Should You Build a Marketing Funnel?

When I ask financial advisors what their primary marketing goal is, one of the most common responses I get is “We want to build a marketing funnel.”

If you aren’t familiar with the term, a marketing funnel is a concept mostly used by online consumer product companies. A funnel lays out the steps to lead someone from a total lack of awareness about a product to the purchase of that product.

From a financial advisor’s perspective, a marketing funnel is a theoretical path that the prospective client takes from not knowing who you are, to gaining awareness, to researching you, to evaluating you, to finally becoming a client. 

In consumer products, a funnel looks something like this: You, the consumer, see an ad for the company’s candle on Facebook. You click the link, which takes you to a landing page selling that candle. Suddenly, a pop-up appears, offering you 15% off your first purchase if you give the company your email address. You do and then exit the website because you aren’t ready to buy.

Now, three times a week, you get an email from this company promoting different candles. A month goes by and you click the link to a landing page and buy a candle from them. This is the funnel: Facebook ad > landing page > pop-up form > promotional emails > landing page > purchase. 

The idea behind funnels is that people don’t make a purchase the first time they are introduced to a business. So, the company needs to nurture them before they can close the sale. 

Let’s examine a funnel example for a financial advisor’s business. You speak at an event. You encourage audience members to visit your website and provide their email addresses in exchange for a copy of the slides. Once they fill out the form, they get a series of automated emails recapping the presentation’s key points and encouraging them to schedule an appointment. Then they schedule the appointment and become a client. 

Sounds great, right? The problem is that marketing rarely works like this when you offer a high-priced, high-commitment service. Prospects don’t follow a neat funnel like marketers would have you believe. It’s common to nurture relationships for years and have dozens of touch points from all different channels.

It’s not until the prospect has a painful and urgent financial matter they need you to solve that they hire you. The purchasing process is not linear. It looks more like an interconnected network of marketing activities … an ecosystem.

A more realistic scenario is that the prospect sees you speak at an event, and they download your slides, ignore your drip emails completely, and receive your monthly newsletter (which they also ignore). But they see your name month after month.

Two years in, they are on a social media group you also belong to, and they see your comment answering a financial question that’s also been on their mind. The next time they get your newsletter, they decide to open it just to see what you are up to. They notice you are hosting a webinar on a topic that has been concerning them lately. They attend the webinar. They get a new set of drip emails that they also ignore. But they decide to connect with you on their favorite social media site and see your updates weekly while still getting your newsletter.

A year later, some sort of money-in-motion event common for their niche happens (laid off, spouse died, sold an appreciated asset, etc.). All of a sudden, they need financial help. And you are the first person who comes to mind. Finally, they schedule the appointment and become a client.

It takes time and effort to gain the trust of your prospects to hand over their life savings to you. And because it’s a relationship that usually lasts their lifetime, it’s a huge commitment on their part to work with you. Expecting people to trust and hire you because they have been funneled into your marketing process is unrealistic. 

Hourly planning or commission-based services may have more success with a traditional marketing funnel because the perceived costs and commitment are low. But when you offer a service that may end up costing north of $200,000 over a client’s lifetime, funnels don’t work as they have been designed. You are not asking them to hand over $25 for a candle. You are asking them to trust you with their net worth.

Trust has to be built, and you do this through an ecosystem like the one described here.

Funnels do have value. Each campaign you implement should be designed using a funnel framework. It is a worthwhile tool to plan all the components of any individual campaign. It provides one hypothetical path for prospects to follow to become a client.

While they probably won’t follow the funnel, the structure helps shore up any holes in your process. But your overall marketing strategy should comprise a network of interconnecting and interacting parts. It should be an ecosystem.

Final Thoughts

Traditional marketing funnels are ineffective for the high-priced, high-commitment services that financial advisors provide. Instead, you want to focus on building your prospects’ trust over time. The way to do that is through a marketing ecosystem, a network with dozens of touch points in multiple channels. In this way, you nurture your prospects until they come to know and trust you and are ready to work with you.

