4 Steps to Add Ideal Clients

Commentary March 02, 2020 at 10:51 AM
Share & Print

Financial advisors can't afford to accept the status quo and stand on the sidelines when it comes to enhancing and maximizing their business. Industry competition is heating up due to baby-boomer demand, clients are expecting more personalized services and stock market volatility could be looming with election-year uncertainty in the air.

Having the right marketing strategy in place is one of the most effective ways you can jump-start client acquisition to help organically grow your business and stand out from the competition, regardless of changes in the financial industry landscape.

Here are four marketing tactics you can proactively implement to help differentiate your practice and subsequently grow your client base.

1. Develop Your Ideal Client Profile

One of the most important elements of a successful marketing strategy is recognizing what makes you unique and developing an ideal client profile. Once you identify your target client, you can effectively tailor your message, product and service offering to attract and serve this narrowly defined niche.

As a financial advisor, you can't be all things to all people. Focus on a segment of the market where you can provide the most value and expertise, whether it's a certain age range, demographic or group with specialized financial needs.

Leaning into who you authentically serve can be scary at first because you may feel like you are not casting a wide enough net. However, what you actually will find is people who you want to work with are more attracted to you and your business.

2. Audit your website.

Your website is the centerpiece of your marketing plan and key in attracting new customers as well as retaining existing clients. Think about your own habits.

Almost everyone Googles businesses or people they are considering doing business with before making that first call, and your prospective clients will too.

That's why you should ensure your website is up to date, easy to navigate, visually appealing and, most importantly, speaks to your ideal client base through appropriate imagery and content.

Your website also should represent your firm's ethos and succinctly describe your expertise and mission. Don't let it make a bad first impression — prospective clients are just one click away from finding another firm that better speaks to their needs.

3. Implement search marketing, search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search.

After you've thoroughly audited your website, ensure prospective clients can easily find it by implementing search marketing techniques.

For example, include proper keywords and phrases on your site to improve your firm's keyword ranking, put outbound and inbound linking in place that shows you are connecting to other businesses in your niche, and make sure the content you're publishing is relevant to the searches being performed by your ideal client base.

Once all of these elements are implemented, if you invest in anything, invest in paid search to jump ahead of your local competition.

4. Use social media marketing.

Having a strong social media presence is no longer a plus, but a must when it comes to setting up your wealth management firm for success. A Pew Research Center study revealed that 79% of financial advisors have acquired new clients specifically through social media.

Among financial advisors who are very active on social media, more than 70% reported an increase in assets or revenue as a direct result of social media marketing.

Facebook, YouTube and other popular social media platforms are worth financial advisors' time and effort, as many potential clients are active on these sites.

To amp up lead generation, go beyond organic social media marketing by engaging in paid social media campaigns. Not only is social advertising cost-effective and easy to implement, but it allows you to reach your ideal client through interest-, behavioral- and demographic-based targeting.

You can't always control the wealth management landscape, but you can take charge of your marketing plan. Implementing these four strategies will help you define your niche, reach and attract your ideal clients and ultimately grow your business for the long term.

Amy Gordona is the Senior Vice President and Head of Marketing at Kestra Financial. Based in Austin, Texas.

NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Related Stories

Resource Center