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In the age of ChatGPT and Microsoft Co-Pilot, an answer to any marketing question is a few keystrokes away.
But is it the right answer? How can you be assured you won’t be led astray?
If 20% of marketing activities create 80% of the results, how can you be sure you don’t waste time and money on ideas that don’t work?
I also invited fellow practice management professionals and Advisor Perspectives contributors to share their thoughts on the key marketing challenges advisors face.
Here are the top 10 questions (and answers) about advisor marketing for 2024.
- In today’s competitive climate, how should independent advisors articulate their value to prospects?
Advisors need to immediately cut through the clutter and differentiate their practice from their peers, financial firms, and alternatives like robo-advisors and financial planning apps.
As John Anderson, head of advisor growth and engagement at Diversified, LLC said, “First, there is a growing trend of newer ‘advice engagement’ technology – using technology to create and reinforce advice over product can help articulate to clients and prospects what your true value is.
“Second, leaning into why you are different rather than the same.
“No clients search the internet for a generic financial plan; they want help with specific issues and areas of concern.
“By articulating via social media, branding and your website that you are an expert in specific areas, the value is understood.”
- What has the biggest ROI for advisors when it comes to social media?
Lauren Hong, president of Out and About Communications says, “I often recommend posting to your personal LinkedIn versus just your company LinkedIn profile.
“This helps you to stay top of mind with your network.
“Also, constantly post about the same topic to the same audience. For example, if you target business owners – talk about tax strategies, compensation structure, business evaluation or key pieces that would resonate with this audience.
“Being consistent and talking to one audience is where you get the most bang for buck.”
- What is the biggest untapped marketing opportunity for advisors?
Anderson says, “The biggest opportunity in 2024 is leaning into what makes you different, not the same. This is especially true for smaller advisory firms who don’t have the internal resources to compete with larger ones.
“There is a sea of sameness in our business. Look at most firm’s websites; there is no differentiation.
“Have a specialty, a type of client that you work best with, a unique position or personality – and leverage it.
“Let the client see why you are different and how you can help them.
“Don’t hide behind the same words that other firms use.”
- What is the best way for advisors to use email?
Hong says, “Mass email is great, but nothing beats taking the time to make it personal.
“Send a semi-canned message but add a personal touch to bridge a warm connection.
“After all, the advisor space is all about building relationships.
“Relationships take effort, and that extra personalization goes a long way.”
- How should advisors strike the right balance with their events strategy – in-person versus virtual and client versus prospect?
Established advisors should start with the goal of getting in front of clients monthly to offer education and stay relevant and top of mind.
Assume four individual calls or meetings per year then use events to fill in the rest of the calendar.
One idea is educational webinars or seminars that offer a deep dive into different wealth management topics and could leverage outside speakers.
Hong said that one can use targeted emails or other communications in place of events. “We often see advisors having in-person events two times a year.
“This can be balanced out with other middle of the funnel marketing campaigns like webinars or email cadences.”
- How do advisors create a marketing email that gets a response even if they are not a writer?
One could use examples and templates from AI, from emails advisors see getting response in the media or used by other advisors.
Ernest Hemenway was known to get past writer’s block with a “write drunk and edit sober” strategy.
A more universal trick I learned from master marketer Jay Abraham is to record yourself answering a question on a topic. Then take your best talking points, get them transcribed, and edit them into emails.
A tried-and-true formula is getting the email opened with an attention-getting headline, drawing interest with a story or fact, building desire with benefits of taking action on the email, and driving action with a compelling offer.
- What is the best way for advisors to get free media coverage with their target publications?
An occasional press release and begging for an in-depth profile of your practice is not the ideal playbook.
Assume we start with a foundation of knowing which publications, social media accounts, and websites are followed by your target audience.
For example, a successful advisor who farmed for clients in a specific zip code knew the local, weekly paper and website and identified key organizations in the area which were already getting coverage.
She volunteered for those organizations and sponsored events that got coverage.
She also placed a monthly column in the publication interviewing and profiling influential members of the community and was sure to place a by-line with her bio at the bottom which linked to her website.
She eventually became a go-to source for the writers on deadline who needed a quote for their story.
Over time, this advisor appeared twice a month in the print publication or website and many new clients cited this free media as the reason for sitting down with her firm.
- What is the first thing advisors should do if they are thinking of building a prospect marketing funnel?
Select where in the funnel you will engage the prospect.
A simple advisor funnel or value ladder for new prospects can be divided into three stages.
The top of the funnel is where you engage a prospect for the first time and get them to opt-into your marketing list and emails.
Mid-funnel is where you educate potential clients on your approach to financial planning, investing, or wealth management which could be a webinar or event or book.
The bottom of the funnel is the try-or-buy stage.
Depending on your marketing system, it could be a free or paid financial plan, an individual meeting like a discovery call, a no-obligation consultation, or a free assessment.
Identify which funnel stage will have the most immediate impact for your practice and start there.
- What is your favorite use of AI/automation in advisor marketing?
The social and digital economy demands more from advisors in the way of content but also offers many tools to accelerate the creation process.
Anderson says, “Right now, I am tapping AI to help with social media posts and editing content.”
While I take ideas from AI, it still needs to sound like me, so I always edit everything.”
Another idea is to use AI to transcribe longer presentations and conversations into written assets like blogs entries or white papers.
Blog entries can make a great script for a short-form video.
AI can also create marketing summaries of all your videos and written content if you are not a copywriter.
- What is the best way for advisors to leverage their team such as customer service professionals and assistants for marketing support?
Anderson shares, “While it is still a personal, face-to-face business, there needs to be leverage to create scale.
“I love the phrase, ‘dedicated resources with local expertise.’
“In other words, yes, our service model and planning model is centralized but a personal review and delivery will be by someone that knows the client.”
You have answers to the top 10 advisor marketing questions for 2024.
If we did not answer your top question I’m happy to answer those individually.
Email [email protected].
Bob Hanson, fractional marketer, has a new checklist and video for growth-oriented advisors engaged in social and online marketing, Nine Simple Steps to Turn Connections and Marketing Contacts to Ideal Clients with the Value Ladder Strategy, Checklist and Video.
A message from Advisor Perspectives and VettaFi: As fixed income dynamics shift, how will you guide your clients through 2024? Discover strategies at the Fixed Income Symposium on April 18th. Click here to register.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.