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About Kristen Luke

Kristen Luke is the President of Kaleido Creative Studio, a marketing consulting firm that positions Registered Investment Advisors and their employees as experts in a niche, making them uncomparable to other advisors. Over the past 16 years, Kristen has consulted with hundreds of financial advisory firms and shared her marketing expertise via industry conferences and publications nationwide. This article is an excerpt from her upcoming book, due out in 2023.

The 52: Don’t Bad-Mouth Other Advisors

Don’t Bad-Mouth Other Advisors

You probably don’t bad-mouth your competitors by name, but have you ever said something to the effect of “Some advisors will sell you an annuity you don’t need,” or “Widows are vulnerable to predatory financial advisors"?

When you disparage other advisors, you plant a seed of doubt for all advisors, including yourself. How does the prospect know you aren’t a predatory advisor? They don’t, and you may end up scaring them into inaction.

Instead of painting your competition in a negative light, paint yourself in a positive light. For example: “We find that 9 times out of 10, there are better, less expensive options for our clients than annuities, which is why we don’t recommend them.” Or: “Our clients choose us because they want a financial advisor they can trust to look out for them during this vulnerable time.”

The 52: "Never Confuse Movement with Action"

"Never Confuse Movement with Action"

This quote from Ernest Hemingway serves as a warning for how to spend your marketing time. Action is the process of doing something to achieve an aim,[1] while movement is the process of moving.[2]

In marketing, action comprises activities with clear outcomes, like calling a center of influence, pitching a topic to present to an association, or following up with a prospect. Deliberate action takes you closer to your goal and produces tangible results.

Movement, on the other hand, is going through the motion of low-impact activities such as changing minor wording on your website or writing superficial comments on social media posts. Because movement fills your time, it can deceive you into feeling satisfied that you took action, but the truth comes out when you don’t see results.

If you aren’t getting the marketing results you hope for, ask yourself, are you confusing movement with action?

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Sources:

1. https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/

2. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/movement

The 52: How to Generate Content Marketing Topics

How to Generate Content Marketing Topics

Struggling to come up with topics for your blogs or videos? Take notes after you meet with prospects about the situations they face. This information will direct what to address in your content. Specifically, make note of:

• Triggering events. What life event triggered them to reach out to you in the first place?

• Primary financial concerns. What is their primary financial concern or frustration?

• Goals and aspirations. What is their ultimate goal or aspiration?

• Services and solutions. What services or solutions do they say they need, even if you don’t offer them?

• Words and phrases. What specific words and phrases do they use to describe their situation?

How to Generate Topics for Content Marketing

The 52: What Does the Ideal Podcast Look Like?

What Does the Ideal Podcast Look Like?

If you listen to podcasts, you know they can come in all lengths, frequencies, and formats, leaving financial advisors to wonder what the best option is for them.

In his work with financial advisors, Matt Halloran, partner and podcasting expert at podcasting company ProudMouth, has found that the ideal podcast length is between 26 and 28 minutes. The ideal frequency is twice a month, and the ideal format is to have a guest on each show.

This combination allows financial advisors to get the most impact from their podcast most efficiently.

How to Generate Topics for Your Content Marketing

Most professional marketers spout the importance of content marketing. That is, creating original and relevant blogs, videos, and podcasts that provide prospects such value that they want to learn more about your business.

I agree that content marketing is an effective form of marketing, especially when selling a service based on expertise. However, content marketing for content marketing’s sake will not produce results. It is important to choose the topics that connect with your niche and encourage them to act.

The best topics are the ones that directly address your niche’s primary pain points—the ones answering the questions that are top of mind and keep them up at night. Focus on things that your niche is curious about or even afraid of. And consider topics that would be top of mind for your prospect within 90 days of hiring you. 

For example, if your niche is divorce financial planning, consider the issues on a prospect’s mind before hiring a financial advisor to help with their divorce. For example, it could be “Why Getting Half Isn’t Always Financially Fair in a Divorce.” If your niche is people who have received an inheritance, a topic could be “Common Tax Mistakes People Make with Their Inheritance.” 

