Tactical Approaches for Marketing Your Advisory Practice

Finding new and better ways to connect with clients is always a good idea but it can be challenging. More opportunities to reach prospects are proving useful, especially thought leadership content and digital marketing.

We recently sat down with Taylor Schulte of Define Financial to learn about some of the core marketing strategies that have worked well for his team. Below, he explains how advisors can leverage certain tactical approaches to grow their practices.

Concentrate on a Targeted Strategy You Can Scale

One of the biggest issues advisors face when creating a marketing plan is trying to achieve all of their goals at once. While this may sound good in theory, it makes it hard to track what’s working, and what can be improved.

“I think a lot of advisors try to do too much all at once, and it’s just not possible to be successful with all of those things at the same time,” says Schulte. Social media is one example. While it may be tempting to create content for Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram all at once, the reality is that each platform requires a different strategy and what works for one may not work for another.

Instead of trying to scale your efforts quickly, Schulte recommends taking a more narrow approach. “Focusing on one marketing activity that supports your marketing goals, and that speaks to your target demographic, is where most advisors should spend their time.”

So consider where your target audience spends its time online and establish a presence there. Dedicate more effort to growing your brand on that social media platform before you branch out to others.

Once you've accomplished that, think about whether you even need to use other social media to any substantial degree. Remember, you need to target not just your specific audience, but your time, effort, and money, as well. Therefore, give some thought to containing your focus to the platform(s) where your core audience predominantly exists. Then, scale your time and effort to other digital destinations as needed, as your audience expands.

Play to Your Strengths When Developing Your Marketing Mix

Consider putting your money, time, and effort into what you enjoy doing. Your marketing efforts are more likely to be successful if they’re authentic to you and harness your existing strengths.

If you’re someone who enjoys writing, launching a blog can be a great way to showcase your expertise and highlight the things you want your readers to know. 

Likewise, if you’re someone who enjoys sharing their ideas in a visual or audio format, creating videos or starting a podcast can be an effective way to grow your brand. “Once you’ve found a platform that comes naturally to you, you can start producing content on that platform, and then you can build a process to repurpose that content,” says Schulte. Repurposing content is a great way to get as much value from your marketing as possible.

As you continue to grow your practice, you’ll eventually be able to create a more robust marketing mix with efforts that work hand in hand. For Schulte and his team, this has happened gradually since Define Financial first launched in 2014. 

“There are five to six things that we do really well, and they all work together in different ways. That’s what I think advisors should shoot for,” he explains.

Develop an Effective Call-to-Action

Once you’ve established your strategy, it’s important to ensure that you’re connecting with prospects who are interested in what you have to offer and want to learn more about you and your firm. The best way to do this is with a clear call-to-action (CTA). 

To make a CTA as impactful as possible, Schulte recommends placing it in a prominent section of your website—such as your homepage—and making it easy for readers to take action. Also, stick with a single CTA. “If you have multiple CTAs, users can get paralyzed,” he says.

Ask yourself what you want them to do and how you can make that process easy for them. For example, if you’d like them to set up a consultation, your call-to-action should reflect this.

The Bottom Line

Expanding your marketing efforts may feel challenging, but a targeted approach can focus your time and effort while maximizing your results. By narrowing your efforts and being strategic, you can more easily identify what’s working and build on that.