As a financial advisor, it’s as important to market your services as it is to provide top-tier investing, estate planning, and wealth creation services and insights to your clients. Financial professionals everywhere discover that relying on “word of mouth” advertising no longer guarantees them, new clients, like it, used to.
When many have made this discovery, they immediately hire the first marketing agency they can find. After all, their expertise is in wealth creation and protection, not in marketing. So it makes sense to them to hire an outside firm.
Unfortunately, that’s not what most financial advisors need today.
They don’t need an outside marketing agency because they most likely have 1 or 2 people internally who can implement marketing programs. They just need help with marketing strategies or what to do to attract new clients.
Here are three reasons why you should consider hiring a marketing coach to help you attract and retain the high-quality, loyal clients you deserve:
1. A marketing coach enables you to discover your brand, voice, and message.
Marketing agencies typically work with businesses in a wide range of industries – not just financial advice. Unfortunately, this means they tend to take a “templated” approach to marketing their clients’ brands, products, and services.
They assume that marketing to clients in one niche is the same as another, so the messaging they create is generic – your potential clients have seen and heard it all countless times.
While doing what everyone else does might feel safe, it’s not what your audience wants.
Your audience wants your real, authentic voice. They want to feel valued – as if your marketing was created just for them.
A marketing coach can help you shape your unique voice. Confidently owning your unique voice and brand gives you the power to stand out in a sea of boring financial advisor marketing.
2. You can control marketing development and expenses in-house.
Relying on an outside marketing agency can be frustrating when the agency doesn’t deliver on time or meet your expectations. In many cases, agencies require payment upfront – an investment you make regardless of whether the agency ever produces meaningful results.
A marketing coach not only helps you develop your brand and unique value proposition but works with you to develop specific content creation guidelines that any in-house professional can use to create engaging, persuasive marketing materials.
This means that your investment in a marketing coach is finite – you won’t have to keep paying them forever like you would a marketing agency. You may only need a marketing coach for six months before you can confidently delegate and routinize marketing tasks. Once your brand and content guidelines are in writing, you can bring your entire marketing operation in-house.
3. You’ll encounter fewer compliance headaches.
One of the most frustrating things about launching a marketing campaign in the financial world is that everything that is said must be approved by compliance. Compliance can be a minefield that most generalist agencies are simply not equipped to navigate.
Don’t assume that no one will notice if you run marketing that doesn’t adhere to regulatory standards – in 2021 alone, the Securities and Exchange Commission imposed $1.8 billion in monetary settlements. The cost of non-compliance can be devastating.
By hiring a marketing coach, you can shorten the compliance learning curve. A marketing coach with extensive experience in the financial services industry can quickly help you navigate what language to use and what to avoid.
Ready to take the first step?
If you’re tired of dealing with outside marketing agencies who don’t know your industry and who charge a fortune, let’s see if hiring a marketing coach is the right step for you. Contact us or schedule a call today with the financial marketing professionals at Strategic Advisor Network.