Help your niche understand that the content is specifically for them by inserting them into the title. If you address retirement planning for business owners, then you can tailor the title to be “3 Mistakes Business Owners Make When Selling Their Business That Can Damage Their Retirement Plans.”  

Whatever you do, do not include generic topics, such as economic outlooks. Every subject must be specific to your niche, use their language, and provide examples that resonate with them. If you must write about a generic topic that applies to any investor, tailor the topic title and examples to your niche. 

Choosing topics when you first work with a niche can be challenging. But as you gain more experience, it will become easier to find issues to address. To help do this, take notes about the situations your prospects face. Your notes will tell you exactly what you should address in your content.

Specifically, here are the things to make note of:

Triggering Events

What event was happening in the prospect’s life that triggered them to reach out to you in the first place? In the example about women getting a divorce, the triggering event could be finding out a spouse is cheating, talking to a divorce attorney who referred her, filing for a divorce, or going through a divorce and having the gut feeling she isn’t getting a fair settlement. These are just four different triggering events for the same niche, and I’m sure there are many more. 

Primary Financial Concern

What does the prospect say their primary financial concern or frustration is? For a divorcing woman, her primary concern may be “Will I have enough money to maintain the lifestyle for myself and the kids that we are all used to?”

Goals and Aspirations

What does the prospect say is their ultimate goal or aspiration? What would they like to achieve after working with you? For the divorcing woman, she may say her goal is to rebuild a life on her terms where she feels happy, confident, and secure.

Services and Solutions

What services or solutions does the prospect say they need? Make note of these even if they are not services you offer. For example, the divorcing woman may say she needs to refinance the house in her name. You note that she may need mortgage services, and you write content on refinancing a home as part of a divorce settlement. 

Words and Phrases

What specific words and phrases does the prospect use to describe their situation? It will be important to reflect this wording back to your niche in your content.

For example, the divorcing woman may not say she needs to “refinance” her home. She may say she needs to lower her mortgage payment or get her husband’s name off the mortgage. These would be key phrases to write down that you could use as a topic. The topic, in this case, would be “How to Lower Your Monthly Mortgage Payments So You Can Afford to Keep Your House After a Divorce.”

Avoid using financial services industry jargon. Instead, use the language your niche clients would use.

Final Thoughts

Your content marketing can be a powerful tool in getting niche prospects to schedule a call with you. The key is to focus on your niche’s triggering events, concerns, services, and aspirations. You also want to use the language that your niche uses, not your industry’s. By speaking directly to your niche, you can get their attention and, ultimately, their business.

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About Kristen Luke

Kristen Luke is the President of Kaleido Creative Studio, a marketing consulting firm that positions Registered Investment Advisors and their employees as experts in a niche, making them uncomparable to other advisors. Over the past 16 years, Kristen has consulted with hundreds of financial advisory firms and shared her marketing expertise via industry conferences and publications nationwide. This article is an excerpt from her upcoming book, due out in 2023.

Prospects Have Lots of Problems; Your Message Needs to Focus on Just One

The 52: Take Advantage of Online Profiles

Take Advantage of Online Profiles

A simple, low-cost, low-maintenance online marketing strategy is to be listed on all the “Find an Advisor” websites that prospective clients might use to search for a firm. These online profiles are usually charged in one of three ways: (1) as part of your membership or association with an organization; (2) as an annual fee; or (3) as a per-lead fee. We find listings that charge you an annual fee or are included as part of your association with the organization are generally a better value for the money than listings that require you to pay per lead.

Here is a list of sites to take advantage of if you are eligible:

• NAPFA

• FPA PlannerSearch

• FeeOnlyNetwork.com

• Garrett Planning Network

• XY Planning Network

• CFP’s Lets Make a Plan

• Schwab’s Find Your Independent Advisor

• Kingdom Advisors

• Dimensional Fund Advisors

• Wealthtender

Having links from these sites to your firm’s website helps with your own search engine optimization.

