Your advisory firm probably needs to do less marketing — or ather, you need to do fewertypes of marketing better.
I rarely meet an advisory firm leaderwho doesn’t want to grow their business. Often, the first step leaders take isinvesting in marketing.
The problem is that when advisoryfirm leaders invest in marketing, theyjump from one idea to the next: blog-ging, social media, podcasts, seminars,events, email campaigns, etc. You nameit, most advisory firms want to do it all.
But moving rapidly from one marketing idea to the next doesn’t create success. Rather, it often leads to frustrationand an inability to effectively createand follow through with a cohesivemarketing plan.
While many may believe that the next
big thing is finally the tactic that will
yield marketing results, the truth from
what we’ve observed is that marketing
is not a tactical problem, it’s a behavioral
problem. Here’s an example:
About four years ago, podcasting
became a popular tactic. Many advisory
firms tried it, but six months later, with
few results, they quit doing it and missed
a big opportunity. With our consulting
client base, the ones that stuck with it
have experienced great success with the
leads the podcasts now produce.
Quitting too soon is just one of thefour most common behavioral problems that advisors make with marketing. What are the others? See if you canidentify any of these behaviors and movepast them so you can build a successfulmarketing strategy.
4 PROBLEMS WITH ADVISOR
MARKETING
Following trends: The first problemthat advisors make with marketing isthat they follow a trend instead of sticking with what works. Let’s be clear:Following a trend, like podcasting wasseveral years ago, is not a bad thing. Theproblem is that many advisors stop podcasting before it can yield results.
Marketing, like many investmentsleaders make in their businesses, oftenyields long-term results. The key is togive it time to work for you. In the caseof podcasting, it took roughly two yearsfor our clients who did not give up on itto see real results. This leads me to thesecond problem.
Wanting instant results: Effectivemarketing is seldom a quick hit. Whenyou approach marketing and expectinstant results, you are gambling withyour business dollars. Great marketingis a building process: It requires you toimplement one tactic at a time.
This method will allow the tactic tobuild upon itself over time; consistentmarketing is the best marketing. Youmay work on a marketing tactic for along time and get few results, but as youcontinue to build on it, the results willcompound with the effort you make.
Doing more for no reason:Expanding on consistent marketingand implementing more tactics doesn’talways mean more leads. What wouldyou rather do: a podcast that produces100 leads per year, or a podcast andemail campaigns that produce a total of100 leads per year? If an advisory firmis not expanding lead flow after adding
4 Problems With Advisor Marketing
(and How to Fix Them)
Consistency is key, and so is understanding how to reach newand developing clients.
Moving rapidly fromone marketing ideato the next doesn’tcreate success.
Rather, it oftenleads to frustrationand an inability toeffectively createand follow throughwith a cohesivemarketing plan.
THE FAST TRACK
By Angie Herbers
