Effective Financial Advisor Marketing Methods

With that said, competition has forced financial advisors and financial institutions into becoming better at marketing.

You must improve your skills in the area of financial services marketing if you want to get better quality financial planning leads nd referrals.

If you can get more financial planning leads you'll get more clients and increase your profits, right?

I know it sounds obvious, but many financial advisors avoid marketing. The reality is that you need to put more time and energy into your financial advisor marketing if you want to increase your client base.

You need to create an effective, systematized marketing program if you want more high quality financial planning leads and clients.

The primary means of financial advisor marketing and generating financial planning leads are the following...

• Cold-Calling
• Referrals
• Direct-Mail
• Display Advertising
• Premiums and Specialties
• Promotional events
• Internet

There are variations to each of these areas of financial advisor marketing to generate new clients but they do represent the majority of marketing efforts out there today...

Cold calling is a financial advisor marketing technique that can generate financial planning leads almost immediately. But the time and energy one must put in to actually produce a client can be enormous. As a result of this many new financial planners leave the industry.

Referrals are the best financial planning leads to work. However most advisors are not very good at gathering and cultivating them. A combination of methods including direct mail, newsletters, and personal contact are important in financial advisor marketing. But they are essential to getting referrals month after month.

Direct Mail is simply a numbers game. But you must design your direct mail package properly in order to maximize response. Direct Mail is effective for a number of reasons. It's inexpensive. You can reach potential prospects for as little as 75 cents each. You can get mail houses to do the work for you. You can choose who you're target audience is going to be, how large a mailing your going to deliver, and you can control costs. Direct mail is a under-utilized in financial advisor marketing.

Display Advertising can be a gamble, but if you find the right medium and you write your ad well you can be rewarded handsomely with financial planning leads that are very good quality.

Premiums and Specialties are useful because they can be used in tandem with your other financial advisor marketing efforts. Plus they put your name in front of your potential clients for very little cost. For example, Post-It-Note pads with your company information and a "benefits statement" (more on this in a future article) are one example of thousands of promotional items and specialties you can use in your financial advisor marketing efforts. Other simple examples are pens, coffee mugs, shirts, hats, key chains, etc. Premiums and Specialties are exceptionally effective, and you should work with someone who knows how to use them in marketing financial services to get the best bang for your dollar.

Promotions are effective financial advisor marketing tools. For example you can sponsor events like concerts, baseball games, soccer games, black tie ball, and many other events. You will get your company name out to these people, especially if you offer Premiums and Specialties as well as free consultation coupons during or after these events.

The Internet is also a valuable tool. More than ever people are looking up information on the internet. So if you provide valuable content you'll be seen as an expert in your field, and you'll attract more clients. Secondly if you use savvy internet marketing techniques like using keywords in your web pages and setting up your site properly, you'll attract lots of traffic which will create a flow of financial planning leads.

Using a combination of several of the above methods on a consistent basis will result in a constant flow of new financial planning leads, clients, and referrals. As a result you'll get better at financial advisor marketing, you'll keep getting new clients, and your practice will thrive.

A common mistake that most financial planners fall into is not being systematized. To market financial services effectively and attract financial planning leads requires a system of marketing that incorporates several of the above methods on a consistent basis.

There are many opportunities to generate leads through various media. If you made me choose media to work with I would choose direct mail, the internet (huge opportunities on a local level there right now), free press, the yellow pages, and newsletters and/ or trade journals.

You can work with all of them and test ads on a small scale (excluding the press of course and the yellow pages. You should put in a large ad here because it's hard to test since the ad stays in for a year. But people still use the yellow pages).

Focus on the rules of direct response marketing in all these media, and you'll come away with a constant flow of leads.

Check out our FREE quality mini course that is loaded with financial planning and insurance marketing tips and referral marketing ideas.

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My Very Best To You,

Brian Maroevich
Author, Amazing Prospecting Letters

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