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BLOGSThe Marketing Maven
Two Must-Have Pieces in the Smart Advisor’s Marketing Toolkit
By Marie Swift
November 21, 2011
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Year-end is the perfect time to review everything in your marketing toolkit. Last week, I listed the essential elements needed if you are to stand out in today’s competitive marketplace. I went into detail on how you can create one of your most compelling marketing pieces: an Ideal Client Profile.
This week: The Power Bio and The Core Issues Article.
If you develop an array of essential marketing tools, you'll have built the foundation you need to launch an effective drip marketing campaign.
The Power Bio
Even if you've developed a company or personal brochure, you will want to craft a one-page Executive Summary, which summarizes your credentials, education and experience in one page. It should be branded with your logo and include your professional headshot (captioned to show your full name and credentials). This is your professional biography.
The purpose of your Executive Summary is to showcase your expertise. Write your profile in the third person, as if a professional had interviewed you. Warm up the narrative by quoting yourself. Make a few statements about your client service or investment philosophy, why you got into the business and how your business model is unique. Place the quotes in logical places to break up what may otherwise become dull content. Personal statements and assertions--anything that is better said in first person--can carry greater weight if they are inserted as quotes.
Add a bit of personality at the end by giving the reader a glimpse into your personal life--if you volunteer at the Girls Club, serve on a foundation board, enjoy sailing or invest in sports memorabilia. You want to stimulate a sense of trust and affinity. Include a call-to-action -- even if it is a simple visit to www.SmithFinancialPlanning.com to learn more about how we can help you reach your financial goals" -- and place your contact information at the bottom. This multipurpose document can serve as a handout at seminars and networking functions, a follow-up to an in-person meeting or a page on your Web site.
An Oklahoma City advisor with 12 years experience had never developed a one-sheet Executive Summary. He had a statement of qualifications, which talked about his firm and its services, but the credibility builders such as his experience, background and education -- all the items that made him worthy of a client's trust -- were buried in the middle of the company overview. Now he uses his one-sheet Executive Summary as well as a revamped company statement of qualifications to build rapport and trust before and after meetings, seminars and promotions.
With an Executive Summary ready to go, you will be better equipped to sell yourself and your firm. Include the printed version in the introductory packets, press kits and mailings. The Executive Summary will give you great positioning with the media, prospective clients and other influential people within your market. Annually update the profile and include it in a newsletter mailing. Every few years, update your photo and your team's photo for your Web site and brochure. This creates a positive impression and reminds recipients of the firm's driving force, the advisor behind the wheel.
People want to do business with people they like and trust. Why not help them understand your background, qualifications and values with an easy-to-read one-sheet about you?
CORE ISSUE ARTICLE OR SPECIAL REPORT
You should also produce a core issue article that demonstrates your know-how. It should be an informational piece that shows that you are competent to help your clients. Good formats are "The 10 Biggest Mistakes People Make with Their Money" or "What You Absolutely Must Do to Enjoy a Secure Retirement."
You will find numerous ways to use your special report / core issue article:
-- In email campaigns and mailed solicitations (goal: drive traffic to your website)
-- Parceled out and published in smaller bites on your blog
-- As the foundation for a news release and/or pitches to journalists who might cover that topic and use your core content as a basis for their article’s formation (also be sure to publish your news release using a SEO news release service such as www.PRWeb.com or www.24/7.com)
-- In a pocket folder filled with “get acquainted materials”
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When you start putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), think carefully about the words and the style you use. Every communication is an opportunity to reinforce your positioning, market your firm and your build your brand. Sometimes, dear mild-mannered financial planners, it’s okay to be bold – and even a bit (gulp!) bossy. It’s a noisy world out there. Your ads, flyers and other marketing promotions must stand out and grab attention. …
Every communication is an opportunity to reinforce your positioning, market your firm and your build your brand. Yes, you really are marketing, whether you think so or not. Might as well do it right.
Marie Swift is a nationally recognized consultant who has for over twenty years worked exclusively with some of the industry’s top financial institutions, training organizations, investment advisory and financial planning firms. A top rated speaker at dozens of industry events including FPA, NAPFA, TD Ameritrade Institutional, Securities America, Schwab Institutional, NFL Players Association, Financial Network, Pershing and Lockwood conferences, Marie is dedicated to elevating the conversation in the industry.
Marie is also a prolific writer and contributes to many of the industry’s leading publications, including Financial Planning magazine. You can read Marie’s
newest content on www.financial-planning.com where she writes the weekly Marketing Maven column. She is also contributes content to the Networking 2.0 blog for Sourcemedia’s interactive, online destination created just for women advisors as an extension of the Women Advisors Forum events being held in cities across the country multiple times every year.
A thought leader for thought leaders, she is known for bringing some of the industry’s best and brightest voices together for dialog and debate. Her Thought Leader Round Table series is just one example how Marie generates interesting conversations with movers and shakers in the financial services industry.
Her Best Practices in the Financial Services Industry blog provides additional insights and advice, including podcasts, articles, videos and other helpful content for independent
financial advisors and the institutions that serve them. Find it at www.marieswift.com.
Prior to establishing her own firm in 1993, she served as Director of Corporate Communications for Worldwide Investment Network in Irvine, California, where she helped FNIC’s then #1 Top Producer attain and maintain that title for five consecutive years. She managed a staff of twenty that supported two-dozen successful registered representatives,
estate planners and wealth managers.
As president and CEO of Impact Communications, Inc., Marie leads a dedicated team of marketing communications and PR professionals serving financial institutions and a select group of independent advisors on an exclusive basis. Marie resides in Leawood, KS and can be reached through her website, www.ImpactCommunications.org. For breaking news, follow @marieswift on Twitter -www.twitter.com/marieswift.
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