Define Your Marketing Strategy So You Can Get Back to Advising
Chances are, you didn’t become a financial advisor just to spend your time, effort and money on marketing efforts. You got into this business to provide life-changing financial guidance… Yet growth stalls without effective marketing. And dabbling across ad platforms, social posts and email tools you’re not proficient in can turn into a time and money sink. Many advisors end up spending significant hours on marketing with little to show for it, often without a proven plan that makes all that time, effort and money worthwhile. That’s exactly why the first move isn’t, “do more marketing.” It’s, “define a strategy.”
Strategy before software
A documented strategy converts “we should market” into a simple, repeatable plan. Start by naming outcomes you can measure this quarter (e.g., seminar RSVPs, first appointments booked, clients won). Then connect those outcomes in a clean funnel that might look like this: traffic → lead → nurture the lead → schedule appointment → turn to client, with target conversion rates at each step. If a marketing tactic doesn’t support a defined stage, park it for later.
Clarify who you serve and why it matters
Define your value proposition (what you solve and why you’re best to solve it) and your target audience (retirees, business owners, pre-retirees, etc.), including goals, pain points and where they spend time online. This keeps you from creating generic or un-positioned copy and chasing the wrong channels. One message per audience, anchored to a real problem and a clear result, becomes the thread that ties your website, events, emails and ads together.
Make your message do the heavy lifting
Lead with education. Answer the exact questions your audience is asking, use plain language and offer simple formats. Think: short blogs, one-page guides and quick explainer videos. Simple, informative and consistent messaging on issues your target audience cares about builds authority and trust faster than sporadic sales pitches.
Choose fewer channels and run them well
Pick two or three channels you can execute every month (for many advisors, that looks like educational events/webinars, email nurture and one paid source). Assign roles: events generate hand-raises, paid fills the top, email moves lead to meetings. Depth beats breadth, and it’s easier to improve what you track consistently.
Map the lead journey
Document the path from first click to first meeting: landing page → confirmation → reminders → show-up kit → follow-up → booking link. Prewrite sequences (invites, reminders, thank-you, ICYMI, “book now”) and standardize calls to action. One calendar link. One booking page. Minimal friction.
Install guardrails and metrics
Create if-then rules so decisions are made before emotions get involved: If seminar show rate falls below target, then add an SMS reminder and confirmation call; if cost per lead exceeds goal for two weeks, then shift budgets to the stronger audience. Track just the essentials: traffic, leads, appointments set/held, clients won, plus cost per lead and cost per appointment. Review biweekly and change one variable at a time.
Protect your time with process
Templatize as much as possible. This includes emails, landing pages, slide decks and post-event follow-ups. Use tools that integrate and delegate production, like a CRM, email and calendar integration, so you can focus on presenting and the work of constructing financial strategies. When execution outgrows your bandwidth, a capable partner can run the machine without changing the strategy you own.
Work Smarter, Not Harder
Advisors lose too many hours tinkering with scattered tactics that don’t move the needle. You still need marketing, but you don’t need more marketing, you need a strategy that achieves real results; that aligns message, audience, channels and measurement so every action serves a specific goal. Define the plan first, explore how systems can help and find a trusted partner qualified to execute it. That way, marketing fuels your pipeline while you do what you do best: change people’s lives with impactful, tailored financial strategies.
