Why Your Marketing Metrics Might Be Lying to You

The things easiest to measure in marketing are usually the things that matter least.

I'm currently reading The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game by C. Thi Nguyen, and one concept keeps showing up in my thinking about financial advisor marketing: The Gap. Nguyen defines it as "the distance between what is being measured and what actually matters." It's a simple idea with big implications for how firms approach their marketing efforts.

Here's how it plays out: Marketing platforms give firms endless metrics: likes, impressions, click-through rates, email open rates, website traffic. These numbers are easy to track, easy to report, and easy to compare month over month. So firms do. They check them constantly. They celebrate when they go up and worry when they go down. They make decisions based on them.

But these metrics mostly measure one thing: attention. And attention isn't the same as trust. It's not the same as credibility. It's definitely not the same as a prospective client thinking, "This is the advisor I want to work with."

The things that actually lead to new client relationships—depth of connection, perceived expertise, whether someone feels understood—are much harder to measure. There's no dashboard for "this person now trusts you enough to have a real conversation." No metric for "your content helped someone realize they need help." No score for "you're now top of mind when they're ready to hire an advisor."

So advisors default to what they can measure. They optimize for engagement instead of trust-building. They chase virality instead of relevance. They produce more content to increase impressions rather than better content that deepens relationships. The scoring system focuses them on the wrong outcomes simply because those outcomes are quantifiable.

The gap between what firms measure and what actually matters widens, and they wonder why all that activity isn't translating into new clients.

The takeaway: The best marketing metrics are often the ones you can't easily track. Don't let the ease of measurement pull your focus away from the harder work of building real relationships and demonstrating genuine expertise. Those are what convert attention into clients.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

Why Marketing Planning Feels So Frustrating

Marketing feels complicated when you focus on the tools instead of the purpose.

If your marketing plan starts with brainstorming, that’s the problem.

Earlier this week, I published a piece on Kitces.com titled Creating an Annual Marketing Strategy to Fit Your Firm (and Stop Guessing What to Do Next) about why advisory firm marketing often feels ineffective and expensive, and why that usually has less to do with the tactics themselves and more to do with how firms choose them in the first place. If marketing planning has ever felt frustrating to you, this will sound familiar.

👉 Read the full article here:
https://www.kitces.com/blog/marketing-strategy-ria-advisor-firm-long-term-budget-investment-prospecting-roi/

For many advisory firms, annual marketing planning feels like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks. Instead of a clear strategy, the process turns into a guessing game.

It often starts with brainstorming. Podcasts. Social media. Webinars. Some new tech solution. Why those ideas? Usually because they were mentioned at a conference, recommended by another advisor, or feel like something the firm should be doing.

At larger firms, this gets even harder. Each advisor brings their own ideas, and the list quickly becomes overwhelming. To keep everyone happy, marketing teams end up doing a little bit of everything or choosing ideas by consensus. The result is a collection of disconnected tactics that don’t reinforce each other and may not actually attract new clients.

When results don’t show up quickly, confidence in the process disappears. Activities get dropped before they’ve had time to work, new ideas replace them, and the cycle repeats. Over time, marketing starts to feel expensive and pointless, even though the real issue isn’t whether a specific tactic works.

The problem is choosing marketing ideas in a vacuum, without a clear framework for how they work together or what they’re meant to accomplish.

The takeaway: Marketing planning isn’t a brainstorming exercise. It’s a strategic decision-making process. When you change how you choose marketing activities, you give them a real chance to work.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

Creating An Annual Marketing Strategy To Fit Your Firm (And Stop Guessing What To Do Next)

When Marketing Feels Confusing, Come Back to This

Marketing feels complicated when you focus on the tools instead of the purpose.

You’re not alone if you feel frustrated or overwhelmed by how often marketing seems to change. New technology appears. Algorithms shift. Tactics fall in and out of favor. It can start to feel like you’re always behind or doing the wrong thing.

When that happens, I find it helps to zoom out.

In the independent financial advisory space, marketing has always been about two things: relationships and education. That hasn’t changed, even as the tools have.

