The 52: Not Every Firm Should Niche

Not Every Firm Should Niche

Through our work with financial advisors, we have discovered the easiest way to market is to specialize in a niche. However, not all firms should niche. Here are four situations where focusing on a broad market is the better choice:

• Firms in small, close-knit communities with widespread name recognition

• Firms where the owner is going to sell to an outside entity in the next five years

• Firms that consistently generate enough referrals to achieve annual growth goals

• Firms with outside investment that can spend significant money on national mass marketing campaigns

The 52: Sell Solutions, Outcomes, and Transformation, Not Products or Services

Sell Solutions, Outcomes, and Transformation, Not Products or Services

Many advisors focus on selling their services, such as investment management, financial planning, and retirement planning. But prospective clients aren’t looking to purchase a service—they want a solution to their problem, a specific outcome, or a transformation.

In your marketing, help your prospects visualize the transformation they will experience after working with you. For example, instead of promoting “retirement planning,” say: “Have a plan so you can stop being afraid of spending your hard-earned money and start enjoying the best years of your retirement.” The second message is not only more desirable to your prospect but something they’ll want to pay you to help them achieve.

The 52: Marketing Strategies for the Introverted Financial Advisor

Marketing Strategies for the Introverted Financial Advisor

Introverted advisors don’t always see themselves as marketers because so many of the people held up as “good marketer” role models are extroverts. You know them. They constantly self-promote on social media and can be seen at every event, and you feel like they are literally everywhere.

If you are an introverted advisor, this type of marketing can be exhausting. But being an introvert doesn’t mean your marketing has to be less effective. Here are three strategies introverted advisors should follow to be successful marketers:

Strategy 1: Focus on a niche. When you take a rifle, not a shotgun, approach, you’ll find that your efforts spent interacting with people in the niche community will multiply much faster than if you target a broader market.

Strategy 2: Take advantage of content marketing. Content marketing allows your expertise and knowledge to shine, helping you overcome the extroverted characteristics usually associated with good sales and marketing people.

Strategy 3: Utilize digital channels. These channels allow you to network from the comfort of your home or office and give you the opportunity to think before you “speak.”

Marketing Strategies for the Introverted Financial Advisor

The 52: Dictate Your Blog

Dictate Your Blog

Do you struggle to write a blog consistently? Consider dictating your first draft. By talking through your article and having it transcribed, your blog becomes an editing exercise instead of a writing exercise.

There are plenty of speech-to-text services available, but it can be as simple as opening a Word document. When the dreaded blank page appears, instead of typing, click the “Dictate” button on the home menu and start talking. You’ll soon find your blog being typed in front of your eyes.

Marketing Strategies for the Introverted Financial Advisor

The stereotypical advisor portrayed on TV and in the movies is a fast-talking, extroverted salesperson. But in my experience consulting with RIAs, many financial advisors are actually the opposite. They can be quite introverted and prefer the work of financial advising over the selling and self-promoting aspects of the business. But these advisors, who prefer to stay under the radar, often struggle with marketing.

Introverted advisors don’t always see themselves as marketers because so many of the people held up as “good marketer” role models are extroverts. You know the ones. They constantly self-promote on social media and can be seen at every event, and you feel like they are literally everywhere.

If you are an introverted advisor, this type of marketing can be exhausting. You would rather spend your energy meeting with clients one-on-one or analyzing different financial strategies. You prefer to attract prospects because of your reputation for the good work you do for clients, not because of your sales and marketing skills. The last thing you want to do is to publicly and frequently put yourself out in the world.

But a problem arises if you use your introversion as an excuse not to market your business. You not only hurt yourself but also the people who never get the benefit of working with you because they don’t know you exist.

As an introvert myself, I understand that the marketing approaches used by extroverts are not a good fit for introverts. But being an introvert doesn’t mean your marketing has to be less effective. I have consulted with plenty of introverted advisors who are successful marketers. The key is to use marketing strategies that play off your strengths as an introvert.

If you want to become a good marketer as an introverted advisor, the first thing you need to do is to change your mindset about marketing. The goal of marketing is to connect the person who has a problem with the person who can solve their problem. It’s not about tricking or manipulating people. It’s not about being entertaining or controversial. While these tactics work for some, you don’t have to follow their lead. Your job is to find the people who have the problem you want to solve and let them know you can solve it.

