The 52: Define the One Problem You Solve

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

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

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.

The 52: Your First-Mover Advantage Is Slipping Away

Week 45

Your First-Mover Advantage Is Slipping Away

This year, financial advisors were allowed to solicit online reviews from clients on sites like Google and Yelp for the first time. Since then, some independent RIAs have had a unique advantage since they have been able to implement online reviews faster than their competition. This has improved not only their search rankings but also their close rate. But we are seeing other advisors, including national brands, taking advantage of online reviews. If you have been thinking about implementing reviews, your window for a first-mover advantage is quickly closing.

The 52: A Simple Way to Develop Your Marketing Message

Week 50

A Simple Way to Develop Your Marketing Message

It’s not easy to develop an engaging marketing message for your website that sounds different from other financial advisors. In our 15-plus years of working with financial advisors, the easiest way we have found to develop a simple marketing message is to use Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand methodology. If you are looking for one marketing book to read over the holidays, make it this one.

P.S. Kristen Luke is now a StoryBrand Certified Guide who can help advisors focused on a niche clarify their message.

The 52: Get Out and About

Week 49

Get Out and About

During the height of the pandemic, most people limited their in-person interactions with others. And even though the world has since opened up, some advisors have fallen into the habit of avoiding networking activities.

Marketing in financial services is all about relationship, which means connecting with other people. For 2022, instead of prioritizing your marketing around some new online channel, prioritize it around connecting with other people face to face. That could mean going to some new networking events or having coffee with a center of influence. Sure, it may sound old school, but human connection is always a winning marketing strategy.

The 52: Repeat Your Message

Week 48

Repeat Your Message

Last week we talked about the importance of creating a simple message that people can’t help but remember. Once you have crafted that message, the next step is to repeat it. And repeat it. And repeat it.

The only way for people to remember what you do to the extent they can repeat it is for them to hear it over and over again. Dave Ramsey became well known because he repeated the same simple message about debt for years. And it worked!

People aren’t paying close attention to your marketing. Even if they are, they still need to hear your message dozens of times before it sticks. So don’t worry about repeating your message too much—there is no such thing!

Are You Ready for Marketing to Get Harder in 2022?

Are You Ready for Marketing to Get Harder?

For most financial advisors, marketing is hard. It’s either not in your skill set or not something that interests you. As a result, you may ignore active marketing tactics and rely on referrals to passively roll in. That marketing strategy can work if you charge your fees based on a percentage of assets under management and the stock market continues to grow by double digits each year.

But are you ready for when marketing gets harder?

Recently, I’m seeing more complacency from financial advisors when it comes to marketing. One reason is that revenue is skyrocketing based on stock market performance alone. Financial advisors lack a sense of urgency to actively seek out new clients when revenue continues to grow on its own. A second reason is that some firms face staffing shortages and don’t have the time to dedicate to marketing.

During good financial times like these, I tell firms they should invest in their marketing to prepare for the next economic downturn. A downturn creates a lot of opportunity to pick up new clients because it is one of the rare times when the entire population faces a “money in motion” event at once.

It is also a time when advisor revenue suddenly shrinks due to lower AUM fees, and firms become anxious about replacing that revenue with new clients as quickly as possible. To be prepared for, and take advantage of, downtimes, you need to execute a marketing strategy consistently—and that means before the market drops.

While you should invest in your marketing in preparation for a downturn, you should also do it for another reason. Marketing will only get harder, and those who don’t take marketing seriously now will feel the effects the most. Let’s look at three reasons why marketing will get harder.

1. The Next Generation of Investors Is Relying Less on Financial Advisors

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, “About 70% of households with a net worth of $500,000 or more headed by a person under 45 had an investing style that was either strongly or mostly self-directed in 2019, up from 57% in 2010.”

Anecdotally, I have seen this trend play out with some of the firms I work with that market to this demographic. Younger investors are interested in paying for one-time advice but want to manage their investments on their own and balk at paying AUM fees. 

There is still a huge market of baby boomers who value delegating their finances to a financial advisor and are willing to pay AUM fees. But will this continue 10 or 20 years from now? Or will Gen Xers and millennials look to pay their financial advisors like they do their attorneys and accountants—on an hourly or project basis?

If this happens, advisors will have to attract a larger volume of clients each year than they currently do to maintain revenue. If it doesn’t happen, it is still possible there will be a smaller pool of investors willing to pay AUM fees that all firms will compete for. In either scenario, financial advisors will have to be better marketers than they are today.

2. Marketing Tactics Are Getting More Complex

Not worried about the longevity of the AUM model? There are other ways marketing is getting harder. Namely, marketing tactics are becoming more complex. When I started my marketing career in this industry 16 years ago, the RIA I worked for had a weekly radio show, hosted two weekly public workshops at a local restaurant, and did the occasional client appreciation event. It was a simple system that produced dozens of prospects weekly.

Not only are those tried-and-true methods saturated, but you now have so many other channels to master as well. To market your business today, you need to be an expert in search engine optimization, Google ads, social media, video marketing, webinars, podcasts, and marketing automation systems, just to name a few. And the bad news is, these channels are quickly getting saturated as well, so it is hard to stand out. The complexity of marketing will only speed up as artificial intelligence plays a bigger role in our everyday lives.

It’s hard for career marketers to keep up with all the trends and changes in their field. How are you supposed to compete when it’s your job to service clients, not be a marketing expert?

3. It’s Harder to Differentiate

Finally, it’s getting harder for firms to differentiate themselves from the competition. For a while, fee-only RIAs stood out to prospects because they were “independent” or “fiduciary.” Today, so many firms fall into these categories that they’re not differentiators in most geographic areas. Offering “comprehensive financial planning” used to be a differentiator too, but most financial advisors now claim to provide this service even if they don’t. To a prospect, most financial advisors look and sound the same, so to stand out, you have to be the better marketer.

What Can Be Done?

You might feel overwhelmed by the fact that marketing is going to get harder than it already is. But what can you do about it?

My first recommendation is to make your marketing a priority. Financial advisors have many different marketing approaches they can use, but the key is to implement your marketing consistently. Don’t let it slip when you get busy. When you execute your marketing in fits and starts, you may not be able to restart it quickly when you need clients again. You will be well-served to hire a consultant who can help you with the big-picture strategy before you start trying ad hoc tactics and technology.

My second recommendation is to carve out a niche for yourself. By specializing in solving the financial problems of a narrow set of clients, your marketing becomes more focused and effective. You have fewer competitors, you connect better with ideal clients, and you clearly stand out from other advisors. In other words, in a world where marketing is getting harder, your marketing gets easier.

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About Kristen Luke

Kristen Luke is the President of Kaleido Creative Studio, a marketing agency specializing in helping RIAs promote their businesses to a niche through an expertise approach. Over the past 15 years, Kristen has consulted with hundreds of financial advisory firms and shared her marketing expertise via industry conferences and publications nationwide.

The 52: Create One Clear and Simple Message

Week 47

Create One Clear and Simple Message

Is it hard for your clients and centers of influence to refer because they can’t explain what you do other than “they invest money” or “they are a financial advisor”? This happens when your message isn’t clear and simple in their minds.

No one is going to do the work to remember a complicated marketing message. It’s your job to create a message that is so simple and unique that people can’t help but remember it—for example, “the financial advisor who helps tech professionals make decisions about their equity compensation” or “the advisor who helps gets your parents’ estate in order before it becomes your responsibility as the executor.”

When you have a clear and simple marketing message, it is easier for your clients and COIs to spread the word about your work.