Every effective marketing tactic, whether it’s social media, a podcast, networking, or a referral campaign, is simply a way to build trust or help someone understand how to solve a problem they care about. The format may change, but the purpose does not.

If you use relationships and education as your true north, decisions get easier. You can ask simple questions: Does this help me build real connections? Does this help my audience better understand their situation and options? If the answer is yes, you’re probably on the right track.

You don’t need to chase every new trend or platform. You just need to show up consistently in ways that deepen relationships and educate the people you want to serve.

The takeaway: Marketing will keep changing, but the foundation won’t. Anchor your strategy in relationships and education, and you’ll always know what to do next.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

4 Ways You Are Wasting Time and Money on Marketing

No marketing is better than the wrong marketing, because at least you aren’t wasting your time and money.

When marketing isn’t working, the cost isn’t just financial. It’s the time, energy, and momentum lost along the way. Below are a few common ways advisors unintentionally waste their efforts and money.

1. Doing the Wrong Things

Without a clear strategy, marketing turns into throwing ideas at the wall to see what sticks. That doesn’t just waste money on activities that won’t work. It also wastes time you could be spending on building momentum in the activities that do work. Remember: Most effective marketing takes time to compound.

2. Not Doing Things Consistently

Even the right strategy won’t work if it’s applied sporadically. Inconsistent effort prevents momentum from building, which means you never see the return on the time and money you’ve already invested.

3. Spending Time Where Your Audience Doesn’t

If you’re investing a lot of time in a channel your audience doesn’t use, that effort is wasted, no matter how good the execution is. For example, spending hours on a social media platform when your ideal clients aren’t active there won’t produce results. Marketing works best when your efforts align with where your audience already pays attention.

4. Communicating the Wrong Message to the Right Audience

Reaching the right people isn’t enough. If your message doesn’t clearly explain who you help and how you help them, you’re still missing the mark. Confusing or generic messaging wastes attention, which is one of your most valuable marketing assets.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Doing nothing is sometimes better than doing any of the above. At least then, you’re not burning time and money while convincing yourself you’re making progress.

The takeaway: Marketing works when strategy, consistency, audience, and message are aligned. When they aren’t, effort gets time-consuming and expensive very quickly.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

Simple Marketing Resolutions for the New Year

Four marketing resolutions worth keeping this year.

As the new year starts, it’s easy to set lofty goals while your energy is high. More content. More channels. More activity. Before you burn yourself out by mid-quarter, here are some simple marketing resolutions that are easy to adopt this year:

1. Get Clear About Who You’re Trying to Reach

Whether you focus on a niche or not, clarity matters. Be specific about the type of person you want your marketing to attract. When you know who you’re talking to, your messaging gets clearer, and your marketing becomes more effective.

2. Track the Actions, Not Just the Outcomes

You can’t control how many clients you’ll get this year, but you can control the actions you take. Track the tasks you commit to each week or month. Consistent action is what drives results over time.

3. Go Deeper Instead of Wider

Resist the urge to be everywhere. Choose a few marketing activities and commit to doing them well. Depth builds momentum. Shallow, scattered efforts rarely do.

4. Choose Sustainability over Intensity

You want your marketing to be consistent all year, not just in January. Build a plan that fits your schedule, energy, and team so that consistency becomes the default.

The takeaway: If you simplify your marketing and commit to what you can sustain, results will follow.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

Sometimes It’s OK to Do Nothing

Some weeks are for pushing. Others are for pausing.

Not every week is a good week to market.

December 26 is a perfect example. Inboxes are full. Attention is low. People are traveling, unplugging, or mentally checked out. Spending much energy on marketing this week is likely just wasted effort.

Consistency matters in marketing, but the intensity doesn’t have to be the same all year. Know when to push and when to take a break.

The takeaway: Save your highest energy for the weeks when it actually matters.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

A Year-Round Audit Strategy for Marketing Assets

What you built in the past deserves a second look in the new year.

Note: This is an updated version of a tip that we published on December 15, 2023.

It can be tempting to adopt a “set it and forget it” approach to marketing. You build a website, create marketing collateral, or launch an automated campaign and then move on. But like anything, these assets need ongoing attention.

