When it comes to marketing for financial advisors, it is important to think about your target market. Who are you trying to reach? What do they want and need?
Once you have a good understanding of this market, you can start crafting messages that resonate with them. This blog post will discuss some tips for appealing to your target market. Keep reading to learn more!
Tip #1: Know Your Target Market Inside and Out
It is important to have a deep understanding of your market before you start marketing to them. While personal finance is generic, each market has needs, financial challenges, and pain points that are unique and different from other markets. As a financial advisor, it is your responsibility to understand what they need to help them achieve what they want.
While it is good to target everyone, it is just not economically feasible. Knowing your niche does not mean excluding the rest. Rather, it means focusing your resources (money and time), marketing campaigns, branding, and messaging to specific people with specific needs and who are more likely to avail of your services.
Find what interests your prospective clients and design your marketing campaigns and messages around these. Understanding what kind of content they are likely to respond to not only increases your chances of conversion, but also streamlines, optimizes, and reduces unnecessary costs that are associated with haphazard marketing. Defining your unique value proposition (UVP) is dependent on the target market you wish to pursue.
Niche Marketing vs. Generalist Marketing
Niche Marketing
Generalist Marketing
- You target specific groups of people with specific needs.
- Keywords and keyphrases are chosen based on user intent.
- Your direct competitors are targeting the same demographics and are selling the same products and services.
- Target is broad with different needs and problems.
- Keywords are generic with different user intents; usually high volume with very difficult keywords.
- Direct competitors are not defined.
How do you identify the best target markets?
Not all target markets are created equal for financial advisors. While financial advisors do target people in need of guidance and assistance, their backgrounds, goals, and positions are different. There will always be certain segments that are more valuable than others, so it’s important to focus your attention on those groups.
Second, choose a specific niche. Many advisors try to be all things to all people, but this is often a recipe for disaster. It’s much better to focus on a particular sector with less competition and become the go-to person for that market.
Some Questions to Ask Yourself to Help You Define Your Market
- What is the age bracket, gender, nationality, and social class I want to target?
- Will I focus on single, couples, families, or retirees? Can I establish rapport with this group?
- What is the income level of clients that I want to work with? Will I focus on high net-worth families, small businesses, financially-savvy customers, or beginners in the financial space?
- What products and services am I good at?
If you are doing a business plan (and we suggest that you should), this should be included. This will help you and (potential) investors to understand and manage your advisory business.
Finally, don’t forget about your recurring clients. Recurring clients are advocates you can utilize to further your business. Not only is it a good strategy for social media and digital marketing, but is also a great organic method to establish your reputation and credibility. Likewise, these people can provide you with valuable insights into what’s working and what isn’t. If you keep these things in mind, you’ll be well on your way to appealing to your clients.
Related Read: Different Financial Advisor Compensation Models
What are the possible target markets for financial advisors?
Depending on your specialty and expertise, the best markets may differ. Two of the best markets to target for new advisors with potential moderate-to-high AUM are small business owners and double-income families or couples.
Small business owners are a significant target market due in part that they often have complex financial needs that require the expertise of a financial advisor. Additionally, small business owners are busy people who don’t have the time to manage their own personal finances. As a result, they’re often willing to pay for peace of mind. If you’re looking to appeal to small business owners, it’s important to focus on these needs and pain points.
Another strategic focus for financial planners and advisors is double-income couples. This group is often searching for financial advising services that will help them navigate their finances and make sure they’re on track to reach their goals. They may also have specific concerns around retirement planning, estate planning, and investment strategies. As a result, it’s important to have a solid understanding of these topics if you want to appeal to this market.
Other Niche Markets for Financial Advisors
- Government Offices
- Healthcare Industry
- Young Professionals and their family members
- People with major life transitions
- Educational Institutes
- Single Professional Women over a certain age
- Parents saving up for a college tuition
- Largest employers nearby
Tip #2: Tailor Your Message
Don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, take the time to segment your audience and design your branding that is specific to your chosen niche market. This will ensure that your message echoes their sentiments.
When tailoring your message, another key element you need to focus on is your network. Messages for someone you are actively prospecting, to someone you know personally is different. Those who belong to the same group you are in, also known as “natural market” or “group affinity” require a different messaging style and approach. These people already know you, trust you, and are more likely to avail of your services. The approach may differ but most report that the conversion rate is higher.
Related Read: Prospecting Ideas for Financial Advisors
Techniques for Creating and Tailoring Your Message
If you’re not sure where to start, consider these scenarios to help you create the right approach:
- Young Professionals: Young professionals are often in need of financial planning services as they are just starting out in their careers. They may also be looking for help with retirement accounts, such as 401(k)s.
- Near-retirement Individuals: As people get closer to retirement age, they often become more concerned with their financial situation and begin seeking out wealth management services.
- Individuals experiencing a major life transition: These transitions may include getting married or having a child, which can be another trigger for people to seek out financial advice.
Reminders When Creating Your Marketing Message
When you are designing your marketing message, be sure to use language that your clients will understand. Avoid using industry jargon, acronyms, or even age-inappropriate language. Instead, use language that is clear, concise, and professional.
