Do You Exceed Your Own Expectations?

Here’s a resolution we should all keep throughout the year 2020: provide backing to everything we say to our clients. Think about how many empty things you say on a daily basis, like saying that your day is going well. While this is harmless in daily conversations, it can leave a bad taste in the mouths of your clients if they don’t feel your promises are fulfilled.

We’ve found a few ways to make sure you’re using specific language in a way that demonstrates the value of your business:

• Rely on your history. If you have the numbers to back up a claim, this is the best opportunity to use it. Saying that you’re able to save your clients 40% or more speaks much more than simply saying you can save people money.
• Showcase your accomplishments  If you’ve been recognized for your work, your clients want to know about that. It increases your accountability and helps you build trust even before meeting new partners or clients.
• Share past work. Obviously, this piece comes with guidelines. You can’t violate any confidentiality you’ve agreed upon with your clients, but you can share general overviews of people you’ve worked with in the past. It can allow prospective clients to resonate with your work.

By utilizing these tactics, you’re able to really put your money where your mouth is. Not only will you be able to attract new opportunities that are in line with your mission as a business, but you can end each day knowing that the relationships you’re building are genuine.

New Decade, New Marketing Strategies?

When it comes to building and implementing strong marketing campaigns, it seems to be  easier and easier to publish something that’s savvy and enticing to viewers. However, what does this do for your business? As we’ve covered before, we’re trying to establish marketing that engages viewers and reminds them of the value you provide, which can’t be done through hasty posts and quick interactions.

Instead, try to take a deeper look at what you’re trying to achieve. We tend to focus on the how (which, don’t get us wrong, is important – your hard earned money should be put to good use!!), when really, we should be focusing on the why. Why should viewers interact with your campaign? What should they take away from it? What should their next steps be? Through this, you’ll be able to build a deeper understanding of their underlying motivations which can then be used to your advantage.

So, what does this mean for your marketing strategies? Take a moment during the first few days of 2020 and think about what you’ve used in the past. There’s likely been some changes since you first started, which can be helpful in determining what comes next. The new year doesn’t have to be full of groundbreaking marketing techniques; all you might need is a realignment into your value to bring about the next wave of happy clientele.

Manifest Your Motivators

Simon Sinek started the revolution: how can you do anything if you don’t understand the why behind it? With an open mind and some spare time, it’s easy to think about why you do things. Why did you choose this particular career path? Why do you target the clients that you do?

While this might be obvious to you, your clients might miss your oh-so-obvious message if it’s not shared properly. When it comes to sharing your why, the cohesiveness behind your message is just as important as the message itself.

Take some time to evaluate your branding presence. Does your LinkedIn bio explain why you love what you do? Does your website capture the energy of your office? By making sure every representative of your work is accurate, your clients are that much more likely to trust you with their most difficult needs.

You can even take this further than evaluating introspectively. Why are your clients passionate about their work? By understanding their actions, you’ll be able to immerse yourself in their brand and make an even bigger impact.

It’s a long conversation to be had in order to understand the underlying motivations behind everyday actions, but in doing so, you’ll be much better positioned to truly make a difference with your work.

Drive Your Marketing Towards Successful Results

Let’s take a moment to define what marketing truly is. Is it using social media and other online digital tools to share brand updates? Not exactly, though digital communication is a key aspect to successful marketing. Do you instead think of traditional marketing, like newspaper ads or television commercials? This still is important, but it still doesn’t capture the entire essence of what marketing is.

 

All things considered, marketing is just the fancy word used to describe the process of finding new and interested people to share your product or service with. Luckily, we’re all working in the digital age, and reaching these new people has never been easier. However, when people are interacting with an estimated 5,000 ads per day, it’s more important now than ever to make sure that your efforts aren’t going to waste.

 

 

So how do you do that? First, you have to define your target audience. While the initial thought may be to target a larger group to attract more potential clients, you may be surprise to find that niche groups have a higher success rate. Understanding exactly what attracts your audience will enable you to craft marketing strategies that will catch their attention.

