(AssetMark) An old adage says, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Unfortunately, the adage doesn’t apply to marketing. For financial advisors starting out, the learning curve may resemble an obstacle. Michael Kitces asserts that financial advisors are for the most part, “really, really bad at marketing.”
AssetMark recently hosted a webinar showcasing the essentials of “Bad Financial Advisor Marketing and How to Avoid It.”
In the webinar, James Pollard of The Advisor Coach, and Kristi Toland, Director of Advisor Marketing at AssetMark, guide you through what constitutes bad marketing, how to avoid it, and, most importantly, what you should be doing instead. You may have missed the live session, but you can still watch the webinar and earn one hour of continuing education CE credit.
Should you pause your marketing during a market downturn?
Let’s suppose you do. Like many other financial advisors, you decide to hold back on marketing and promotional efforts until the turmoil passes, to a time when you think investors are more receptive. What will happen in the meantime? The few advisors reaching out to prospects have their full attention because they’re the only ones talking to them.
Now, let’s take a look at the wealth management needs of bold and timid investors during both a bull market and a bear market.
During a bull market, bold investors can put their money just about anywhere, and the probability is that it will grow. Timid investors aren’t concerned about their future because the future looks bright when the economy is in a period of growth.
During a bear market, however, bold investors face the harsh reality that they may need the help of an expert in financial services. Timid investors become scared that their future isn’t secure amidst the economic turmoil and turn to financial advisors to help them with their financial planning for the future.
Think about your ideal client. What services do you offer that they need today? Look for opportunities for your business to grow in tough times, and you may be surprised by who you can reach and what you can achieve.
What are the challenges of financial advisor marketing?
Broadridge’s most recent study on financial advisor marketing revealed that the most challenging aspect is, ironically, where the magic really begins—developing a digital marketing strategy. (Only 9% of advisors said it’s not challenging.)
The least challenging aspect is answering the question of how much to spend on marketing, which was considered very challenging by only 15% of financial advisors.
Other financial advisor marketing challenges include finding the time for marketing efforts, selecting the right solutions for the MarTech stack, evaluating marketing ROI, and identifying the right target investor.
What are the common mistakes made by financial advisors?
These six common mistakes can hamper advisors’ efforts to grow and scale their business through marketing:
- Neglecting to have a strategy.
With 91% of advisors saying that coming up with a marketing strategy is a challenge, it may not be a surprise that a majority of financial advisors forego creating a mindful marketing strategy. Instead, advisor marketing efforts tend to be ad hoc at best. - Marketing just to do marketing.
In lieu of a plan or strategy, isolated actions are executed to simply check another item off the proverbial to-do list. In reality, marketing encompasses your client’s journey at the touchpoints that matter most: from becoming aware of your firm to remaining a loyal client in the face of competitive advertising or offerings from other advisors. - Failing to adopt marketing technology.
When it comes to marketing technology, there are a lot of options. With too many choices, vendors, features, and too little time to analyze the options, many advisors give up altogether and continue using manual processes rather than investing the time today to scale marketing efforts for better business growth.
