Displaying items by tag: practice management

One of the toughest challenges a financial advisor will face is finding clients that are willing to trust you and let you manage their money. Suzanne Wentley, a professional writer and marketing consultant wrote a checklist article for the email marketing firm Constant Contact on how to get clients as a financial advisor. Her first action step is to nail your pitch and create a proposal packet filled with information that lets your prospective clients know what sets you apart from other financial advisors. Her next step is to improve your website ranking. She recommends a well-designed, mobile-responsive website that is optimized for SEO by integrating keywords that people search for. Wentley’s third step is to get listed in directories such as The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, Garrett Planning Network, Boomerater, Paladin Registry, and the Financial Planning Association Directory. Her next step is to request and monitor reviews. For instance, when someone leaves a review, you should respond to it quickly and professionally. Wentley’s fifth step is to find networking opportunities through LinkedIn or hosting small in-person events. Writing guest blogs is another tool to gain new clients. Look for relevant sites where your clients are likely to spend time and submit blog ideas to those sites. The seventh and final action step is to try paid advertisements as such as Google Ads and see what keywords and messaging are most effective.

Finsum:Marketing consultant Suzanne Wentley provided a seven-step action plan for getting clients, including nailing your pitch, improving your website ranking, getting listed in directories, requesting and monitoring reviews, finding networking opportunities, writing guest blogs, and trying paid advertisements.

During a recent ThinkAdvisor FMG sponsored webcast titled “How to Drive and Close More Leads in 2023,” Samantha Russell, chief evangelist at FMG, and Susan Theder, chief marketing, and experience officer at the firm, outlined ways advisors can improve their lead generation efforts this year. Both Russell and Theder believe that holding webinars and other events is a great way to generate leads, but have found that only 23% of advisors are utilizing them. They recommend that advisors pick topics that go beyond financial issues as most people are not thinking about their financial issues all the time. For instance, Theder said that in the “most successful webinars I’ve seen, advisors do combine multiple different professions.” So, an advisor could talk about wellness and bring on a nutritionist, an estate planner, and a mental health professional and have a discussion that covers more than just the financial aspect. They also recommend picking topics that are timely. For instance, during February, tax issues are a great topic to discuss. They also suggest keeping the webinars short. Russell says “Between 30 and 60 minutes is really ideal for a webcast or webinar.” In terms of marketing your webinar, make sure you’re really specific with the title. Russell and Theder also recommend sending at least three promo emails and use Google Reviews if your firm allows it for SEO purposes.

Finsum:During a recent ThinkAdvisor webcast, Samantha Russell and Susan Theder of FMG recommend utilizing webinars to generate leads this year.

With studies indicating that the advisory industry’s organic growth rates are near zero, Gary Foodim, chief marketing officer for Mercer Advisors, believes it’s time to bring a renewed focus to marketing. Firms are facing a more challenging environment now. Advisors are dealing with rising inflation, higher interest rates, and market volatility that have slowed down the decision-making time of consumers. In addition, the competitive environment has also increased with an influx of low-cost financial advisors. Due to these challenges, traditional referral activities may no longer be enough. So, Foodim is recommending advisors embrace digital marketing for more leads. He noted that “A strong digital client lead generation engine requires three important things rooted in a ‘test and learn’ approach. First, firms need to refine their message and target audience – are you targeting the right people, and are you doing it with a differentiated message?” He also believes that firms should be open to testing various digital lead sources including paid search, social ads, connected TV ads, and nurturing email campaigns. Firms should also conduct audience testing through lookalike audiences, where you create groups of people who look like your current clients. This can be done through outside marketing firms or on social media platforms such as Facebook. Finally, firms should develop an internal sales team to follow up and convert these leads into clients.

Finsum:With increased competition and a challenging market environment, referrals may no longer be enough, which is why advisors should embrace digital marketing as a way to generate new leads.

(New York)

Any advisor will have noticed the big industry push towards model portfolios, and in particular, model ETF portfolios. To many, this might be a “what gives?” moment. The reason why is actually a simple one for both advisors and asset managers. For asset managers, models can be a very nice singular location to gather up assets. For advisors, it is all about saving time and getting the best of a wide array of ETFs. Model portfolio can allow advisors to get access to a range of best-of-breed products without the need to proactively take the time to diversify client Dollars into those funds.

FINSUM: Model portfolios are going to keep growing. They are generally a win-win for both advisors and managers.