Information becomes outdated. Technology evolves. Settings change. Sometimes things simply break. You may find that tools you set up years ago are no longer configured correctly or that you’re missing out on new features because you didn’t realize they existed.

As you build your 2026 marketing plan, consider scheduling regular audits throughout the year for your:

• Website

• Social media profiles

• Online profiles on platforms such as FPA, NAPFA, FeeOnlyNetwork.com, and Wealthtender

• Marketing materials

• Marketing automation campaigns

• Biographies and professional headshots

• Existing blog posts and videos

The takeaway: Revisiting existing assets regularly helps ensure your marketing stays accurate and functional.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

How to Choose Marketing Activities: Part 6—Budget

A smart marketing budget isn’t about spending more. It’s about spending wisely.

We’ve now reached the final factor in this series on choosing marketing activities that fit your firm: Client Journey Stage, Operational Efficiency, Time Frame, Quality vs. Quantity, Marketing Preferences, and Budget. Each one acts as a filter to help you narrow your choices and build a marketing plan that is realistic, effective, and sustainable.

This week, we’re focusing on the sixth factor: Budget.

Every marketing activity has a cost, either in time or money, and often you’re trading one for the other. Your firm only has so much capacity in both areas, and those resources need to be invested wisely.

It’s not just about how much money you have to spend. It’s also about how you allocate that budget and whether the investment is enough to make the activity successful. Here are a few important considerations:

Trading Time for Money

If you’re not paying in dollars, you’re paying in hours.

When advisors spend time creating content, posting on social media, or managing marketing in-house, the cost may feel low. But once you factor in their hourly rate, those “free” activities can become some of the most expensive on your list. Sometimes paying for a solution is actually the cheaper route.

High-Leverage Investments

Some expenses offer outsized returns because they take very little time, and just one new client can offset the entire cost for the year.

Paid advisor directories, search ads, or niche listings are good examples. They require money upfront but almost no effort once set up, and they continue working for you in the background.

Are You Spending Enough to See Results?

This is where many firms unintentionally waste money.

A marketing tactic can be effective, but only if the budget is sufficient to compete.

• Spending $300 a month on Google search ads in San Francisco is unlikely to work when national firms are outbidding you in that same market.

• Allocating $2,000 to a public workshop might not drive enough leads through ads or mailers to fill a room.

If you’re going to spend money, make sure it’s enough to give the tactic a real chance of succeeding.

The takeaway: A smart marketing budget isn’t about spending more; it’s about spending wisely. Invest your time and money where they have the highest impact and give every tactic enough support to actually work.

Need help building your marketing plan? Learn more about our annual marketing plan service.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®

How to Choose Marketing Activities: Part 5—Marketing Preferences

You can have the perfect marketing idea, but it won’t matter if your team hates doing it.

We’ve been working through the six factors that help you choose marketing activities that truly fit your firm: Client Journey Stage, Operational Efficiency, Time Frame, Quality vs. Quantity, Marketing Preferences, and Budget.

This week, we’re looking at one of the most overlooked factors: Marketing Preferences.

Even the best ideas won’t work if your team doesn’t have the interest or skill to execute them consistently. The most effective marketing activities are the ones that actually get done, and those are usually the ones your team naturally enjoys and does well.

Think about where your team members’ strengths lie:

• Writing: Blogs, newsletters, educational articles

• Video: Educational videos, shorts/reels

• Audio: Podcasts, audio books, guest appearances

• Presenting: Workshops, webinars, speaking engagements

• Graphics: Infographics, charts, carousels

• Relationship Building: Networking, client events, referrals

Avoid choosing marketing tactics that your team is simply willing to do. Rarely have I seen teams stick with things they do only because they think they “should.” Instead, focus on the marketing options that align with preferences.

The takeaway: Your best marketing choices are the ones you’ll follow through on. Lean into your team’s natural preferences, and you’ll build a plan that’s both effective and sustainable.

Need help building your marketing plan? Learn more about our annual marketing plan service.

Kristen Luke

Founder of Kaleido Creative Studio and OnNiche®