There are four ways financial advisors can grow their assets under management, revenue, and income:
- Market appreciation
- Reinvested income
- Contributions from current clients
- The addition of new clients
The first three sources are relatively painless sources of growth. In general, they take care of themselves.
However, they require a critical mass of assets and high client retention rates to be successful. They can also have a negative impact on asset growth when markets decline in value, clients distribute income, and contributions become distributions.
The best source for new assets under management is marketing by financial advisors, but it is also the toughest.
#1 Business Challenge
How tough is this marketing challenge for financial advisors? 92.7% told PaladinRegistry.com their #1 business challenge was the consistent production of new prospects for their advice and services. The creation of new prospects was an even bigger challenge than converting a high percentage of them into revenue-producing clients.
Outbound Marketing
Referrals from friends, family, and current clients are any advisor’s best source of new assets. However, advisors told us referrals were usually few and far between.
Consequently, most financial advisors have relied on Outbound Marketing over the years. For example: Telemarketing, Direct Mail, Seminars
The key characteristic of Outbound Marketing is the advisor initiates contact with investors.
However, this type of financial advisor marketing has some significant limitations: It is expensive, time consuming, and the rejection rates are off the charts.
Inbound Marketing
Fortunately, the Internet has ushered in a new form of financial advisor marketing. It is called Inbound Marketing. It is the opposite of Outbound Marketing because investors initiate contact with financial advisors.
Inbound Marketing is a terrific solution for financial advisors who hate the rejection rates that are associated with Outbound Marketing. But, Inbound is not for the faint of heart. The Internet is the most competitive market on earth. Thousands of companies and professionals compete for visibility in the major search engines.
It takes a well thought-out strategy, disciplined execution, and time to make Financial Advisor Inbound Marketing work.
Internet Visibility
Financial advisor marketing starts with Internet visibility. People have to be able to find advisors to contact them. The best strategy is content that matches key words that investors input to find information on the Internet. This means advisors need blog sites that publish the content that investors are seeking.
Challenge #1: Creating visibility on a crowded Internet.
Website Traffic
The next step in financial advisor marketing is relevant website traffic that is produced by the Internet visibility. A well-executed Inbound Marketing strategy should produce increasing amounts of website traffic each month.
The ideal traffic is investors who are seeking financial advisors or investors who are seeking information about a particular firm or professional.
Challenge #2: Creating Internet content and connections that cause investors to visit a website.
Website Conversions
The last step in a financial advisor marketing strategy is a website’s ability to convert traffic (visitors) into qualified prospects. The messaging, content, and free offers on a website must be strong enough to convince visitors to give-up their anonymity and submit their contact information.
Challenge #3: Investors require compelling reasons to submit their contact data.
