Attention independent Financial Advisors (FA) and Registered Investment Advisors (RIA). If you want a Financial Advisor marketing plan template proven plan to quickly get more clients and increase assets under management (AUM). Then let me ask you a question.
Would you drive to LA from NYC without mapping it out first? Of course, you wouldn’t. Especially if you wanted to get there in the most time and cost-efficient manner possible. The same applies to marketing.
Therefore, without a marketing plan or “roadmap”, you’ll be left floundering, trying one thing then the next, wasting a ton of time and money, and not really getting anywhere. Does that sound familiar?
But here’s the rub, following a roadmap is easy. It’s already got the answers to your struggles. The hard part is developing a roadmap. Until now. I’ve simplified the process of creating a Financial Advisor marketing plan template into 3 key steps which I’m going to walk you through right now.
You’re going to learn
- The powerful 3 step process you can implement today to develop a financial advisor marketing plan.
- How to immediately improve the results of your current marketing tactics.
- The secret marketing tool(s) that only the most successful financial advisors are using.
Step 1: Take the Questionnaire
The first 2 questions will help you clarify your “why.”
1. What are the main goals you hope to achieve in the next 3-6 months and the next 6-12 months? If you write down a monetary number, I want you to figure out how many clients you’d need each month to reach that number. Here’s an example from one of our clients.
2. So, ask yourself why can’t you do the same? What is preventing you from reaching those types of numbers? What are the most important problems that you are trying to solve?
Once you’ve clarified your “why,” you’re going to uncover your “how.”
3. Who is your target audience? If you haven’t already, I encourage you to choose a niche. That is to say, to build a successful business, the first thing you need to do is get specific in who you want to help. Why? Because when you try to help everyone, you reach no one. You don’t stand out. Additionally, once you have a niche it’s much easier to identify the tactics and targets of your marketing efforts. Not to mention, your marketing will generate better returns when you present a clear value proposition that is actually relevant to them.
4. What online marketing activities are you currently doing or have tried in the past? Include ROI stats if possible (money/ time spent vs return/leads), then compare the ROIs to see what’s working best and what’s not.
5. Where do most of your leads come from? Why has that source worked so well? How can you maximize it?
6. What are your strengths & assets? Do you like to write? Already have a ton of content? Maybe you’re excellent at creating presentations for clients. Are you comfortable in front of a camera? Are you really good at simplifying confusing topics for clients?
7. How is your website performing? Leads? Traffic?
8. Do you have a blog? If yes, how is it performing?
Get Clarity with Tracking and Map the Client Journey
9. What website tracking/analytics tools are you using? If you answered none then you need to start tracking your marketing efforts right now. This is paramount if you want to spend your money efficiently, and as a financial professional, I’m sure you do. So, track what you’re doing, cut out what’s not working and invest more in what is working.
10. And finally, what does the typical client journey look like? Are there any bottlenecks prospects have to pass through before becoming a client? Where do prospects typically drop off? Is there a way to make the journey faster, easier, and with fewer objections?
Step 2: Reduce Inefficiencies and Increase ROI
Before looking at growth strategies, the first thing we want to do is make what you’re currently doing more efficient, which will immediately boost your return on investment (ROI). I make this super easy for you with a series of checklists that you can download for free. Click the button below to get instant access.
Website Analysis Checklist
So, let’s say that you answered that your website is performing poorly, meaning you’re not getting enough traffic or leads. then you should look at doing something different, right?
Funnel Blueprint Checklist
If you’re running ads but not getting much in return, find out why. Once you’ve uncovered the reasons why your current strategies aren’t working, you’ll need to incorporate the solutions into your marketing roadmap.
Generate More Leads & Clients Using What You Already Have (Reduce Inefficiencies)
Case Study: Steve is a Financial Advisor who was struggling to get a consistent stream of leads. The first step we took in creating a Financial Advisor marketing plan template for him was to audit his current situation. As a result, we found out what was and wasn’t working, how to reduce inefficiencies, and increase his ROI. Consequently, without adding any budget or new tactics, his ROI increased by 500% within 2 weeks. Within a year he was taking home an additional $35K per month.
The cool thing about this step is that it can generate more leads and clients just by using what you already have and make it more efficient. So, if you want to stop here and not add any new strategies to your marketing plan, you can. (Are you starting to feel the power of Roadmapping now?)
But if you want even more leads and clients….keep reading.
Step 3: Create a Financial Advisor Marketing Plan Template Roadmap
Once you identify a plan to fix what’s not working and increase efficiencies, then you can start creating a strategy for growth. After that, put it all together and create your financial advisor marketing plan template Roadmap.
Every Roadmap is unique. However, most Roadmaps include lead generation strategies, automated marketing funnels, a plan for tracking, and business automation.
Check out the example Roadmap outline. If it seems overwhelming, don’t worry! Your unique situation will most likely not call for everything you see below.
To clarify, we typically don’t recommend doing everything. Instead, our mission is to find the most cost and time-efficient path to success. In other words, that might be something as small as a single funnel.
Example Financial Advisor Marketing Plan Template
- Website Strategy
- Clarity (clear message & clear path to value)
- Email opt-ins
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Keyword research
- SSL Secure
- Mobile Friendly
- Content Marketing (blog)
- Content plan
- Social Media
- Calls-to-action
- Automated Funnels & Conversion Strategy
- Free webinar funnel
- Contact Us funnel
- Blog/lead magnet funnels
- Lead Generation Strategy
- Earned media
- Paid advertising
- Social Media
- Existing Email list
- Lead Magnets
- Tracking & Analytics
- Google Analytics
- Pixels
- Business Automation
- Email follow-up
- Referral requests
- Client On-boarding
However, without actually speaking with you and learning about your unique situation, it’s impossible for me to know exactly what you need in your Roadmap. But, I am going to show you how I came to a few of the conclusions and strategies in order to create a 7-figure marketing plan for one client so that you can do the same.
