Financial advisors wear many hats: they have to attract new clients and develop leads, stay current on market trends and regulatory changes, create personalized investment plans for clients, nurture relationships, and more. One crucial but often overlooked responsibility? Marketing.
Marketing is essential to strengthening a firm’s reputation and bringing in new clients, but it can feel like a full-time job on top of an advisor’s many other responsibilities. Many firms find success by having back-office staff or advisors handle marketing internally. In contrast, others hire outside marketing help through a direct marketing hire or by working with a contractor or marketing agency.
Which option is right for your firm? Let’s explore the pros and cons of each marketing strategy.
Pros and Cons of In-House Marketing
The benefits of keeping marketing in-house, either assigned to a back-office employee or financial advisor, are that it allows for greater control and tends to be less expensive. Delegating marketing to an existing employee ensures marketing is tied to the firm’s values and goals. Instead of explaining to an outsider, an internal employee knows the ins and outs of the firm, its products, and its customers and can create targeted and effective marketing. Keeping marketing internal is also less expensive because it doesn’t require paying an additional person.
However, asking an existing employee to lead marketing can cut into their other responsibilities. For back-office staff, this could mean less time spent organizing files and staying in compliance; for advisors, it could mean less time meeting with clients. Wealth management employees also tend not to come from a marketing background, which means they may not be as well-versed in marketing strategies and how to market the firm effectively.
Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Marketing
The most obvious downside to hiring outside marketing help is the cost. Hiring a new employee or outsourcing marketing requires a significant investment that many smaller or newer firms may have difficulty justifying. Depending on the arrangement, moving marketing outside also means giving up some control to an outside group.
However, hiring outside marketing help can be a worthwhile investment because it means a dedicated marketing person who can spend all their time on marketing strategy and applying their marketing expertise to your firm.
4 Reasons To Hire an Outside Marketer
How do you know when (or if) it’s time to hire outside marketing help? Look for these four signs:
1. You’re overwhelmed by marketing regulations.
Like nearly everything in the financial services industry, marketing is subject to regulations. The SEC has redefined its marketing rule to allow for sharing testimonials and endorsements but is also cracking down on ad rule violations. That means marketing a financial firm isn’t the same as marketing in other industries — it requires more nuance and compliance. Hiring a marketer who understands the ins and outs of financial compliance (or has the time to learn) can help ease the overwhelm.
2. You don’t have time to focus on marketing.
Advisors’ time is already stretched thin. A recent JD Powers survey found that 28% of advisors simply don’t have enough time to spend with clients. Marketing can take time away from building client relationships and focusing on what advisors do best: advise clients. If you find marketing efforts are taking time away from working with clients or other important tasks, it’s likely time to bring in outside help.
3. Your firm is outgrowing your marketing efforts.
Strong marketing requires continual innovation and change. You can’t simply do the same thing repeatedly and expect it to continue to bring in new clients and grow the firm. If your firm is running out of marketing ideas or finds that your current marketing plan isn’t bringing as many results, it could be time for new ideas and expertise. Experienced marketers understand trends and can bring fresh ideas matching current consumer preferences and market conditions.
4. Competition is increasing.
Marketing is always important for financial firms, especially when competition increases. If a new advisor is contacting the same pool of potential clients as you or robo-advisors gain traction in your area, it’s a sign to invest more in marketing. Hiring outside marketing help can bring in fresh ideas to help you stand out from the competition. An experienced marketer can create a tailored plan that reaches potential clients in a timely and relevant way. They can even analyze the competition to pinpoint the exact steps to take to stand out and differentiate your firm.
Marketing trends may change, but compliance and organization are always in style. Docupace is a leader in surveillance, compensation, new account opening, and document storage that integrates with dozens of programs to deliver a much-needed operation for advisors and clients. Click here to schedule a discovery session.
