The Power of Consistent Touchpoints

The Power of Consistent Touchpoints

It's essential to understand that the client's journey is rarely linear. Prospective clients may not immediately engage with your services, even after multiple touchpoints. They might attend an event where you speak, download your resources, or even read your emails, yet still not take action.

However, consistent visibility is key. Trust is built over time as they encounter your name and expertise regularly. A simple comment in a social media group or a relevant newsletter topic might be the trigger that prompts them to finally schedule that appointment.

Prospective clients often reach out when they face an urgent financial concern, and you want to be top of mind. Instead of viewing marketing as a straight funnel, envision it as an interconnected ecosystem of touchpoints. Stay persistent, remain visible, and always offer value. Your consistency will eventually lead to appointments.

This tip is inspired by various sections of the book “Uncomparable: A Financial Advisor’s Guide to Standing Out Through Niche Marketing.”

Amplify Expertise Through Guest Appearances

Amplify Expertise Through Guest Appearances

In today's digital age, with information overload and short attention spans, positioning yourself as a trusted expert in a niche is essential to break through the noise. One of the most effective ways to achieve this is by making guest appearances on platforms such as podcasts, webinars, and blogs tailored to your niche. Here's why:

• Enhanced visibility: Engaging with established audiences not only introduces you to potential clients but also broadens your reach.

• Reputation building: Being invited as a guest acts as an implicit endorsement of your expertise, solidifying your standing in the niche.

• Opportunities for networking: Guest appearances and posts open doors to collaborations and partnerships.

In summary, guest appearances are a strategic approach to elevate your stature as an expert, connect with potential clients, and grow your professional network.

This tip is inspired by various sections of the book “Uncomparable: A Financial Advisor’s Guide to Standing Out Through Niche Marketing.”

Establish Expertise Through Content Marketing

Establish Expertise Through Content Marketing

Content marketing is a powerful way to establish your expertise and build trust with your audience. By creating and sharing valuable, relevant content, you can demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of your niche.

Content marketing can include blog posts, articles, podcasts, videos, webinars, and more. The key is to provide content that is genuinely helpful and informative, not just promotional.

Over time, your audience will come to see you as a trusted expert in your field, making them more likely to choose your services when they need them.

This tip comes from Page 97 of the book “Uncomparable: A Financial Advisor’s Guide to Standing Out Through Niche Marketing.”

Evaluate Your Resources Before Implementing Multiple Niches

Evaluate Your Resources Before Implementing Multiple Niches

If you’re considering multiple niches, you need to evaluate your resources. Implementing marketing plans for each niche requires both staff and financial resources. If these are limited, you risk implementing multiple niche marketing plans poorly instead of implementing just one niche marketing plan well.

Having multiple niches can dissipate your focus. The more niches you have, the more champions you need, and the more marketing plans you must implement.

Before you attempt two or more niches, review your resources and ask yourself if you’re ready to go to battle on multiple fronts. If not, concentrate your efforts on a single niche. You will get better marketing results with less effort than if you attempt multiple niches.

This tip comes from Page 9 of the book “Uncomparable: A Financial Advisor’s Guide to Standing Out Through Niche Marketing.”

Understand the Customer Journey as an Ecosystem, Not a Funnel

On Tuesday, July 25, my new book, “Uncomparable: The Financial Advisor’s Guide to Standing Out Through Niche Marketing,” will be available for purchase. In celebration of the release, I will send modified tips pulled from the book over the next several weeks.

Understand the Customer Journey as an Ecosystem, Not a Funnel

Marketing for high-priced, high-commitment services like financial planning or investment management is rarely a linear, funnel-like process. Prospects often require nurturing over years with multiple touchpoints across different channels.

The purchasing process is more like an interconnected network of marketing activities—an ecosystem. It’s crucial to maintain visibility and provide value at each touchpoint.

For example, a prospect might see you at an event, download your slides, and ignore your drip emails—but see your name month after month. They might read your comment in a social media group, open your newsletter, and attend your webinar. This interconnected network of activities builds trust over time, leading them down the path of becoming a client.

Learn more about this tip on Page 145 of “Uncomparable.”

Should You Use Threads?

Should You Use Threads?

You’ve probably heard the news that Instagram released a Twitter-like app called Threads. And you may be asking yourself, should you get on it to market your business?