Case Study: Roadmapping a 7-figure a Year Marketing Plan
Susan is a certified financial planner (CFP) & financial advisor (FA) who came to me because she wanted to increase leads, shorten the client journey and boost her monthly revenue by at least $50K a month.
So I took her through our Roadmapping process.
She completed the questionnaire. Then I studied it, audited her website and current marketing strategies. Most importantly, we had a 1-on-1 conversation to dive deeper into her struggles and come up with solutions. After that, my team and I spent about a week thoughtfully crafting a Roadmap for her.
Here are some of the highlights from her Roadmap.
Roadmap Case Study Highlights and Results
Webinar Funnel = $600 thousand in new revenue
In her questionnaire, she mentioned a talent for simplifying complicated topics in a way that was easy for clients to understand.
So we Roadmapped a free online seminar that would cover a common topic of interest (like retirement) in order to attract more leads.
In her Roadmap, we included detailed steps on exactly how to execute and automate it. Like where and who to advertise to, how to register leads, what emails to send, how and when to follow up, and what tools to use.
This particular funnel generated $600K in NEW client revenue over the next 6 months!
Automating Referral Requests = 4-5x more referrals
Next, we looked at her biggest source of leads which is referrals. However, she wasn’t asking every single client for one. So, there were a lot of missed opportunities there.
We minimized this by Roadmapping an automated system for requesting referrals.
In her Roadmap, we included detailed steps on which tools to use and how to set up automated emails that would send based on certain parameters.
By investing more in what was working, she gets 4-5 times more referrals than she did 1 year ago!
Automated Website Funnel = $60 million in new AUM in 6 months
Problem 1: Slow Follow-Up
Lastly, she complained that the current customer journey had a waiting period in it where a lot of people were dropping off. Initially, prospects would submit a Contact Us form on her website, then they would have to wait for her to call and ask them qualification questions.
If they qualified, then she would schedule them to come in. This took up a lot of her valuable time and the waiting period caused many leads to move one. She wanted to make the whole process more efficient to not only increase leads but save her time.
While it sounds like we only had 1 problem to address, we actually had 2. The first problem was obviously an inefficient customer journey.
Problem 2: Minimal Lead Capture Opportunity on Website
The second problem was that the Contact Us form was the only lead capture mechanism on her site. What about all those prospective clients that came to her site but didn’t submit the contact us form? We needed to capture them as well. Why?
Just because visitors were coming to her site and leaving without taking action, doesn’t mean they weren’t interested in her services. It just meant they were still in the information gathering stage and would likely be ready to make a purchasing decision in the near future.
Therefore, it is important that we continue to engage them and stay top of mind until they’re ready to move forward.
If continually following up with leads sounds like too much work, don’t worry. You can automate this entire interaction.
Roadmapping Solution to Slow Follow-Up and Minimal Lead Capture
To capture visitor information, we added a pop-up box to her website using Leadpages. It offers a free retirement planning checklist in exchange for their email address. This freebie is often referred to as a lead magnet. The key is that it is valuable and useful to your target audience.
Pro tip: Get a Leadpages account for 56% off when you sign up with us.
Then we began sending automated emails from Drip that nurtured them into setting an appointment. When they clicked on the link in the email to make an appointment, they were first taken to a qualification questionnaire.
Pro tip: We use Typeform to create questionnaires, quizzes, surveys, and more. When you use this link to get started with Typeform you will get a free qualification questionnaire template!
If they are qualified, only then do they get access to her calendar. To increase efficiency, we moved her away from scheduling via telephone. Instead, prospects schedule online.
Here is a snapshot of the customer journey.
Financial Advisor Marketing Plan Template Results
Roadmapping increased leads by capturing previously overlooked opportunities. In addition, it sped up the customer journey. Lead generation increased from a few trickling in, to consistently generating 10+ qualified leads per month! As a result, her AUM jumped by $60M in the first 6 months!
To sum up, in the space of a few hours, Susan told us what she wanted and what she was struggling with. Then a week later, she walked away with the exact steps she needed to grow her business. Previously, this would’ve taken months or even years to figure out on her own.
In less than a year, she is now taking home over a million a year. Do you see the potential of Roadmapping now? It can be so much easier and faster than you realize to reach and even surpass your goals!
Use the Secret Weapon of Successful Financial Advisors
Now that you’ve seen the power of Roadmapping, let me ask you a question. What sounds easier to you? Spending months or even years trying to figure it out on your own and wasting a ton of time and money.
OR, do you prefer someone to hand you a secret weapon for success? That secret weapon is a custom marketing roadmap with the exact steps you need to take to grow AUM and get more clients. It can be that simple.
Financial Advisor Marketing Plan Template Next Steps
If that sounds good, then set up a free 30-minute conversation with me. During that time, I’ll work with you to apply Roadmapping to your business and start crafting a plan to hit your income goals for the year. Then, I’ll follow up with a few ideas and recommendations to reach your goals.
You might be thinking, “wow this sounds great. But why are you doing this for free?” I do this because I truly enjoy helping FAs, CFPs, and RIAs achieve their goals and enjoy success. As a former Financial Advisor, I understand how hard it can be. As a result, I want to show that there’s an easier way.
Just having a conversation is going to give you more clarity and insight into your business than you’ve had in a long time.
Click here to schedule a time.
If you’re more of a DIYer, check out the Marketing Plan for Financial Advisors Generator. All you have to do is take a short quiz and you’ll receive a custom-tailored marketing plan for you to implement. It’s that easy!
To your continuous success,
Hendrik
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