The new year is an ideal time to examine your marketing strategy, but you may decide to make even deeper changes to your company’s goals. By looking back at the successes and challenges of the past year, you may even decide to make a fundamental change. What prospects should you try to attract in 2019? Should you redefine your ideal client? Here are some factors you may want to consider as you evaluate your client base.

Envision the Future

Ultimately, being a financial advisor gives you the flexibility to pursue very specific goals. Every year, you should take time to imagine what your perfect future looks like on a large scale. Who are you helping? What functions and roles make you the happiest at this point in time? Will there be any planned changes to your life over the next few years that may affect your priorities? As you walk yourself through these questions, you may end up aligning your professional goals to match the personal.

Consider Your Current Crop of Clients

Look back at the interactions you had over the entirety of 2018. What clients were a delight to work with? What specializations and functions did you enjoy most? Reviewing your workload over the past year can guide your marketing efforts and help you decide what type of clients to target in the future. From there, you can create content to meet their needs and build a business that aligns with your values. Whether you are expanding your ideal market or looking at ways to hone it in, considering your favorite aspects of financial advising can help you take the next steps.

What if Certain Clients Don’t Align?

Inevitably in your career, you will find that some partnerships just don’t work out. Though this can put you in a tricky place as a financial advisor, you can create an easy transition for your clients that will still leave them with a positive impression of your services. If you determine that you need to transition out certain clients, provide them with various options and hold their hand through the transition. If you are passing them on to another team member, introduce the clients to their new advisor either by email or in person. Ideally, you can also create a smooth transition when moving them to another firm, though the client may have to be more involved in this case. Above all, be kind and courteous in thanking them for the opportunity, and mention that the new advisor will have more bandwidth to deliver excellent service.

As you evaluate your favorite aspects of financial advising, you may find yourself adjusting or refining your ideal client. Every year, you should review your personal highlights to determine what career path will deliver you personal fulfilment at work, and this will help guide your marketing strategy moving forward.

As the New Year rolls around, take the opportunity to evaluate your marketing from a bird’s eye view and plan out your strategy for the coming year. Here are some essential steps that you should take every January to bring in new clients and grow your business!

1. Develop Your Annual Marketing Strategy

With the new year comes a fresh start, and it’s the ideal time to sit down and create a comprehensive plan for both your content and strategy. Outline your key content for the year based on annual events throughout the year. If your firm helps clients organize for tax season, you’ll want a run of relevant content leading up to April, along with emails and social media pieces highlighting how you can help new clients with their taxes. If you work with families or trusts, you may want to write pieces about building generational wealth around the holidays. By scheduling out these pieces ahead of time, you’ll always know what to be working on down the pipeline, saving you the stress of last-minute rushing.

2. Plan Out Your Blog

One of the biggest challenges for financial advisors is sitting down consistently to write a blog. By planning your posting dates out in advance—and adding reminders to your calendar—you can ensure that you’re posting relevant content throughout the month. Ideally, you should be posting at least three to four times a month, but even a post or two is better than nothing when things get frantic. If you truly struggled with your blog posts last year, this also may be an ideal time to decide if you have money in the budget to hire a freelancer to take that work off your plate.

3. Branch Out!

The New Year is the perfect time to try new things, so take a look at what’s missing from your marketing plan. Are you being active on both LinkedIn and Facebook? Should you look for opportunities to give presentations in your community? Are you using email marketing to its full potential? Whatever’s missing, this is the perfect time to test out new ideas.

4. Block Out Time to Review Your Performance

You may have some appointments already blocked out for the year, but chances are, this is the emptiest your calendar will be in 2019. Do yourself a huge favor and block out a few hours every month to evaluate your marketing performance. Take this time to review your metrics, see what avenues are working best for your team, and decide what you should strive to improve the following month. It may be tempting to move this appointment as time goes on, but hold yourself accountable and be sure you are sitting down at least once a month to review your progress.

A New Year provides for an opportunity to evaluate your entire marketing strategy, and these tips will get you started on making 2019 your best year yet! By planning out your content, setting new goals, and taking the time to evaluate your progress, you’ll be on track to create a marketing plan that will help develop your business!

Millennials are sometimes overlooked by financial advisors, but they will soon be the largest demographic in the global workforce. It is essential to keep their preferences in mind when designing your website, so here are some tips to make them feel welcome.

