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The 52: Market What Your Prospect Wants
Put yourself in your prospect’s shoes.
Market What Your Prospect Wants
One of the biggest mistakes I see advisors make is that they try to communicate a message that is focused on what they want for the prospect instead of what the prospect wants for themselves. For example, the advisor says, “We develop a portfolio based on your risk tolerance.” But the prospect is thinking, “Do I have enough money saved up to retire?”
When marketing to a prospect, always focus your message on what their immediate pain point is. Speak in their language. And don’t try to promote messages for things they aren’t even aware they need yet (e.g., we make sure your beneficiaries are up to date.
The 52: Marketing Strategy Changes with Scale
Match your marketing strategy to your size.
Marketing Strategy Changes with Scale
In the book The 1-Page Marketing Plan, author Allan Dib states that marketing strategy changes with scale. He poses the analogy that it takes a much different approach and investment to build a skyscraper than it does a small investment property.
The same concept can be applied to marketing a multibillion-dollar-AUM RIA versus a $100 million-AUM RIA. Yet many small RIAs look to the largest firms in the industry to replicate their marketing strategy.
Large firms spend money on national TV, radio, print, and digital advertising because they have the money for it to make an impact, and the cost is a drop in the bucket for them. Small firms that try this, even on a local level, will blow through their annual marketing budget in weeks and have nothing to show for it.
Instead of trying to imitate the outsized competition, RIAs should pick a strategy that matches the stage and size of their business.
The 52: You Can’t Market on Customer Service
Why your stellar customer service won’t win clients.
You Can’t Market on Customer Service
When I evaluate the viability of a niche with an advisor, I always ask what they offer to that niche that other advisors don’t. If I get the answer, “I provide better service,” I send them back to the drawing board.
The truth is, you can’t market on customer service! Sure, companies like the Ritz-Carlton and Nordstrom attract customers based on their reputation for stellar service. But they can do this because they have millions of customers who can spread the word. When you only have 100 clients, you don’t have enough people to generate word-of-mouth marketing about your service.
At the end of the day, being the best at customer service is hard to prove, hard to maintain a competitive advantage for, and even harder to market.
The 52: The Hard Truth: There’s No Guaranteed Marketing Strategy
Match the right marketing approach to your firm.
The Hard Truth: There’s No Guaranteed Marketing Strategy
Advisors often ask, “What works when it comes to marketing?” The hard truth is that no one marketing strategy will succeed for all financial advisors. So what should you do?
The firms that are most successful with marketing are the ones that use an approach that is suited for their business, skills, and culture. They put their entire focus on that one approach.
Here are the three most common approaches:
Transaction approach: Firms engage in direct marketing campaigns such as workshops, direct mail, and ads to generate leads.
Relationship approach: Firms rely on clients, centers of influence, or community connections for referrals.
Expertise approach: Firms focus on being an expert in a niche market to attract ideal prospects.
To help you uncover the approach that is best suited for your firm, we’ve released a new ebook, 3 Approaches to Financial Advisor Marketing. Download now to choose your approach and start making your marketing effective.
The 52: Other Industries Have Discovered There Are Riches in Niches
There is a lot of money to be made in niching.
Other Industries Have Discovered There Are Riches in Niches
Many advisors I talk to think they can’t make enough money focusing on a niche. The easiest way to debunk this myth is by looking at another industry—gyms.
Boutique fitness studios (think Orangetheory, CrossFit, barre, Pilates, yoga, etc.) account for more than 42% of all gym memberships, making up nearly half of the gym industry revenue.
The average cost of a monthly unlimited membership at a boutique studio ranges from $110 to $360, while a national “all things to all people” gym like Gold’s Gym or 24 Hour Fitness is less than $50 per month.
If the highly competitive gym industry has learned that a niche approach of offering one service to one type of client is the key to growth and riches, I hope financial advisors can learn the same!
The 52: Look to COIs for More Than Referrals
Not getting referrals from COIs? Try this approach instead.
Look to COIs for More Than Referrals
It’s common wisdom in the industry that centers of influence (COIs)—attorneys, CPAs, etc.—can be great referral sources. But it can take years to gain the trust required for their referrals. Yet even while you are building those relationships, COIs can still be valuable in helping you get in front of prospects.
When you meet with a COI, ask them, “I’m looking to get in front of more [insert niche] clients. If you were me, how would you go about doing that?” Their answers can help you uncover possible marketing channels you’ve never considered. Some COIs will even offer to introduce you to other relationships to help you get in front of your niche. So instead of trying to mine COIs for referrals, use these relationships to expand your reach within your niche.
The 52: How to Know If You Picked a Good Niche
Answering these 11 questions will tell you if your niche has potential.
How to Know If You Picked a Good Niche
How do you know you made the right decision when picking a niche? We use these 11 questions to evaluate the suitability and viability of a niche for financial advisors:
Pain: Is your niche feeling real mental or emotional pain regarding their problem?
Purchasing power: Is your niche willing and able to pay your fees?
Easy to target: Is your niche easy to find for marketing purposes (e.g., purchased lists, associations, groups, social media targeting)?
Growing: Is your niche market growing?
Urgency: Is it urgent for your niche to have their problem solved?
Dominance: Is it possible for you to dominate this space due to a lack of competition?
Complexity: Is the niche’s primary financial problem something that takes a lot of time and research for the first client but would be easy to scale once you have developed the expertise and a process?
Experience: Do you have personal or professional experience with this niche?
Credibility: Do you have credibility working with clients in this niche?
Access: Can you access the niche through an existing network and opportunities?
Expertise: Do you have the skills and knowledge to serve this niche?
The more yeses you have, the more likely you will succeed with your niche.
The 52: Define the One Problem You Solve
Why prospects don’t understand what you do.
Define the One Problem You Solve
Do prospects find it difficult to understand what you do? It’s probably because you communicate a convoluted message that you are all things to all people. They can’t grasp how you specifically help them.
Instead, communicate one clear, simple message that they’ll remember. To do this, define the one problem you solve for most of your clients—for example, “plan for retirement” or “make smart decisions when exercising stock options.” Going forward, focus all your messaging on this one central theme so prospects are clear on what you do.
P.S. We know you do more than one thing! But your prospects will only remember one thing. If you don’t clearly define it for them, they’ll just remember you manage investments.
The 52: Business Books to Read in 2022
My favorite books of 2021.
Business Books to Read in 2022
In anticipation of ringing in the new year, I thought I would switch up the last issue of The 52 for 2021 to provide a list of some of my favorite business and marketing books I’ve read this year:
A World Without Email: Reimagining Work in an Age of Communication Overload by Cal Newport
Get Different: Marketing That Can't Be Ignored! by Mike Michalowicz
If You Want to Get Rich, Build a Power Niche: And a Bundle of Other Utterly Brilliant Marketing and Sales Ideas that Actually Work by Bruce M. Stachenfeld
Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang
Building a StoryBrand: Clarify Your Message So Customers Will Listen by Donald Miller
I hope you enjoy these books as much as I did. Happy new year!
The 52: Don’t Want to Write? Try AI!
Week 52: Let AI do your marketing for you.
Week 52
Don’t Want to Write? Try AI!
Financial advisors who don’t want to write their own content have been limited to two alternative options: hiring a ghostwriter or buying canned content. But a third option is arising—artificial intelligence. There are now services like Jarvis that will generate marketing content for you. While it is a bit cumbersome to use, the output is quite impressive. If you are looking for an alternative solution to creating content, put this on your list to try.