 

Second, you have to understand your company. What makes you different from your competitors? How exactly can you make a difference in the lives of your consumers? Where do you still have room to grow? Understanding your strengths and weaknesses can take your brand to a completely new level – and can increase the confidence of your consumers as well.

 

Finally, you have to visualize the future. Anyone can get good results in the now, but it takes a special team to take the current output and strategize for future success. Go back to the strengths and weaknesses of your company. Think about the industry you’re specializing in – what opportunities can you capitalize on? Taking your current positioning and translating that into where you’d like to be in the future allows you to make strategic marketing decisions that puts you on the path to success.

Make 2019 the Year of Upgraded Marketing

In the past, the definition of marketing has been simple: find a way to get new clients to learn about your brand. But what if your marketing did more than just get the word out? What if your marketing performed in such a way that these new clients actually believed in the services you offered?

Rather than focusing on what you can do for your business using elaborate (and expensive) marketing campaigns, try ringing in the new year by using specific and strategic language that compels your audience to take action. What better way to bring in new clients than by relating to their needs and providing solutions for them?

Using strategic communication also furthers the understanding of your brand. Do you prioritize finding solutions or do you often find your focus set on helping your clients cut unnecessary spending? Whether it’s in person or online, using consistent verbiage with your clients provides them with a better understanding of what you offer, but more importantly, why you offer it. This also provides you with countless opportunities to ensure that you brand displays its values at every opportunity.

Take the arrival of the new year as an opportunity to expand your marketing efforts to let your brand speak for itself. You’re a part of an incredibly powerful business – let your skills shine!

Creative Marketing Tactics to Expand Your Business

In 2017, the financial planning industry revenue was $56 billion. However, in order to be successful in the market, financial advisors need to be able to establish themselves as trustworthy. In order for an advisor to be established as trustworthy in the industry, it all starts with their chosen marketing tactics and strategies. We constantly read on ways to market our business, but how can we make it creative and fun? I’ve got just the advice for you!

1. Develop an interesting and relatable hobby. Have you ever wondered what you should talk to your prospects and clients about? Sometimes when finance and investing is your only topic, it could intimidate your prospects and clients. When you develop an interesting and relatable hobby, rather it is golfing or fishing, it creates trust between you and your clients. This relationship-building strategy could differentiate you big time!
2. Start podcasting! As of 2017, 73 million people are listening to podcasts monthly. It has made a major comeback and customers truly value this medium for ways to gain and expand their knowledge. Creating a podcast could not only provide financial value to your clients and listeners but also show off your personality.
3. Create a monthly company newsletter. This could be one of your many tactics, that is also inexpensive, to keep your clients and prospects engaged and aware of your practices. Simply create a brief monthly newsletter and send it out to your email subscribers or post it on your website. Don’t forget to focus on sharing your expertise.
4. Host local conferences. Rather it is is in your local libraries or senior centers, this could be a great way to get your name out there. You could host a local conference to give advice on 401(k) plans, budgeting, savings, etc.

Creating marketing tactics to spread the word about your business doesn’t have to be boring! What are some of the creative marketing tactics you have used with your business?

The Importance of Authentic Marketing

Through out our careers, we’re always taught to make sure our marketing is perfect. The right words, the right pictures, and the right advertisements. And this has been a safe approach for a lot of companies. However, when a customer visits your professional website, they rarely take a look at the content because they already feel like something is being sold to them. The more the marketing materials seem “perfect,” the less likely a consumer will purchase them. Instead, your marketing should be authentic and customized to who you truly are.

So what exactly is authentic marketing? This approach simply shares who you are and your business focus, all while utilizing your own words. I stress the importance of authentic marketing because if you are a financial advisor and you ask your clients to trust you with their entire life savings, they’d want to know who they are working with.

Some of the best ways to achieve authentic marketing is to share your companies personality through your website and marketing materials such as: pictures, videos, blog, etc. Consumers buy real and when you share with them who you really are, they are more likely to trust you.