Prospective Clients Have a Lot of Problems; Your Message Needs to Focus on Just One

What is the one common problem your niche all shares?

Take a moment to think about your answer because it will dictate how you differentiate yourself to clients and prospects.

Answering this question is a challenge because clients often have many different problems. They need to organize their finances; they want to delegate their finances to someone they trust; they want to pay less in taxes; they need to know they have enough money to retire.

But these are common problems that most people are looking to solve. And they are problems that most financial advisors solve. They don’t help you stand out as an expert in your niche. They don’t help you become uncomparable. 

Ask yourself: “What is the one unique problem everyone in my niche faces—the one that is the most painful and urgent for them to solve? The one that makes them seek out my services in the first place?”

To discover this one problem, ask yourself these questions:

• What keeps your niche up at night?

• What situation is your niche facing in the 90 days before they hire a financial advisor?

• What hurdle do they need to overcome to reach the outcome they hope to achieve (e.g., financial independence, financial stability, retirement)?

Here are some problems a niche may face:

• Irregular income leading to a lack of financial security despite having a successful career (salespeople, business owners, the self-employed)

• Intense career burnout driving a desire to retire from their career ASAP (e.g., health care professionals, tech employees, attorneys)

• A significant windfall creating tax implications (e.g., selling a business, being an employee of a company that experienced an IPO, selling investment real estate)

• Being solely responsible for a significant amount of wealth for the first time and not knowing where to start (inheritors, widows, divorcees)

The problem you identify needs to be top of mind for the niche. It needs to be distinct to the niche and not a problem most people face (e.g., planning for retirement). It needs to be painful. And it is best if the problem needs to be urgently solved (though this is often not the case).

You want to avoid the following types of problems:

• Aspirational goals. While I don’t believe in marketing on fear, clients hire you to solve a problem. “Having more money than I’ll ever need and wanting to optimize my wealth” is not a problem most people feel an urgent need to solve. Instead, turn the perspective around to solve a problem, such as “Make sure your kids don’t squander your hard-earned wealth after you are gone.”

• Organizational problems. Unless you will position yourself as the Marie Kondo of wealth management, getting organized doesn’t drive most people to take action in hiring a financial advisor. Organization is an unforeseen benefit they end up enjoying, but it isn’t compelling enough for most people to seek out financial advice.

• Retirement planning. Literally, everyone has this problem except for the top 1%. If you help plan for retirement, you need a unique slant specific to your niche. For example, planning for retirement by navigating the complex Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Or planning for retirement when you are single and have no spousal or family support system.

Here are some examples of messages that highlight the one problem each of these niches faces:

• Helping the Self-Employed Stabilize Volatile Income

• Helping Health Care Workers Quit Their Jobs and Live Their Lives

• Helping Real Estate Investors Make Tax-Smart Decisions on When and How to Sell Property

• Helping Single Women Know They Are Taking Care of Themselves Financially

Of course, your clients will have more than one problem. Self-employed people have issues beyond volatile income. They also have insurance issues and retirement savings issues. But your overall marketing message does not need to say everything you do. That will just confuse your niche. Your message only needs to state the one problem that has nagged at your prospect the most.

Final Thoughts

You need a distinct, clear message to be an uncomparable financial advisor. And that message should focus on the one primary problem you solve for your niche. It will require some time on your part to come up with the one problem that resonates with prospects. But expressing the problem that keeps your prospects up at night will help them realize that you are the financial advisor to help them overcome their problem and succeed.

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About Kristen Luke

Kristen Luke is the President of Kaleido Creative Studio, a marketing consulting firm that positions Registered Investment Advisors and their employees as experts in a niche, making them uncomparable to other advisors. Over the past 16 years, Kristen has consulted with hundreds of financial advisory firms and shared her marketing expertise via industry conferences and publications nationwide. This article is an excerpt from her upcoming book, due out in 2023.