And beyond looking for just any engineer who is retiring, Bill also looks for a psychographic fit.
“Yes, there’s the demographic, the age, the amount of capital that someone might’ve accumulated, but there’s also the type of person that we work with. And I always say that we work with people that are typically grateful and humble on most days, everyone has a bad day, so we’re not holding somebody to perfection here, but we don’t work with people that are toxic and disrespectful. We work with people that have built their wealth, typically from zero, they built their wealth on their own. They have wisdom from that journey of living within their means, of seeing market cycles, living through those things.”
One of the best ways to zero in on your ideal client is to look at who your current ideal clients are. What do they have in common? Start sketching out the similarities then start building your marketing and messaging around reaching more them.
3. Determine which of the “Big 5” marketing tactics will reach your ideal clients. There’s a “Big 5” in digital marketing right now. During our virtual discussion, we completed a live poll and asked our attendees which of the five they wanted to get better results from. Here are the results:
• Virtual Events and Webinars: 47
• Email Marketing: 37%
• Video: 21%
• Digital Pay-Per-Click Ads: 20%
• Podcasting: 13%
When it comes to marketing, think of your email list as the core from which all your other marketing emanates. Bill says one of the keys to his firm’s phenomenal growth is sticking to a weekly email schedule that alerts his audience to new content and then trickles down into his other initiatives.
“We push out a blog every other week and then the other weeks we push out a podcast—so two podcasts a month, two blogs a month. And they go out through our email lists and then they get posted on LinkedIn and Facebook. And we’re constantly doing test bullet campaigns.”
I’m just going to say it: a consistent email schedule should be a given, not an option. Deciding where your emails lead your audience comes back to identifying that ideal client. Where do your ideal clients spend their time online? Where can you reach them most effectively? Where can you deliver the most value?
Based on your answers, go back to the digital marketing list, select two items that your email marketing will support, and commit. Start your podcast. Film short YouTube videos on your phone where you give your personal spin on the day’s market news. Or hire a consultant who can help you buy effective, targeted digital ads.
4. Build out your marketing strategy. As I explain in my guide to starting a newsletter, the short-term goal is to keep capturing email addresses. When you’re providing value and publishing consistently, people will open and your list will continue to grow. My weekly GTK email letter averages about a 35% open rate, which is quite high considering the recipients are not clients. I have another weekly email that goes just to clients that averages more than a 50% open rate.
So, how do you convert prospects opening your emails to new business?
On way is to deliver content that addresses the specific needs that made someone search for you in the first place. If you really understand your audience, then you can use your blogs, podcasts and newsletters to position yourself as the expert who can help.