Developing a Marketing Plan for Financial Advisors

Steve Berglund, Practice Management Consultant, reports that building a business today is different from the way many advisors marketed 10-20 years ago. Yet the time-honored components of developing a marketing strategy have not changed.

Video Transcript

Research shows that only 30% of financial advisors actually have a marketing plan. Interestingly, statistics indicate the vast majority of highly successful financial advisors have a marketing plan.

How we conducted business 10-20 years ago is different from how we conduct business today. And building a business 10 or 20 years from now will also be different.

An advisor's Marketing Plan should take advantage of the opportunities online and through social media provided by new technologies and changing client behaviors and expectations.

However, the tried and true components of establishing a marketing strategy still hold true:

1. Identify your target market
2. Develop relationships
3. Create referral strategy

We want to discuss how we take the components of today's exciting technology and combine it with tried and true methods of developing a marketing strategy so we can reach prospective clients as quickly and as successfully as possible.

The steps to developing a marketing plan are:

1. Put a stake in the ground. Who is the market we are going to go after and where do we find them? Look at your current book, look at your community and find common traits. Also, focus on your hobbies and things you enjoy—this is a natural market for you.
2. Prepare to tell the world. Be clear, be concise and be simple. Be consistent in your message when telling people who you are and what you do
3. Focus on where you will find the clients. Do not just focus on local marketing but also on your website and social media to find clients outside of your immediate area.
4. Develop a content marketing strategy. Include content that impacts your clients and prospects, focus on topics that are important to your audience. You want to be the content expert.
5. Develop your network. Join organizations, interact with centers of influence, by showing your loyalty to a cause you will build relationships.

Your first impression may very well come from being online. Your online presence may be how you influence people the first time they see you. Be sure that your online presence is strong, positive and consistent with what you want to tell the world.

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Steve Berglund

Steve Berglund is a Vice President in Practice Management for Pershing, a BNY Mellon company. He has over 20 years of experience providing financial advice to clients as well as mentoring, training, coaching and supervising financial advisors from the wirehouse, regional firm and bank brokerage channels.