How Financial Advisors Can Leverage Client Testimonials in Their Marketing Strategy

Client testimonials can be a powerful marketing tool for advisors, but they remain underutilized. A 2025 survey of 500 investors conducted by Wealthtender found that 83% of prospective clients want to read reviews of an advisor before contacting them.¹ Leveraging financial advisor testimonials could help level up your marketing efforts and establish trust before you ever meet with a prospect face-to-face.

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How Testimonials Can Help You Attract New Clients

When investors search for advisors to work with, they’re looking for signals that point to credibility, transparency and reliability. In the Wealthtender survey, investors were asked which factors were most useful for gauging an advisor’s reputation. Two responses stand out:

• 61% indicated that positive online reviews made a difference in their perception of an advisor
• 36% looked for client testimonials on the advisor’s website

What do testimonials tell prospects? They indicate that the advisor’s clients trust them to make intelligent decisions regarding their investments. Positive reviews suggest that clients feel comfortable putting their trust in an advisor and that they feel satisfied with the value they’re getting in exchange for the fees they pay. Testimonials, along with other forms of social proof, can persuade a prospect to choose your business over a competitor’s.

Surprisingly, only around 10% of advisors actually use testimonials in their marketing, according to additional research from Wealthtender. ² That reluctance may be attributed in part to the strict compliance requirements surrounding the use of testimonials and third-party reviews in marketing materials. And some advisors may simply underestimate the impact that testimonials can have on a prospect’s decision-making.

If you’re not leveraging testimonials, you could be passing up opportunities to connect with a broader pool of prospective clients.

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How to Use Financial Advisor Testimonials for Marketing

If you’d like to incorporate client testimonials in your marketing materials, including your website, social media channels and email newsletters, compliance is critical. The SEC’s marketing rule outlines what registered investment advisors (RIAs) must do (and avoid) to ensure compliance when using testimonials to promote their businesses.

Don’t Cherry-Pick

Obviously, you want any client testimonials you share to cast your business in a positive light. However, to remain compliant, you cannot pick and choose which clients you ask for testimonials. You must allow your entire book of business an opportunity to respond. Does this mean you have to publish negative reviews? No, but the SEC does require full disclosure.

In its marketing rule, the SEC suggests the inclusion of “a disclaimer that the testimonial provided was not representative, and then provide a link to, or other means of accessing (such as oral directions to go to the relevant parts of an adviser’s website), all or a representative sample of the testimonials about the adviser.”

In other words, you must let prospects know that any positive reviews you share are not a blanket assessment of your business. You must also offer guidance on how they can read additional reviews or testimonials.

And if you’re looking for a way to support your prospecting efforts, consider SmartAsset Advisor Marketing Platform (AMP). AMP can help advisors connect with prospective clients and access automated email and text messaging tools to help manage outreach. Schedule a free demo to learn more.

Include the Required Disclosures

In addition to the disclaimer mentioned previously, the SEC’s marketing rule requires advisors to include other disclosures when using testimonials for marketing. These disclosures must tell readers three things

• Who wrote the testimonial (i.e., a current client or non-client)
• Whether any compensation (cash or other) was provided for the testimonial
• What material conflicts of interest exist, if any, that might have influenced the person writing the review

These disclosures must be displayed clearly and prominently alongside the review or testimonial. Prospects shouldn’t have to click any links to find them, and they should be written in the same font size and style as the testimonial.

The SEC requires other disclosures for promoted testimonials. You must tell readers the terms of any compensation the reviewer received, including the amount. For example, if you offered a current client a fee discount in exchange for a testimonial, you must disclose that information. You must also explain any material conflicts of interest. These disclosures can be shared through a linked page.

Avoid Misleading Statements

The marketing rule prohibits advisors from using misleading information in their marketing materials, including client testimonials. If a client delivers a testimonial to you, you can’t enhance it or change it in any way to make it sound more appealing to prospects.

For compliance purposes, it’s best to avoid making any claims that could be interpreted as misleading or false. Offering any type of guarantee regarding investment performance, for example, could be viewed as a compliance violation by the SEC, and it could also get you into trouble with clients if you can’t deliver the promised results.

Document Testimonials Thoroughly

The SEC has clear rules regarding recordkeeping, including the types of documents advisors are expected to keep on file, how long they’re expected to maintain them and in what format. That includes any communications you have with current clients or non-clients regarding testimonials.

Whether you maintain a physical paper trail or a digital one, your records should include the details of any testimonials you receive, including the client’s name, their contact information, the testimonial’s content and whether they received any compensation for their review.

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Avoid Compliance Mistakes When Sharing Testimonials

Certain missteps could get you into trouble with the SEC if they’re perceived as marketing rule violations. For example, you cannot direct prospective clients to read reviews for your business on third-party sites that do not include the required disclosures.

You can’t delete, hide or alter poor reviews shared on platforms you don’t own. If someone leaves a negative review on social media, for instance, you can’t hide that review from prospective clients. You also can’t engage in any activity that could be perceived as manipulating a reviewer or the content of their testimonial.

Also, consider how state regulatory guidelines come into play if you’re a state-registered advisor. Most states allow RIAs to use testimonials for marketing in accordance with the SEC’s marketing rule, but if yours does not, you’ll need to omit them from your marketing plan.

Frequently Asked Questions

Bottom Line

Financial advisor testimonials can have a measurable impact on marketing, and they can also be helpful for evaluating client satisfaction. If you ask your clients for testimonials and you get some negative feedback mixed in with the positive, for instance, consider how you can use that to improve. Upgrading the client experience can foster loyalty, improve retention rates and encourage more referrals over time.

Tips for Effective Advisor Marketing

• 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.
• The SEC’s marketing rule outlines a range of compliance requirements for email and text marketing. If you’re using digital marketing channels to promote your business, consider how those efforts align with compliance guidelines. Staying up to date on the latest compliance trends can help you avoid potential violations while you grow your business.

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