Paying for marketing materials when your core message is unclear is a waste of time and resources, both of which are in short supply for most advisors. The good news is there are steps you can take—call it “DIY Marketing”—that will make a big difference. Building a razor sharp message will help you communicate much more effectively to clients, prospects, centers of influence and even employees.

So where should you begin? We all know that external perspective is helpful, so form a small message development team (five to seven people) with smart, objective people you respect. Let them know that you want their help to examine, push and prod to make your marketing better. Make sure you are willing to take tough feedback, even to laugh at yourself, because the path to a strong message or value proposition requires humility and courage in equal measure.

I’ve developed this simple, step-by-step process by taking the approach big companies and agencies use and “rightsizing” it so that it fits our industry and is manageable for most firms:

1. Once you have your team identified, ask each person to pick a random selection of advisor websites and collect the key ideas and messages that stand out, good or bad. Have people take notes, use the snipping tool on their computer or take pictures to capture headlines, key words and what their eyes are drawn to. Is it clear who the ideal client is? What do they offer? What are the tangible benefits?

2. Get together for an afternoon and have three flip charts or white boards. Label one chart “ideal client,” another “what we offer” and the third “why it matters.” See if you can discern how each example describes who different firms work with, what the firms do and why it’s both different and valuable. Capture the information, step back and brainstorm to develop dos and don’ts. Before you’re done, agree on the language on the sites that is overused, vague or simply unbelievable to you.

3. Pull up your own website and collateral, and have the group assess where you have messaging strengths and weaknesses. Be honest, and grade how well your message defines who you serve, what you do and why it matters. Also, count how many times you use weak language—those redundant words, obtuse terms and lofty expressions that really aren’t effective.

4. Take away what you’ve learned from the group session and do some thinking. Then try to fill out this message development tool, using the absolute simplest language, as if you were talking to a teenager. I prefer this shortcut to a more formal value proposition exercise.

Afterwards, you can run it by your brainstorming team for feedback—it usually takes a series of revisions to get it right!

“The kinds of people who really love working with us are _______. There are a lot of advisors out there, but what we do differently for our clients that they can depend on is 1._____, 2._____ and 3.________. The reason this is so important to people is ____________.
Everything we do in our business, every person on the team, is entirely focused on making sure we deliver this difference.

5. Many advisors resist choosing an ideal client and being specific, but that’s what it takes to differentiate what you do. It’s not the only client you serve, but it reflects where you are best. Practice this new message when you meet with prospects. Don’t rush to change any materials until you feel like the message is yours.

To help you along, here are a couple of samples I’ve developed to show how differentiation can come to life:

What retirement-focused advisors should say:
“The kinds of people who really love working with us are pre-retirees and retirees worried about living on a fixed income. There are a lot of advisors out there, but what we do differently for our clients that they can depend on is we’ll map out realistic post-retirement expenses, factor in how their spending will change at each stage of retirement and teach them how to think about spending well versus just budgeting. The reason this is so important to people is they now have to focus on cash flow; we help them feel secure while they enjoy retirement life. Everything we do in our business, every person on the team, is entirely focused on making sure we deliver this difference.”

What advisors focused on executive women and couples should say:
“The kinds of people who really love working with us are female corporate executives and dual career families. There are a lot of advisors out there, but what we do differently for our clients that they can depend on is we make life easier by doing the organizing for them, save them time with really efficient ways to meet and make decisions, and we have a much broader picture to help them balance work, life and money. The reason this is so important to people is we can make things less stressful so they have time for what matters most. Everything we do in our business, every person on the team, is entirely focused on making sure we deliver this difference.

Where Do You Go From Here?
Improving your marketing is much like redecorating a home—one thing leads to the next. But the foundation of all marketing is the message, which is why you start here and work hard to get it right. Then you can prioritize the other marketing renovations required—and I’ll try to help you with more DIY shortcuts, step-by-step instructions and advice to maximize results at the lowest cost in terms of your time and budget.


Gail Graham is CEO of Graham Strategy, dedicated to helping wealth managers build brands people love. As the former CMO of United Capital, she led marketing and brand development from 2012 through 2016, creating an industry-leading marketing platform. Previously, she spent a decade at Fidelity Investments in both retail and institutional leadership roles, serving as EVP Marketing for the RIA channel.