Marketing isn’t just important for Financial Advisors—it’s essential. Yet, with 85% of Advisors lacking a formal strategy, many find themselves missing out on opportunities to grow their businesses and strengthen client relationships.
Why does this happen? The biggest hurdle is often time.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to streamline your efforts, avoid common pitfalls, and implement strategies that create meaningful, lasting results. Whether you’re building your marketing foundation or refining an existing strategy, you’re in the right place.
Four Common Financial Advisor Marketing Mistakes
Before exploring what makes a marketing strategy truly effective, let’s take a look at a few common mistakes that can limit growth and impact. The good news? These challenges are solvable with the right approach.
1. Spending Too Little on Marketing
Many Advisors allocate just 4% of their budget to marketing. While this cautious approach is understandable, it can make it difficult to invest in tools, campaigns, and content that differentiate your services. By reallocating resources, Advisors can unlock advanced capabilities to amplify their reach and results.
2. Relying Exclusively on Referrals
Referrals are an incredible way to build trust and connect with potential clients—they remain one of the most powerful tools in an Advisor’s toolkit. However, relying solely on referrals can limit growth potential. To complement this trusted strategy, consider leveraging additional marketing efforts to expand your reach and uncover untapped markets.
3. Operating Without a Clear Plan
Ninety-one percent of Advisors say developing a digital marketing strategy is challenging, and it’s easy to see why. Without a roadmap, marketing can feel overwhelming, leading to inconsistent messaging, inefficiencies, and an inability to measure success. But when you focus on creating a clear, actionable plan, you can ensure your efforts are strategic, cohesive, and aligned with your goals.
4. Overlooking Digital Channels
Digital marketing is no longer optional—it’s a game-changer. With 40% of Advisors not yet tapping into strategies like social media, SEO, and email campaigns, the opportunity to stand out online is immense. These channels allow you to connect with prospects where they are and showcase your expertise in ways that resonate.
So What Makes a Good Marketing Strategy?
Once you’ve identified the common pitfalls, the next step is to understand what sets successful marketing efforts apart. A strong strategy doesn’t happen by accident—it’s built on clear goals, smart targeting, and a firm grasp of what makes you unique. Let’s break down the key ingredients that create a winning approach.
A Clear Niche
Think of your niche as your superpower. Instead of spreading yourself thin trying to serve everyone, focus your efforts on understanding your ideal client. You should have a clear idea of:
- The websites and social media platforms they use
- The language and tone they gravitate toward
- The problems that keep them up at night (and how you can solve them)
Differentiation
In a sea of Advisors offering similar promises, how do you stand out? The answer lies in differentiation. Study your competitors, identify the gaps in their offerings, and shine a spotlight on what makes you unique. The goal is to make choosing you the obvious choice.
A Balanced Budget
A winning strategy balances immediate wins with long-term growth and produces a measurable return on investment (ROI). Pair quick, impactful tactics with slower-burn strategies like SEO and content marketing. This approach can not only drive results today but set you up for sustained success.
Developing a Streamlined Marketing Strategy: Six Simple Steps for Success
1. Identify Your Ideal Audience
Start by establishing exactly who you want your marketing to attract. The fastest way to do this is simply by looking at your existing client base:
- Which clients produce the most value?
- What do your best clients have in common?
- What services do your clients respond best to?
2. Identify Their Pain Points
Now you need to understand what these specific clients care about—and what motivates them to seek out an Advisor.
Your previous client meetings are a great source of insight here: What do your clients respond to emotionally? What problems or frustrations do they raise? What kind of aspirations (either financial or personal) do they raise?
Pro Tio: Use these insights to produce a series of “problem statements” that capture your ideal audience’s pain points. For example: “I worry about leaving my children enough money to be confident they are safe and secure.”
3. Craft Your Messaging
Next, use the pain points you identified to speak directly to their needs.
Show how your services solve their problems and emphasize how your approach is different from the rest: Can you feature specific services or past results that speak to your audience? Can you use phrases that stand out against competitors? Clear, compelling messaging is your ticket to connection.
4. Choose Your Core Channels
Don’t try to be everywhere—be where it matters.
With limited time and budget, you need to focus your marketing on the channels that have the strongest impact on your target audience. Some clients will never use a search engine to find Advisors, whereas for others, search will be the first port-of-call.
The best way to establish this is simply to ask your existing clients: Do they use LinkedIn? How likely would they be to attend an in-person networking event? Could they imagine paying for a personal finance class?
5. Plan Your Budget
Once you have established your audience, messages, and channels, it’s time to allocate a budget to your marketing.
Keep in mind, there is no right answer to the question, “How much should I budget for marketing as an Advisor?” Instead, the key is to establish your budget alongside clear marketing goals and KPIs. This will help you contextualize your spending and adjust it to optimize your returns over time.
6. Create Your Marketing Calendar
Before you finally jump into your marketing, it’s important to put a clear marketing plan in place. A calendar helps you maintain consistency, avoid last-minute scrambles, and keep your efforts aligned with your overarching strategy.
It should establish:
- The channels you are using
- How frequently you will use them (e.g. how often will you post on LinkedIn?)
- When and who will produce the content
Grow Your Business Faster With Marketing Support from RFG Advisory
It’s no secret that marketing is hard. From time-consuming content production to the headache of managing campaigns, many Advisors struggle to find the resources required to really make an impact—which is why a growing number rely on external partners.
RFG Advisory equips Advisors with the marketing and branding support they need to fuel growth, elevate their brand, and stand out in a crowded marketplace.
Want to explore how our marketing support could help you do the same?