Tip #3: Be Authentic
Don’t try to be something that you’re not. This is one of the biggest mistakes for most financial advisors.
Instead, focus on being genuine and transparent. This builds trust and establishes a solid reputation with your target market. When you’re open and honest about who you are, what you do, and how you do it, people are more likely to trust you. This could lead to more referrals for your financial and general services.
Focus on praise and not flattery; fake praises and flattery make you sound insincere, sales-y, and appear you are trying so hard. Customers can smell fake praises and what you don’t want is being branded as a fake.
At the end of the day, potential clients want to do business with someone they like and feel comfortable with.
Tip #4: Be Consistent
If you send mixed messages, your new clients get confused and they will be less likely to do business with you. Instead, focus on developing the best strategy for branding and being consistent with your messaging. This applies across all channels and mediums. This means using the same language, tone, designs, and creatives.
Consistency is not only about messaging and branding, but also about check-ups and updates. Talk to your clients regularly, regardless if there are updates in their accounts and especially in times of financial and economic downturn. Clients want to have dependable partners who are concerned about their welfare, not just their pockets.
Consistency shows continuity and clients want to entrust their business to someone who will not leave them.
Tip #5: Focus on Quality Over Quantity
When it comes to your marketing materials, it is important to focus on quality over quantity. This means that you should spend more time creating fewer pieces of high-quality content rather than churning out a bunch of low-quality materials.
Your target audience can tell the difference and they will appreciate the effort you put into creating quality content. Your ultimate goal is to provide financial literacy and a comprehensive understanding of wealth management and financial matters.
Reaching Your Target Market
Once you have identified your target market and designed a brand that speaks to them, it’s time to reach those audiences. Here are some tips to guide you with your marketing program.
Use Multiple Channels
Using multiple channels will help ascertain that you reach them wherever and whenever they are. Additionally, it will give you the opportunity to test and see which channels are most effective for your business.
Email Marketing
You can use it to stay in touch with long-term clients, as well as reach out to new, qualified prospects. Additionally, email is a great way to share valuable content with your audience. Make sure that you are providing them with information that they will find helpful and interesting.
Related Read: Email Campaign Advice: How to Scrub an E-Mail List
Social Media
Connect with potential clients, as well as stay in touch with current ones. Additionally, social media is a great way to share valuable content with your audience. Make sure that you are providing them with information that they will find helpful and interesting.
Paid Advertising
Promote your brand, as well as your products and services. Additionally, paid advertising can help you reach a larger audience than you would through organic means.
Content Marketing
Share valuable information with your audience. Additionally, content marketing can help you build a relationship and stronger connection with your potential clients. Make sure that you are providing them with information that they will find helpful and interesting.
When you are using multiple channels in your marketing, it is important to track your results. This will help you determine which channels are most effective for your business. These results will help you make necessary adjustments to your marketing strategies. If you are not sure where to start, or if you need help with your marketing, contact a professional today.
They will be able to help you develop a plan that is tailored to your specific needs. Additionally, they can provide you with guidance and support as you implement your plan.
Related Read: Financial Advisor Coaching Programs: How to Pick the Best
Always Test Your Campaigns
When it comes to marketing strategy, especially at the onset, it is important to always test your campaigns. This means that once you are able to study the market, its barriers and challenges, and opportunities, see if the campaign you have designed is getting the results you wanted. Different tools and matrices are available to track your engagements.
With digital marketing, Google provides free tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track how your website is performing. Mainstream social networking sites also have tools to measure user engagement.
What is “Spaghetti Marketing”
Spaghetti Marketing” is a term to describe a marketing campaign without a strategic plan. It is called “Spaghetti” as it is akin to throwing a bowl of cooked pasta onto the ceiling and checking what sticks.
Spaghetti Marketing costs you thousands of dollars without a guaranteed return on investment. Defining and understanding your target markets prevent costly, inefficient, and ineffective marketing strategies”
Be Patient
Patience is a virtue, and it could not be any truer in marketing for financial advisors. It may take some time for your message to resonate with your target market. Don’t give up if you don’t see results immediately. Instead, focus on developing a long-term plan and be patient as you implement it.
Being patient is not tantamount to being idle. While waiting for results, review your campaigns and get feedback from your families, friends and clients (even lost clients), and utilize tools available to you.
Hire a Professional
A financial advisor’s main responsibility is to help people with their financial needs, and your focus should be that. Unfortunately, when targeting new clients while taking care of your current clients and running your business, you get involved in other aspects outside your specialty. Your branding and messaging may sound solid to you but may sound vague, unsure, and confusing to people outside the industry.
Delegation and automation are two components that can help you grow your brand. Focusing on what you know, and delegating and automating what you don’t is a good use of your time and resources. It ensures your marketing efforts are reaching the correct market while you are busy producing satisfied clients.
Next Steps
Many Financial Advisors don’t see progress either because they don’t know who their target markets are, they got their branding and messaging wrong, or they do everything themselves. Grow your business with the help of professionals who are in the financial advisor marketing business. Peregrine Consulting Group can help you develop a strong marketing brand that appeals to your target market. Contact us today to get started!