About Kristen Luke

By now it is common knowledge that LinkedIn is an effective tool for connecting with existing contacts and facilitating introductions to new contacts. If you have read my other articles about LinkedIn, you know the site also offers opportunities for advisors to market to their target market and centers of influence through LinkedIn groups. Participating in various groups is one way you can utilize LinkedIn as a marketing tool, but for the more ambitious marketers out there, creating your own group can present even greater opportunities. Creating and administering your own group is a time consuming strategy but it increases your exposure to your target market and allows direct access to your group members via LinkedIn email.  Read More

One way to significantly increase the chances of marketing success is to write out a marketing plan and stick to it. You can go into as much detail as writing an executive summary, a SWOT analysis, goals and objectives, a general marketing strategy, a timeline and a budget. But for many of you, this is more than you have the time or desire to do. While it is nice to know what your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats are, it’s activity that is going to bring you business. Having earned my MBA in Marketing, I feel like I should stress the importance of creating a formal marketing plan. It is a good idea if you have the resources available to you to do so.  Read More

Many advisors think they must have a large marketing budget to see result from their efforts. While it is true that campaigns such as seminars and radio shows, which can run thousands or tens of thousands of dollars, are usually effective ways to set appointments, there are other options available for smaller budgets. Below are five marketing ideas for advisors on a tight budget.

Idea #1: Email Marketing

Email marketing is a wonderful and cost effective way to stay top of mind with your contacts. While emailing people you don’t know can become a little sticky with federal CAN-SPAM laws, regularly emailing contacts in your database is a must. There are plenty of email marketing providers out there that will provide graphical email templates to jump start your marketing while ensuring you are following CAN-SPAM laws. Even if you are currently emailing a monthly or quarterly newsletter to your clients, don’t forget to keep in touch with those prospects who came in for an appointment but never converted into a client. If you consistently reach out to them via email, your name will come to mind when they are ready to make a move. You should also consider different email campaigns for each of your contact lists – clients, prospective clients, and centers of influence. This will enable you to address specific issues that would motivate your contacts to take action whether that be scheduling an appointment or providing a referral.  Read More

There is no one element that will guarantee marketing success. Even if you master all of the fundamentals, there is still an element of luck that is required for success. You can have the greatest marketing campaign in the world, with hundreds of prospective clients calling your office each week, then something will change, like a market crash, and all of that comes to an end. There is no way to guarantee marketing success. Even if you use a marketing program that has been proven to work for other advisors in other markets, there is no guarantee that it will work for you. Your personality may not compliment the program, or the prospective clients in your community don’t respond to that particular sales technique. Because there is no “one-size-fits-all” for marketing success, it is important to develop a strategy that works for you and your business.  Read More

In general, I’m not a fan of print advertising as a marketing strategy for financial advisors. Why? Because it is a relationship business and it is difficult to build a relationship through an advertisement. However, there are times when I see value in advertising. For example, one of my clients markets to a small community and wants to have brand recognition in the area, so they advertise in the local newspaper. And it works! Whenever I talk to someone who lives in that community, the can recall the name of the firm immediately. Needless to say, advertising in this instance makes sense because they are looking for name recognition as they network within the community.  Read More

A May 2009 whitepaper titled “Online Marketing Methods: Planner Best Practices,” published by the Financial Planning Association (FPA) found that 27% of advisors are on Facebook. A separate analysis in the same study found that only 25% of advisors use online resources for generating leads or prospects and 23% use them to stay in touch with clients.So if we assume that approximately a quarter of advisors are on Facebook and only a quarter of those people are using the site to attract clients and maintain client relationships, there are very few advisors using Facebook as a marketing tool. One reason for this may be that compliance departments are prohibiting advisors from using the site for marketing purposes. Another reason could be that advisors haven’t been able to see the value in using the site as a viable marketing option. The same FPA study found that 60 percent of advisers who average 16 or more online leads per year use social media, so it is worth examining the different strategies you can use to make Facebook a marketing tool.  Read More

When an advisor decides to include a blog into his or her marketing plan, the next decision is whether or not to personally write original articles or use articles ghostwritten by third party content providers such as MarketingLibrary.net or Forefield.com. There is not necessarily a right or wrong answer to this question. Every advisor’s situation is different, so you must evaluate your goals, resources and restrictions to decide which is the best solution for you. To help you decide how you should proceed with your own blog, consider the pros and cons of each option. 

