your content into different formats like a webinar. Don’t just blast your content everywhere, though. Be diligent in your intentions. When you share on social media, don’t just post – become a part of the conversation. Strike a balance between talking about yourself and engaging in other conversations. Consistency is only one part of marketing success. But in order to write better messaging for your audience you need to be consistent with your writing schedule. Try to write on a topic every day. You might not love the first blogs you write, but like anything, it’s about the reps and sets. It’s like going to the gym or eating healthy: Make it a routine and you’ll have tremendous success.
