Too often advisors see marketing as a “nice-to-have” afterthought rather than a strategic activity to drive growth. This misconception about marketing’s value has led to most firms underestimating (and underinvesting in) the power of marketing tactics to build credibility and trust, unlock growth, and differentiate from the competition.
The facts speak for themselves. Despite over 50% of new clients coming from referrals (which, yes, is a marketing tactic), only 12% of advisors are actively pursuing the channel for business growth. Similarly, most firms aren’t putting their money toward marketing as they should — experts recommend allocating between 2% and 5% of gross revenue on marketing and sales activities.
As organic growth rates continue to decline, this blog will argue that marketing is an underrated tool that advisors should consider as they move forward in today’s climate.
Your Marketing Sends a Message
For advisors, the real currency traveling between advisor and client is trust. Nothing else can happen successfully without the foundation firmly planted in your advisor-client relationship. What better way to start on the right foot (and nurture the relationship) than with marketing?
As the SEC has redefined its marketing rule to allow for sharing testimonials and endorsements, the time is ripe to explore the new frontier of social media, digital marketing, and even podcasts to cultivate trust among your clients and future clients. Digital communications, be it a newsletter, email, or other channel, can help you validate your work, follow up with prospects, and make it easy for interested parties to contact you and learn more about your firm and what you offer.
Investing in digital marketing can help you extend the reach of your influence with clients beyond meeting in person, drawing in new clients, and building trust with existing ones over time.
Differentiate from the Competition
Marketing can help advisors successfully differentiate themselves from their competitors. To do this, it’s important that firms know their audience and their unique message to share.
Know Your Audience
By defining your audience (which, once again, is a marketing and sales tactic), your firm can stop wasting time and energy marketing to people who aren’t the right fit and instead focus on narrow characteristics that make up your ideal customer. This important work is often overlooked by firms that choose to market to anyone and everyone instead of being strategic.
Market Your Specializations
After you’ve nailed your audience, you can market your firm’s specific offerings and services that meet that audience’s needs. This can help your ideal audience connect the dots between how your unique expertise best suits their needs over any other firm. It’s not about broadcasting how you’re the best firm in the world, but rather how you’re the best firm for them — that distinction helps you stand out from the competition more than your fee or accolades.
3 Marketing Activities You Should Starting Doing Now
As we’ve explored, marketing is an untapped channel for driving growth at financial advisor firms. The best part is that it doesn’t take much to start generating returns. Think of marketing like creating a portfolio — your marketing tactics should be diversified if you want to see the biggest returns.
Here are three marketing tactics your firm could start doing tomorrow to bring in more ideal clients.
- Case Studies/Testimonials: With the SEC marketing rule now allowing for advisors to share testimonials for advertising, take full advantage by gathering your best work in order to share it with others. A word of caution — the SEC is cracking down on ad rule violations, so make sure you stay compliant.
- Client Webinars and Education Events: Events can be a mixture of in-person and virtual. Try hosting monthly webinars with your firm’s experts and invite prospects and existing customers, answer their questions, and keep building trust through free education.
- Thought Leadership and Content Marketing: You should be active on social media, email, and wherever else your customers are online. For example, posting frequently from the LinkedIn account of one of your executives can build thought leadership and bolster your firm’s reputation with existing and potential clients.
With great solutions teams don’t have to be heads down most of the day. Docupace can help your firm free up more time for marketing by streamlining your back office activities.