The Pros of Original Blog Content

Blogs that are personally written by the advisor usually reflect the voice and personality of that advisor which helps create a personal connection between the reader and the writer. In addition, the advisor can write articles specific to his or her target market that are sometimes difficult to find with content providers that write articles for the general public. Another advantage of writing your own blog is that you are able to discuss personal details of your life. Sharing information about your life, family, interests and experiences may go against your natural instincts, but sometimes those are the most effective articles. Through the sharing of personal details, the audience begins to relate to you on a personal level. One final advantage of writing your own blog is that it opens up opportunities to contribute to other sites. For example, some financial websites provide content to their audience by aggregating blogs written by financial advisors. One such site is www.figuide.com. When sites like these feature your blog, you increase exposure not only for your blog but for your business as well.  Read More

Some advisors like to speak; others like to write. Some advisors like formal presentations; others prefer to speak off the cuff. Some advisors prefer to be seen on video, while others would prefer to be heard and not seen. My philosophy is that the best marketing activities are the ones that are in line with the advisor’s preferences and interests. Asking an advisor to write a weekly blog when he or she can barely put two sentences together is a recipe for disaster. In contract, putting an advisor who loves to be the center of attention on video will probably produce positive results. There is a social media tool for everyone out there. All you have to do is choose the one that best fits your personality and preferences.

For the Writers

Blogs

It is easier to drive people to your blog than to your website. Why? Because you are posting quality content on a regular basis to your blog. Most likely, the same cannot be said about your website. With that being said, writing a blog is a major commitment. Successful bloggers know that writing on a consistent basis is one of the keys to success. Coming up with interesting content on a daily or weekly basis can be a challenge. However, if you are naturally drawn to the written word, it is an effective way to tell the world about your investment management philosophies and financial planning strategies.  Read More

In early June, an advisor who reads my blog sent me an email called “Sales Statistics.” It provided some interesting statistics about how many times one must contact a prospect before making a sale. Here is what the email said:

• 48% of sales people never follow up with a prospect.
• 25% of sales people make a second contact, then stop.
• 12% of sales people only make three contacts, then stop.
• Only 10% of sales people make more than three contacts.
• 2% of sales are made on the first contact.
• 3% of sales are made on the second contact.
• 5% of sales are made on the third contact.
• 10% of sales are made on the fourth contact.
• 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact.  Read More

There is no question that networking is good for almost any business. For many people, this means attending networking events. Yet so many people struggle with these events for a number of reasons. It’s uncomfortable to attend an event alone. It’s intimidating to strike up a conversation with a stranger. It’s difficult to decide if it is more effective to speak to as many people as possible and gather cards or to have in-depth conversations with just a few people. All of these factors make attending a networking event an uncomfortable experience for many.

Even if you feel like an event has been a success, you still have to follow up and continue to build relationships with the people you meet. The standard practice for most advisors is to send an email, make a phone call or mail a hand written note. But what happens after the initial contact? Is there a system in place to continue following up in the coming weeks, months and years if there is not an immediate fit? This is where most advisors fail in their networking strategy. If there is not an immediate opportunity to do business together, they often let the relationship lapse due to time constraints. By allowing this to happen, a perfectly good networking contact that may have lead to future business has been wasted. To make the most out of your networking after the event, you need develop a strategy that keeps your name top of mind with all of your networking contacts without adding too much additional work on your end. LinkedIn and e-newsletters are two strategies that achieve this goal.  Read More