Is Your Website Up-To-Date?

It’s obvious that in 2018 the way consumers make purchases has changed dramatically. Everything changed from walking down your local Main Street and instead it’s all done online. Consumers spend time searching Google, Yahoo, Bing, Yelp, etc. finding the right business for their needs. It’s very clear that if your company does not have a website, you are missing out on various opportunities. In fact, to a customer you might even seem nonexistent. However, what’s more important is how you portray yourself, your company, and your service to your potential viewers on your website. With our evolving technology, it’s a must that your company also follows the latest website trends. No customer would want to do business with an outdated website. I’d like to leave you with three simple tips on ways you can keep your website up-to-date which in return can help you find potential online customers!

1. Theme. Create a strong theme for your website to truly portray your company. What is the one thing you want your customers to “feel” with your theme? Do you want them to think that you’re a digitally advanced finance advising firm? Do you want the visitors to feel that you’re more unique than your competitor? The choice is up to you, but make sure you are following one theme.
2. Concise Messaging. No one these days has hours to spend reading a companies About Me trying to understand what they do. That’s why it’s important that your website is clear, concise, and straight to the point.
3. Include Videos and Authentic Pictures in Your Content. 51.9% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI. And a lot of consumers would prefer to receive their information in video rather than in words. Therefore, to truly stay up-to-date with websites and stay competitive, your company website should contain videos. Additionally, have authentic pictures on your website. For example, use the people who work in your office instead of stock photography. It allows for the customer to connect with your website.

What is your company doing to stay up-to-date with website trends?

What’s Unique About Your Business?

In the business world, it seems that it’s always a company’s goal to be better – better price, better product, better service. However, that’s not always the best way to go about your business. Whenever a customer says “why shouldn’t I just go to the financial firm across the street?” and your answer is “because we’re better,” does the customer necessarily believe that?

What truly matters and what we should all be focusing on is being different. Think about what’s unique about your company. Most of the time, customers choose your business because of you, not knowing the products you offer because they loved what’s unique about you. If you look at really successful companies, they didn’t become successful because they wrote “WE ARE BETTER THAN THE OTHER GUY” as their headline. They outlined what’s unique about them and shared it with the world. And people bought their product because of them. 

So, you’re probably wondering: what’s something that could be different about your firm? The people, your leader, and staff. No other firm has the same people as yours does, and that’s one of the best ways to describe your uniqueness.

I’d like to leave this post with a few questions for you to think about:

1. What’s something that you are doing that your competitors aren’t?
2. What are you doing that’s exactly like your competitors that you could change?

Include Event Marketing in Your Strategy to Grow Your Business

In this blog, we talk a lot about all of the different ways you can market your business: social media, website, cold calling, referral programs, etc. However, one major marketing practice that I think is often overlooked is event marketing. What if my event goes horribly? How do I go about planning it? Am I just going to waste all my money? These are valid questions and the thought process in terms of event marketing for a lot of financial advisors. But what if the opposite happens? And you gain a good amount of new potential clients. Or if you are putting on a marketing event for current clients, this could allow for them to feel truly appreciated.

Now that you understand why I think you should definitely include event marketing in your strategy, let’s talk about how you can actually get people to attend.

TIP #1

Firstly, when planning your marketing event, it’s important to create an invitation that shows what’s in it for them. State the benefits they could receive right away!

TIP #2

Give a call to your prospects! Another way to make potential clients feel important is to actually invite them yourself. Nowadays, everything is automated. So anything personalized goes a long way.

TIP #3

Another thing that’s often missing nowadays is follow up. It’s important to follow up right after the event. You need to plan this in advance so that you don’t feel overwhelmed when the time comes. Some ways you can go about doing this is by sending follow up hand written notes, a professional picture of the individual from the event, or scheduling an appointment and calling.

What successful marketing events has your company hosted? Let us know in the comments below!