Where’s the Beef in Your Prospect Marketing?

1. Use a lead magnet early in the prospect-to-client journey

Your lead magnet – a free report, book chapter, white paper, or content funnel – is typically the first step in the prospect-to-client journey. It is designed to convert social media contacts and website traffic into leads and marketing opt-ins.

(For example, I have a link in the bio of this article to a special checklist, Nine Questions Advisors Must Ask Before They Hire a Marketing Agency, Fractional or Full-Time Marketer, here.)

If you are already driving traffic to a website or putting time into strategies like podcasting, add a registration form to the home page of your website for a free report.

One of my clients, a Cincinnati-based RIA with a local radio show and podcast, added a free prospect lead a day with a home page registration form for its white paper.

This is the first step in the get-to-know-your-process. Content with an educational posture targeted to the issues you solve will improve the quantity and quality of your first meetings.

Advisors will get some meetings with this step alone. Follow-up, which can largely be automated, will increase the number of prospect appointments.

If in doubt, adopt the “triple-patty” mentality when adding beef to your marketing with these two additional steps.

2. Educate and nurture prospects through a webinar or workshop

The middle patty in your stack is an event, preferably an educational webinar or workshop.

Your best invitation list for your educational event is your marketing opt-in list, which includes your free report downloaders, your newsletter list, and those prospects referred to you through traditional or social networking.

For example, I recently promoted a webinar on a planning topic via email to a prospect list that garnered 14 registrants, 10 attendees/views, two individual meetings, and one client within 30 days.

Of the 13 who did not become clients, with some follow-up, I expect at least one additional client within a year.

At the end of your presentation before any questions and answers, invite your attendees to meet with an advisor individually by outlining the logistics and advantages of your meeting step.

3. Specificity sells and reduces risk

In contrast to the generic “contact us” form on the website, add specifics and benefits (meat) to your consultation step.

I can’t tell you how many times I interviewed advisors and they pontificate about their first meeting process, how they clarify the prospect’s situation, and all the ways they add value.

Invariably, I say, “Shouldn’t you describe everything you do for prospects in your first meeting on your website and in your marketing?” They respond, “You are right.”

Specificity sells and reduces the risk in the prospect’s mind that they will waste their time or get sold something they will regret buying.

The consultation program should be its own stand-alone marketing campaign.

For example, in a podcast or radio show, sell your meeting step and call your listeners to action with a specific phone number/extension as well as a unique URL of a web page that has the sole purpose of presenting your best case to request a meeting and to convert listeners to meetings.

This marketing funnel will drive more appointments from other marketing like lead magnets, events, and client and COI referrals.

The ROI in the beef: Custom marketing content for ideal prospects

Here’s a case study of success from a busy professional who built a successful practice by leveraging a custom, evergreen marketing program with a “triple burger patty” approach.

My client was a full-time emergency room doctor who wanted to build a financial advisory firm catering to mid-career doctors like himself. He knew intimately the financial and life challenges of his target market but had limited time to build a practice.

His solution? An evergreen marketing engine that included articles placed in journals read by the doctors as well as a white paper on his website educating doctors on the value of financial planning.

He created a presentation that he gave at meetings of doctors as well as in webinars, and follow-up newsletters and emails to a free consultation which he did remotely around his schedule at the hospital. All these marketing interactions were supported by a website with messaging targeted to his audience and specific web landing pages for each marketing offer.

Over three years, this doctor built a quality prospect list of hundreds of target doctors, a practice of 36 clients and roughly $35 million under management, all while maintaining a full-time schedule at the hospital and a busy family life.

The better the content in the “get to know the advisor” process, the more educated the prospective clients will be when they meet with you, and the more likely the prospect will become a client.

Consider hiring a fractional marketer or agency to build this type of prospect-marketing engine and experience the results for yourself.

Don’t let potential clients connect on social or visit your website only to be left asking, “Where’s the beef?”

Bob Hanson is a fractional marketer and author of Marketing Power for Financial Advisors. Get his checklist, Nine Questions Advisors Must Ask Before They Hire a Marketing Agency, Fractional or Full-Time Marketer, click here.

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