A good marketing plan is essential for your firm’s growth, but executing that plan can be a time-consuming effort. Relying on marketing automation tools can allow you to increase your brand’s visibility without taking up hours of your day. There are a variety of marketing tools for financial advisors who are focused on lead generation and prospecting that can help you save valuable time.
Ready to grow your client base? SmartAsset AMP helps you connect with leads.
Benefits of Automating Marketing for Financial Advisors
Marketing is how you reach prospective clients and build credibility within your niche. Successful financial advisors know that you can’t rely on referrals or word of mouth alone to generate leads, although those are powerful tools in their own right.
Automating certain aspects of your marketing plan can save time, but there are other benefits, as well. Marketing automation can make it easier to:
- Create and monitor niche-specific campaigns
- Maintain consistency in posting to social media or sending email newsletters
- Encourage and foster engagement, without requiring you to be fully hands-on
- Oversee lead generation and track which channels are most or least effective
- Personalize client communications
Automated marketing allows you to be more productive with your time without neglecting prospects and existing client relationships. When your marketing strategy operates efficiently, you can gain more leads and retain the clients you have.
Helpful Marketing Tools for Financial Advisors
Advisors have plenty of marketing tools to choose from. The ones you decide to add to your marketing plan may depend on your firm’s unique needs and goals. To give you an idea of what’s available, we’ve compiled a brief list of marketing automation tools you may want to consider.
1. Website Builders
Your financial advisor website is your firm’s “home” online, so it’s important to make a good first impression when prospects pay a visit. If you lack the time or know-how to build an advisor website, create content for it and maintain it, then it could make sense to automate this work as much as possible.
For instance, you might schedule posts ahead of time in your content management system. WordPress is one of the most popular CMS frameworks for publishing content. You can draft blog posts and schedule them in WordPress to post at a predetermined date and time.
If you want to go a bit further, you might consider using an all-in-one platform to automate website marketing. FMG Suite, for example, assists advisors with building branded websites that are search engine optimized.
2. Content Marketing Tools
Content marketing refers to the creation of digital content that’s designed to attract your ideal client’s attention. Examples of content marketing include blog posts, case studies or articles, infographics, images and videos.
You could create content yourself, but doing so can be time-intensive. There are marketing tools that will handle content creation for you, based on your firm’s objectives and the type of content you’re interested in.
Advisor Stream is an example of a platform that offers this type of service. You can tap into a library of investor-focused content and decide what to share based on your clients’ interests. You’ll have access to AI-driven insights that can help determine which content is likely to be the most valuable to your audience.
3. Social Media Schedulers
Social media is one of the most powerful marketing tools because it’s highly visible. Billions of people use social media platforms daily, offering opportunities for advisors to connect with their target audience and build a loyal following.
Consistency matters when leveraging social media to get eyes on your brand and establish credibility with your target audience. Automated scheduling tools can ensure that you’re publishing new content regularly.
There are numerous social media automation tools advisors may choose from. Some of the most popular options include:
- Buffer
- Hootsuite
- Sprout Social
- CoSchedule
- SocialPilot
When comparing social media automation tools, consider the range of features and benefits they offer, as well as their pricing. Some schedulers, for instance, are designed for just that: planning when social media content should go out. Others include AI capabilities that will create headlines or content for you, saving you even more time.
4. Email Automation Tools
Email marketing enables you to stay connected with your current clients while initiating conversations with prospects. Some of the email-related tasks you can use marketing tools to automate include:
- Collecting email addresses from individuals who join your list
- Drafting email newsletter content
- Scheduling the delivery of newsletters
- Segmenting your email list
- Tracking and monitoring campaign metrics
There are general email marketing tools you might use that are not advisor-specific, such as Mailchimp or Zapier. If you prefer something that’s advisor-oriented, you might consider platforms like Advisor Stream, Snappy Kraken, or ReachStack.
5. Lead Generation Tools
Finding new leads is critical for your firm’s long-term health and survival. The challenge lies in expending your efforts on finding the right-fit leads whose needs align with the type of services you provide.
Lead generation services are designed to help you connect with qualified leads who closely match your ideal client persona. This enables you to continue focusing on serving your clients while generating a steady stream of leads.
SmartAsset AMP, for instance, is a marketing platform that’s designed for growth-focused advisors. You get the benefit of automated lead generation and compliant outreach tools. Once connected with a lead, you can set up automated email campaigns to nurture the relationship.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does Marketing Work for Financial Advisors?
Marketing can be a highly effective way for advisors to attract new clients and retain the ones they have. Brand recognition and authority can go a long way toward helping advisors gain the attention of their target audience. The most effective marketing strategies are designed to speak to the needs or pain points of advisors’ ideal clients.
How Do I Market Myself as an Advisor?
Financial advisors can use a variety of methods to market themselves. Some of the most popular marketing strategies include content marketing, social media marketing, email marketing and direct mail. Advisors can also turn to all-in-one marketing platforms to connect with leads.
What Is the SEC’s Marketing Rule?
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s marketing rule specifies what registered advisors can and can’t do when marketing their firms. For example, advisors are prohibited from making false or misleading statements. When sharing information about investment products or services, they must use a fair and balanced approach that presents the risks and rewards.
Bottom Line
Marketing automation tools can make life easier for busy advisors who don’t want to sacrifice time with their existing clients to find new ones. Identifying your needs and goals can help you determine which tools are worth investing in.
Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business
- Creating a digital footprint is essential for marketing yourself online. You might have a website and social media accounts already, but there’s more you can do to connect with prospective clients. Using a tool like SmartAsset AMP can allow you to match with leads while leaving you free to serve your client base. Schedule a demo to learn how you can leverage it to grow your business.
- Aside from the SEC’s marketing rule, there are other compliance rules to be aware of when promoting your business. FINRA rules, for instance, require you to maintain accurate records of communications with prospects and clients. Meanwhile, FTC email marketing rules require you to give email list subscribers the opportunity to opt out and no longer receive your messages.
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