Personal Marketing
I am not sure how much advisors pay for generic marketing material but since social proof is so important going forward, advisors need to start to develop ways to produce content that reflects their personal values and their firm’s mission.
It’s a given that people love stories, especially personal ones, but it seems this very human approach to the marketing has all been forgotten and replaced by generic content in an effort to streamline things and make your website a so-called destination. But fact is, people don’t go to your website to see how markets are doing, to check IRS tax rates or to watch a video on what a 401k rollover is. Take a second to ask yourself if any clients have come in and said, “Hey, I watched a couple of the videos on your website (or read a couple of articles) and want to talk about beneficiary designations and a Roth conversion.” It’s not likely the case, so replace the generic stuff with more personal marketing that tells a story that includes something about you and lessons you have learned through experience or with other clients.
You can see a quick example of how I do this with the monthly column for Financial Advisor with these two stories, Stairway To A Better Retirement, and Shopping For A Better Retirement. Obviously, these articles are designed for financial professionals, but can easily be tweaked to make a similar point to clients. In essence, think of personal marketing as opening a door into your life and using it to help people see and plan for a better life after retirement. This is important for a couple reasons. First, it shows the human side of you that can never be replaced by a robo-advisor or other form of Fintech. Second, it builds what I call KLT—know you, like you, trust you. This is undoubtedly the new online foundation for not only attracting new business but also retaining existing clients.
While these three trends are designed to help advisors adapt and thrive in a post-pandemic era of retirement planning, in part two of the series I will be discussing three trends that impact clients and their transition into retirement. They include a new “ism” that will spawn technology aides or nurses, the forming of social pods and the latest threat to client’s assets in retirement, the subscription drawdown.
Overall, when it comes to post-pandemic life for advisors helping people transition into the world of retirement, its essential to recognize that there are a new set of trust factors that we have to acknowledge and begin to use. That means making sure the way people previously viewed us in person are equally demonstrated online. That includes improving our screen skills and making sure our online meetings or presentations not only look and sound professional but also reflect our personality and style. Finally, the new era of retirement planning requires our content marketing to leverage our humanity. When people visit your website or social media pages, they want and need to get a glimpse of you, not the latest news or market insight.
Robert Laura is a best-selling author, nationally syndicated columnist and president of Wealth & Wellness Group. He is a seasoned conference speaker, corporate trainer and pioneer in “The New Era Of Retirement,” which focuses on the non-financial aspects of life after work. He can be reached at [email protected].