State Things Simply, Because They’re Savvy!

Millennials are the first generation to grow up with a constant bombardment of advertisements, particularly on the web. As a result, they can be cynical and wary of “clickbait” sounding content. Especially when dealing with information like fees and expectations, you need to be upfront and to the point. Honesty is refreshing in a world of blatant consumerism, so try to be transparent in all of your content.

Offer a Future of Experiences

Surprisingly, millennials are more interested in experiences than things. While the older generations may have had a vision of success that included new cars, yachts, and vacation homes, millennials tend to skew towards authentic experiences, especially those in nature. Imagery of hiking, kayaking, and other outdoor adventures will feel more relatable than focusing on the typical hallmarks of success.

Keep it New (and Blue)

If you’re catering to millennials, you will face the additional challenge of keeping your website in line with existing trends. Most of the sites millennials frequent change their layout a few times a year. While you don’t have to be this extreme, it may be helpful to keep an eye on major sites like Facebook, Uber, and Amazon to see what web design trends are making the rounds. If these changes are easy to implement, you may want to hire a web designer to give your site a facelift.

As far as colors go, millennials prefer soft and “cool” colors. If you haven’t designed your site yet, you may want to go with a blue color pallet. This color has a calming effect, hence being used as the primary color throughout Silicon Valley and in startups around the world.

Be Inclusive

When millennials are searching for a financial advisor, they want to feel included and represented. Be sure that you are highlighting people of all races and backgrounds in your imagery so you don’t leave anyone out. It may even help to represent different family structures, too, or mention your connection to any diverse communities or organizations.

Conclusion

Designing your website to correspond to your target market is an easy way to make clients feel welcome, and it is essential when working with clients who are incredibly web-savvy! These tips will help your company prepare for the influx of millennial savers as they start to make strides in their financial life.

When designing your website, it is essential to keep your target market in mind. People judge your business based upon its design, their user experience, and the emotional impact of the imagery and messaging. When targeting an older clientele, these tips will ensure that they have the best possible experience on your website, encouraging them to place their trust in you.

Keep it Simple

As you explore the web, you’ll often see flashy animations or graphics on sites that cater to younger users. However, if your target market is pre-retirees or retirees, you’ll want to keep these to a minimum. If you decide to display scrolling images or text, leave plenty of time between changes. Keeping your design simple and steady will ensure an enjoyable experience for those who grew up before all these fancy images and videos.

Show Them Where to Click

One of the most frustrating elements of modern web design is trying to figure out where to go from each page. This can be easily solved by including direct language like “Click here for more information.” In addition, have your web designer include a color change when a user hovers over a link. This makes it clear that the link is clickable and easily guides the user through your site.

What’s on The Menu?

One of the best aspects of modern web design is a “sticky navigation bar.” This allows the bar to move down the screen with you as you scroll through a site. This is a huge benefit for older users as it allows them to return to the homepage (or move on to a different page) no matter where they are. In addition, you should organize your menu in a logical way so users can always find what they’re looking for.

Easy-to-Read and Straight to Their Need

When designing your site, be sure to work with large font sizes to limit strain on the eyes. Using different size headers to summarize each section is also essential, as it allows users to easily skip through your content to find the information they need.

Incorporate Images!

When people imagine their retirement, they may see themselves walking on a beach, lounging with a book, or playing with their grandkids. Including these engaging and hopeful pictures throughout your site gives the user something to dream about and encourages them to start planning for the future. When selecting images, be sure to include both active and relaxing pictures, and find models who actually look like your ideal client. This will help them feel more at home on your website!

Colors Are Key

Though most people select their website colors to match their logo, you also want to consider the psychological impact of your colors. Older people prefer warm color pallets that make them feel secure and optimistic. Use a gradient of your selected color to provide variation and keep your site aesthetically-pleasing!

When clients are searching for a financial advisor, they want to feel included and supported every step of the way. Designing your website to correspond to your target market is an easy way to make clients feel welcome, and it is all the more important when working with people who grew up before the rise of computers!

As you begin expanding your client list, the most difficult challenge you’ll face is to find prospects in your community. While the age of digital marketing makes it easier than ever to find prospects in your target market, geography is still an essential factor. After all, most clients won’t fly across the country to meet with their financial advisor! To help you find prospects near you, I’ve compiled a list of strategies that have a more localized impact, allowing you to find your ideal clients in your ideal place.