Here are three strategies introverted advisors can follow to be successful marketers:

Strategy 1: Focus on a Niche

The first strategy is to focus your marketing efforts on one niche. When you focus on a narrow set of clients that all share the same problem, finding the people who need your service becomes easier. In other words, you take a rifle, not a shotgun, approach. You conserve your energy by focusing on only the most promising opportunities instead of spreading yourself thin by chasing every opportunity. For example, it is much less effort to find the people in your area who are blue-collar workers in the oil and gas industry and want to retire in the next 10 years than to locate everyone in your area needing retirement planning.

By focusing on a niche, you narrow the size of your potential client pool. This may sound like a negative, but it is actually a positive, especially for introverts. The smaller community means it is easier for you to become known. Word of mouth about your expertise spreads more quickly. As you get to know people in your niche community, it is easier to meet more members of the niche through warm introductions. You’ll find that your efforts spent interacting with people in the niche community will multiply much faster than if you targeted a broader market.

Strategy 2: Take Advantage of Content Marketing

Introverts tend to be more comfortable listening and thinking than talking. You can turn this tendency to your advantage by using content marketing—such as blogs, videos, podcasts, and presentations—to showcase your expertise. Remember, the goal of marketing is to connect the person who has a problem with the person who can solve their problem. Listen to what your niche says is their problem and create content educating them on the solutions to their problem.

Many forms of content marketing allow you to think through what you want to stay instead of feeling forced to do it off the cuff. Content marketing enables you to refine and iterate your work before you present it to the public. For example, most introverts are well suited to written content. It gives you the time to think through your topic and have an editor perfect your work before the world sees it. Scripted videos can be another good medium because you can plan what you want to say, record multiple takes, and have an editor cut out any blunders. I’ve also seen many introverts who are great public speakers because they can practice their material dozens of times before giving it.

Content marketing allows your expertise and knowledge to shine, helping you overcome the extroverted characteristics usually associated with good sales and marketing people. You’ll also find that prospects who follow your content will reach out to you “pre-sold” on what you do, making the sales process easier.

Strategy 3: Utilize Digital Channels

Digital channels such as social media or online forums can be great places for introverted advisors to find their niche and connect. These channels allow you to network from the comfort of your home or office without having to attend networking events, often dreaded by introverts. Interacting on digital channels also gives you the opportunity to think before you “speak” and delete anything you regret posting.

Most introverts prefer one-on-one or small-group interaction, so the strategy for digital channels is the same. Find online groups of people representing your niche, and join the individual conversations that are taking place. Comment on posts of people you know or want to get to know. And respond to comments on the content you post.

Final Thoughts

Being an introverted advisor doesn’t mean you are at a disadvantage. It just means you need to take an approach suited to your strengths. When you use marketing that plays to those strengths, prospects will come to you “pre-sold,” making the sales process much easier for 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.

The 52: How to Use Text Message Marketing

How to Use Text Message Marketing

While not widely used by financial advisors, text message marketing (also known as SMS marketing) is of great interest to many advisors. This is because text messages have higher open and response rates than emails.

If you plan to use SMS marketing, a good rule of thumb is to employ it for important or time-sensitive messages such as:

1. Appointment or event confirmations and reminders

2. Reminders for documents you are waiting on from a client or prospect

3. One-time follow-ups after an event, appointment, or download of an ebook or other resource

4. Outreach during urgent or catastrophic events (e.g., hurricanes, pandemics, 2008-style market crashes)

5. Upcoming financial deadlines (e.g., quarterly taxes being due, Medicare open enrollment period)

While SMS marketing can be impactful, it’s important not to overdo it. Otherwise, people will opt out or, worse, form a negative impression of you. Make sure to avoid:

1. Sending unsolicited messages

2. Promoting your content (e.g., weekly marketing commentary)

3. Overdoing it (e.g., don’t send a series of texts after a prospect downloads an ebook)

How to Fix a Niche that is Too Narrow or Too Broad

How to Remedy a Niche That Is Too Narrow or Too Broad

Choosing a niche can be a difficult decision to make. When you say “yes” to one niche, you are essentially saying “no” to clients who don’t fit your niche. While advisors who have successfully niched know that you actually end up with more opportunity in the long run, it can be quite scary to think you are turning off the faucet of potential new clients in the short term.

