Marketing is integral to your business’s success in attracting new clients and promoting your brand’s visibility. Testing out different strategies is a good way to learn what works best for your business, and what can help to set you apart from the crowd. There are plenty of creative marketing ideas for financial advisors that you might consider adding to your playbook.
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Why Marketing Matters for Advisors
Financial services is a highly competitive industry that sometime competes for a limited pool of clients. Good marketing can help you grab the attention of prospects so that they’re convinced to choose your firm over another when seeking out professional financial advice.
Marketing is a tool and when used effectively, it can help you:
- Establish your business’s brand reputation and credibility
- Connect with your target client niche
- Spread your message to a broader audience
- Attract new clients to your business
- Solidify your position in the marketplace
Working without a defined marketing strategy is akin to setting off at sea without a GPS to guide you. You may get to your intended destination, but the trip is likely to be much smoother when you have a clear plan to follow.
Creative Marketing Ideas for Financial Advisors
There are certain tried-and-true marketing practices that you may rely on as an advisor, such as a professional website and an email newsletter. But chances are if you’re using those tactics, then the competition is too. Flexing your creative skills to think up new ways to market your business could give you an edge if you’re tapping into channels that other firms overlook.
Here are 10 effective ways to creatively market your advisory business and distinguish yourself from the crowd:
Share your knowledge on forums. Online search has become the go-to way to find answers to financial questions for many people. Taking time to answer those questions in online forums like Reddit or Quora can be a simple, but powerful way to market your business. Remember that you’re not trying to make a hard pitch here—instead, you want to showcase your expertise while giving prospective clients the answers they need most.
Try direct mail marketing. Many financial advisors would argue that online and social media marketing are where it’s at but don’t dismiss direct mail just yet. Sending out direct mail is an opportunity to test out different formats and tailor your messaging to your intended recipients. Prospective clients may be more inclined to open a piece of mail out of sheer curiosity, whereas emails can get lost in the shuffle.
Host a client appreciation event. Your clients want to feel valued and hosting an appreciation night is a great way to drive that message home. It’s also an opportunity to do something fun outside the confines of an office. For example, you might rent out a local theater and host a private movie night or treat clients to a cooking lesson from a private chef. When deciding what type of event to host, consider what your clients might enjoy most.
Sponsor a local youth sports league. Recreational sports leagues often rely on sponsors to help pay for things like uniforms and equipment. If you cater to clients with children, then sponsoring a local sports league could be a smart investment. You can get more eyes on your brand and you’re also building a good reputation for your business in the community by giving back.
Get creative with business cards. Business cards are a must-have as you never know when you’ll have an opportunity to hand one out to a prospective client. But you don’t have to stick with a traditional business card style. Adding a scannable QR code to your business card shows that you’re up to date on tech innovations and it gives prospects a chance to learn more about you.
For example, you can link your QR code to your bio page on your website or a short welcome video on your YouTube channel. The more interactive you can make your marketing efforts, the easier it might be to hold a prospect’s attention.
Share a quiz or poll. If you’re marketing on social media, sharing quizzes that you’ve developed can be a fun way to learn more about prospective clients and spark conversation with your followers. You can create a quiz to test their general financial literacy or take a poll to gauge their thoughts on a specific issue, like what they think is the biggest barrier to saving for retirement. Again, these kinds of things are designed to encourage interaction and offer you an opening to offer your services as an advisor.
Create some memorable memes. Memes might seem like an unorthodox way to market your advisory firm. After all, you want to be taken seriously. But the right meme could boost your visibility in a big way if it ends up going viral on social media.
If you’re unsure how this marketing tactic works and how to do it well, studying other advisory firms that are leveraging the power of the meme can help. Looking at some examples can help you figure out how to choose the right images and strike the right note with the text to get people interested in your brand.
Get featured on a podcast (or start one). Podcasts are an excellent way to market your business if you’re able to leverage an existing following or build a sizable following of your own. If you’re not ready to launch a podcast, you can look for opportunities to be a guest on someone else. When scouting those opportunities remember to consider the podcast’s typical listener and how well that aligns with your target audience and the people you’re trying to reach.
Try TikTok. TikTok marketing can be hugely effective for all kinds of businesses, including financial advisors. There’s an entire subset of ‘finfluencers’ who are sharing their money tips and advice with followers numbering in the millions, so if you’re not marketing here yet you might be missing out.
If you’re new to how TikTok works, it may help to spend some time studying trends and the type of content that tends to get the most views. Targeting popular keywords can help you create content that people actually want to watch and share, which can help you get even more eyes on your business.
Advertise in overlooked places. Setting up a billboard by the highway or putting out print ads in a local newspaper are obvious choices for a marketing campaign. But what about marketing your business in say, a restroom stall?
It might seem odd, but bathroom marketing campaigns have been proven to work. (After all, you have a captive audience, momentarily at least). If advertising in restrooms seems too off-the-wall, consider other untapped places where you might run ads so that your target audience is likely to see them.
Bottom Line
Marketing your advisory business creatively means looking beyond the standard methods, though it doesn’t mean abandoning them entirely. There’s still plenty of value to be had in setting up a professional website or blog, sending out regular email newsletters to your clients and cold-emailing or cold-calling. The more comprehensive your marketing plan is, the more opportunities you may have to connect with new clients.
Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business
- SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
- Leveraging social media to market your business means knowing what kind of messaging your target audience is most likely to respond to and where they typically spend time online. That can help ensure that you’re creating social media content that offers value and is likely to be seen by the right people.
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