I’m not usually a strong proponent of joining every new social media site that emerges, simply because often, they don’t have enough of your ideal clients there to make it worthwhile.

However, I believe financial advisors should consider Threads. Since Threads is a text-based app, it’s more conducive to the type of content advisors typically share than image-based Instagram. It’s also the fastest-growing online platform of all time, acquiring 100 million users in less than five days (this number will likely be higher by the time you receive this email). This means you’re more likely to find your ideal client there.

Like any social media platform, Threads will only be effective if you engage with it actively. So, if you’re ready to actively participate with Threads, I’d say go ahead and give it a try.

Written in collaboration with artificial intelligence (ChatGPT-4). Edited by a human.

Get Personal for Quicker Business Growth

Get Personal for Quicker Business Growth

If you’re eager to generate business quickly, here’s a tried-and-true strategy: engage with people! Whether it’s online or in person, building connections is key. Consider sending a personal email, commenting on social media, attending networking events, or even treating someone to lunch.

During a recent chat with fellow financial services marketer Kristin Harad, she referred to the opposite approach as “hiding behind the computer.” Sure, optimizing websites, honing SEO, creating content, and recording evergreen, on-demand webinars are important, but they can’t replace the power of genuine human interaction.

So step out, meet people, and foster meaningful connections—it’s the time-tested way to supercharge your business growth!

Written in collaboration with artificial intelligence (ChatGPT-4). Edited by a human.

ChatGPT-ify Your Business

ChatGPT-ify Your Business

An advisor recently told me he found my company using ChatGPT. That was a surprise! This got me thinking—what's the future of finding businesses through AI?

You should be aware that ChatGPT's data is a few years behind, making AI visibility a long-term game. ChatGPT produces responses from a blend of licensed data, information from human trainers, and public resources. Specifically, it told me it uses online databases, credible financial publications, and its compiled collective knowledge to suggest the "best financial advisors."

There's no surefire way to “ChatGPT-ify” your business. But based on this understanding of how it sources responses, here's what I'd recommend doing over the next few years:

• Try to get on all the “best financial advisor” lists.

• Register for all the "find an advisor" websites.

• Strive to win industry and local business awards.

• Ramp up your public relations efforts.

Will these steps make ChatGPT highlight your business? Honestly, I don’t know, but this is my best-educated guess on how to get listed in the future.

Written by humans. Edited by artificial intelligence (ChatGPT-4).

Filtering Questions for Smart Marketing Decisions

Filtering Questions for Smart Marketing Decisions

When it comes to making marketing decisions, it can be overwhelming to determine which opportunities and ideas are worth pursuing. That’s why I recommend using filtering questions to simplify the process.

Though you should develop your own set of filtering questions, here are a few examples to help you start:

• Will this activity resonate with my niche?

• Is this opportunity getting me in front of the right audience?

• Will it help me leverage my reach?

• Does it offer a chance to engage with multiple prospects simultaneously?

• Will this cost me less than $X per lead?

By applying standard filtering questions that you develop, you can simplify your marketing decisions and ensure you’re investing your time and resources in activities that align with your goals.

Written in collaboration with artificial intelligence (ChatGPT-4). Edited by a human.

The Three R’s of Building Trust

The Three R’s of Building Trust

When you ask a prospective client to hire you, you ask them to place a considerable amount of trust in you. This trust requires confidence in your competence and your commitment to acting in their best interests. It also involves certainty in your ability to safeguard their life savings and faith in your skills to address their financial issues and help achieve their goals. It’s a significant ask, especially from someone just getting to know you.

So, how can you cultivate this trust through your marketing? The answer lies in utilizing the three R’s in your marketing strategies:

1. Recommendation: A testimonial from someone who has worked with you helps build trust. This “R” can include client referrals or endorsements from centers of influence, or client reviews on platforms like Google or Yelp.

2. Research: Prospective clients will likely conduct an investigation to assess your trustworthiness. They might visit your website, scrutinize your social media presence, or use search engines to learn more about you. They might also inquire within their own networks to gauge your general reputation.

3. Repetition: Familiarity often breeds trust. By consistently showing up on a prospect’s radar—through social media posts, newsletters, community event sponsorships, published articles, or advertising—you can create a sense of familiarity that, over time, contributes to trust-building.

Written in collaboration with artificial intelligence (ChatGPT-4). Edited by a human.