Strategy 1: Join Online Communities

Once you have your ideal client in mind, you should have a rough idea of where they “hang out” online. The younger generations prefer more anonymous sites like Reddit, Quora, and Twitter, while almost everyone has a Facebook and LinkedIn Account. Regardless of what social media site your ideal client prefers, they likely subscribe to community groups to keep up with local events and news. Joining these groups gives you the opportunity to share personal experiences and build a rapport with people in your city.

Strategy 2: Always Use Your Local Hashtags

If you’re already creating digital content, this is a simple way to ensure it’s seen by a local audience. Keep in mind that you may want to use several hashtags to cover all the surrounding neighborhoods and key landmarks. For example, a Bay Area post might include the following: #SanFrancisco #BayAreaLiving #SanJose #LaurelHeights #GoldenGatePark #USF #GoGiants

Strategy 3: Sponsor Community Events

Donating to local events allows you to support important causes for a bit of recognition. Most small theatres and sports teams welcome sponsorship in exchange for mentioning your business in brochures or social media posts. Is your niece performing in a local production of Cinderella? Ask if you can contribute and send over a small advertisement for publication in the playbook. Is your son a shortstop? Ask the Little League field if you can pay to hang an advertisement in the outfield. These little acts of goodwill make it clear that you’re giving to the community—and the community is more likely to give back.

Strategy 4: Get Super Specific with Online Ads

If you’re using online advertising, geographic specificity is going to make or break your budget. In addition to listing out your ideal client’s age range, job title, and essential keywords, ensure that you’re only showing advertisements to people within driving distance of your office. Social media sites even allow you to pick the exact zip codes you want to display to, so you’re not wasting your ad budget on people 200 miles away.

The internet has made it incredibly easy to market your business, but don’t waste your time and energy reaching out to everyone. These tips will help you focus your efforts on the prospects most likely to pop in for a consultation: your neighbors!

For Financial Advisors, one of the greatest challenges is taking the leap from cold, hard numbers to the more creative realm of marketing. However, there are still plenty of numbers that you can use to inform your marketing efforts and ensure you are on the right track!

1/ How many email lists should I have?

There is no magic number for this one, but there are certain guidelines that you should follow to make the most out of your email marketing. You absolutely want to have a separate email list for current clients and prospects, but that’s the bare minimum you should be doing. A truly successful email marketing campaign depends on segmenting your clients so you can give them the right information. A 30 year old is not ready to read about the ideal method for rolling over their pre-tax retirement funds to a Roth account, and a retiree doesn’t need rto be reminded about the effects of early saving on compound interest.

The easiest way to determine how many email lists to create is to think about your target markets and the content most relevant to them. If you only work with one type of client, you may be able to get away with a single prospect list. But if your services are more varied, segment your clients out into specific lists based on the content they need to see.

2/ How long should my emails be?

Regardless of your target market, your prospects are busy people leading hectic lives! The key to catch their attention is to keep your email short. We recommend keeping your emails less than 100 words long in order to ensure they read the whole thing. If you need to include more information than that, pull in bullet points or a numbered list to keep things easy for the reader.

3/ How many emails should I send per month?

Again, this can vary depending on how much new content you’re creating, but a good number to aim for is 2 per month for each email list. Keep in mind that you can reuse content between lists, as long as it is relevant to the recipient! Don’t forget to send more personalized emails like holiday greetings and check-ins as well, as these remind your prospects that you are a valuable partner who cares about their success. By consistently sending your prospects relevant content, you will keep yourself top-of-mind until they’re ready to take the next step and enlist your services.

4/ How many contacts should be opening my email?

For email marketers, 20% is a magic number. Using an email marketing service, you can see how many of your contacts are actually opening each email, and 20% should be your constant goal. However, there is always a bit of guesswork that goes into hitting that ideal open rate. You can send emails at different days and times to see if there’s a perfect time to send out your next campaign. If your open rate is falling a bit low, try to play around with subject lines as well. Some clients prefer more playful messaging, while some will want to get right to the point.

While it can be a challenge to figure out the right email marketing strategy, these tips should give you a solid idea of the numbers you should be aiming for. If you want a more personalized evaluation, reach out to me!