Hortz: Any other big lessons to share?
Lowe: Having a budget and committing resources to sustainable growth is key. Eventually your cost per benefit will be lower when you invest in long-term momentum. Advisors need to invest 7-15% of revenue to marketing. The savviest marketing is usually consistently well-funded. A word of caution, the best marketers also approach every decision with frugality, and a mix of mid-term outcomes. The key challenge or risk here is not to get caught up in short-term metrics and lose sight of long-term opportunities, yet it is always a good idea to act like you are ready for wins right out of the gate. Give your audience the chance to say yes as often as makes sense. Give so much that they do not mind the ask and make the ask about them.
Halloran: Marketing synergies are key to getting the most from everything you do and having a more omnipresent appeal. We learned this years ago from watching celebrity influencers like Gary Vaynerchuk. Gary V as he is affectionately known, records a single piece of content then cuts it into several, to many pieces of content. Gary’s team then writes social copy to provide context and make varied points on the same or similar content over and over. Gary V, as with most influencers, look like content factories but they are not necessarily working harder than you chasing 90-day lead generation campaigns. They have a content discipline then hand off that content for multiplication and targeted distribution. It’s a content factory that runs with great efficiency, and over time, great effectiveness.
Hortz: Any smaller yet important lessons to share as well?
Halloran: One of the biggest challenges for advisors is self buy-in with their thought-leadership. Being a thought-leader is not about being smarter than everyone or being ON every minute. I encourage advisors to get out of their own head into their heart and soul. Take pride and be braggadocious. If you do not believe in yourself, your expertise and experience, no one else will. Be yourself, bring valuable insights from your mind and others, be authentic, and have some fun.
Lowe: Word of mouth has taken a back seat to digital marketing because it is hard to measure the ROI of word of mouth marketing but we all know it has not gone away and will continue to drive targeted growth. Market to your internal audience as much as anyone. Your biggest wins will be the people in your existing network who will now have better opportunities to introduce you, brag about you, and engage in what they hopefully already knew about you - how much you know and care.
Hortz: What is the best marketing advice or recommendations that you can offer advisors right now?
Halloran: Creating content can be difficult or easy. Find the easier path, start a podcast with the right team around you. Build some momentum with podcasting then consider how to supplement with video. Video is much harder to pull off so get your confidence and discipline with podcasting first. Content marketing is marketing. There is no way around it so figure it out. Listen to the leaders. We invite you to start by listening to the Top Advisor Marketing Podcast and then visit PodRocketAcademy.com.
Lowe: Content marketing has so many more wins than lead generation. Embrace igniting relationships with centers of influence, learning how to be a better communicator, being yourself, adding value to your niche, leveraging your time, and scaling your credibility to name just a few.
The Institute for Innovation Development is an educational and business development catalyst for growth-oriented financial advisors and financial services firms determined to lead their businesses in an operating environment of accelerating business and cultural change. We position our members with the necessary ongoing innovation resources and best practices to drive and facilitate their next-generation growth, differentiation and unique community engagement strategies. The institute was launched with the support and foresight of our founding sponsors – Ultimus Fund Solutions, NASDAQ, FLX Networks, Pershing, Fidelity, Voya Financial, Advisorpedia and Charter Financial Publishing (publisher of Financial Advisor and Private Wealth magazines).