Once you’ve moved past that fear and committed to a niche, the question you have will either be “Is my niche too narrow?” or “Is my niche too broad?”

In my experience, advisors are more likely to pick a niche that is too broad rather than too narrow. Most of the conversations I have are about narrowing the niche to become more specialized. Rarely do I find an advisor who has chosen a niche that is too narrow.

If you are worried that your niche is too narrow or too broad, let’s look at how you can remedy the situation.

When Your Niche Is Too Narrow

I never worry that a niche is too narrow because the advisor can always expand it (i.e., niche up). You may even find that your niche naturally broadens as you dominate your market.

Let’s say your niche is employees working at a specific athletic shoe company in the Pacific Northwest. While your marketing focuses on employees of that one company, you also live in the athletic apparel capital of the U.S. Your clients often switch from one company in the industry to another. As your clients change jobs, you inevitably learn the ins and outs of the equity compensation and benefits of these other companies. And because your clients love the work you do for them, they refer colleagues at their new companies to you.

While you started a niche at the company level (one specific shoe company), you end up with a niche at the industry level (athletic apparel). The expansion is natural.

A second scenario is that your niche is no longer viable and you need to expand to continue attracting new clients.

Let’s put a different spin on the example above. In this scenario, the shoe company is acquired by one of the other athletic apparel companies. Your knowledge about the shoe company’s equity compensation and benefits is no longer needed. However, many of your clients now work for the acquiring company, and you have the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of the new employer’s benefits programs. Your other clients got laid off from the shoe company and now work for other athletic apparel businesses. You can now expand into these companies as well.

When Your Niche Is Too Broad

In many cases, you will decide your niche is too broad and you need to narrow your specialization (niche down). This may happen because competition has entered your market and you need to further differentiate. Or maybe the niche you chose has too many variations in their needs to service efficiently, and you find a subset within the niche that you serve best. 

For example, your niche is newly single women, either divorced or widowed. While you’ve successfully worked with this niche for years, you realize dozens of other advisors in your area are now claiming the same specialty. You are feeling the competition because the once active flow of referrals from your divorce and estate planning attorney relationships has slowed to a trickle. You realize it’s time to niche down to differentiate yourself from the other advisors specializing in newly single women.

Because you have a broad niche, your clients are very different from one another. Some are 75-year-old widows in charge of their household finances for the first time. Others are 50-year-old divorcees who gave up their careers to raise a family and now must build a new life different from the one they had planned.

You’ve learned that your favorite clients are the divorcees who were the primary breadwinners in their marriages—usually executives or business owners. In addition to splitting half of the assets that they primarily earned, they find themselves providing financial assistance to their former spouse. They are financially sophisticated and want to rebuild their wealth and reduce their ex’s financial dependence on them.

By niching down to this new audience, you differentiate yourself. You specialize in a more unique and complex financial planning strategy than the other advisors working with newly single women offer.

Final Thoughts

Serving a niche will provide you with opportunities in the long term, but the niche may require some adjusting. Although it’s rare, you may find that you have too narrow of a niche and need to expand it. Or, more commonly, you may find that your niche is too broad and you need to niche down. Either way, review what’s working and what’s not and adjust accordingly to continue differentiating yourself and attracting your ideal client.

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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: How Much Does It Cost to Self-publish a Nonfiction Book?

How Much Does It Cost to Self-publish a Nonfiction Book?

In her guest post, “Why Self-publishing a Nonfiction Book Is So Dang Expensive,” book-writing coach Stacy Ennis reports that her clients spend anywhere from $15,000 to $100,000-plus publishing their books. Many spend around $20,000 to $60,000.

Self-publishing is supposed to be cheap, right? But when you factor in all the tasks and people required to “self-publish”—such as book coaching, content editing, copyediting, proofreading, cover design, interior book design, copywriting for marketing materials, ISBN, e-book conversion, audiobook production, website design, marketing, and publicity— you can see how the price tag adds up.

The good news is, most advisors who publish a book will make back their investment many times over. Not through book sales but through the many doors a book opens for them: speaking engagements, new clients, and more.

In other words, “a book is worth a million dollars in revenue.”