Financial Services Marketing Essentials: How to Reach Financial Advisors with Targeted Marketing

Financial advisors are inundated every day with information about market activity and their clients’ needs. This leaves them limited time to discover and consume content across different media channels. For marketers hoping to reach them with targeted campaigns that can present some challenges.

However, just because it may be difficult to reach these individuals doesn’t mean it’s impossible to target them successfully with your marketing campaigns.

In fact, a well-designed marketing campaign that addresses points of friction faced by financial advisors has the potential to lead to a strong, mutually beneficial relationship for years to come.

In this article, we’ll explore several tips for reaching financial advisors and engaging them with your brand.

1. Identify your unique selling proposition (USP) and how it aligns with the needs of advisors

It’s important to clearly define your unique selling proposition early in the marketing campaign process to ensure it aligns with the needs of your target advisors.

Whether your offering is a better custodial relationship for their business, a technology platform that supports their financial planning process, or investment products that help address specific client needs, it’s important to be clear about what you’re selling and why it matters to your audience.

Take time in your campaign to highlight what makes your business unique and be especially specific about how it addresses and solves a particular need that advisors face.

Remember, your messaging must be both immediately compelling (to gain their attention) and able to stand up under scrutiny (to keep their interest). Clear and persuasive messaging is paramount to the success of your campaign.

2. Develop targeted content that speaks to their interests and pain points

Once you’ve established the “what” of your message, your next step should be to identify the content that delivers on the “how.”

When it comes to financial advisors, educational and informative content that addresses a specific need or challenge is often the most effective channel for converting leads into customers because it establishes your business as a subject matter expert in the space.

Financial advisors continuously seek to expand their knowledge and stay updated on various topics to serve their clients better, grow and manage their practices, and understand the evolving financial landscape. Content focused on helping advisors deliver on these goals can engage interest. Some examples include:

1. Market Analysis and Economic Trends: Understanding the global and local economic indicators, market trends, and forecasting to advise clients on investment strategies.
2. Technology Best Practices: Leveraging technology for portfolio management, client communication, and operational efficiency. This includes exploring new fintech solutions, cybersecurity measures, and digital marketing strategies.
3. Practice Growth and Management: Attracting new clients and adding additional financial advisors to grow the business, strategies for enhancing client service and operational efficiency, and skills for enhancing leadership, business development, and team building.
4. Client Management Best Practices: Recommendations for deepening client relationships and delivering personalized financial planning services.
5. Behavioral Finance: Insights into how psychological influences and biases affect clients’ financial decisions and how advisors can address these challenges.
6. Wealth Management and Estate Planning: Advanced strategies for wealth preservation, tax planning, and intergenerational wealth transfer, including the use of trusts and wills.
7. Retirement Planning: Innovations and strategies in retirement planning and the impact of changing demographics.
8. Investment Strategies: Exploring various investment vehicles and strategies, such as ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing, cryptocurrency, alternative investments, and portfolio diversification principles.

When building out a content plan, you’ll generally want to choose 2-3 of these topics to get started with, then consider different content formats such as articles, white papers, webinars, videos, or workshops.

Finally, you can select different channels of publication for your new content, from social media to targeted email marketing and ad placements.

3. Leverage social media and professional networks such as LinkedIn

Building a strong presence on LinkedIn and secondary platforms such as X (Twitter) is important for sharing content, engaging with users, and participating in industry-related groups and conversations.

Data from Greenwich Associates, for example, notes that financial advisors rely on LinkedIn more than any other channel or media source as both a source of news and educational content, with 84% of surveyed advisors using the platform in a professional capacity.

Remember, branding is “reflective” in that your brand is composed of the mental imagery that your target audience has about your business. If you fail to show up on the platforms where financial advisors regularly seek information, your brand’s visibility will be lower and your messaging will prove less effective.

When considering the types of information to post on LinkedIn, it’s also important to consider the types of content that advisors seek. LinkedIn notes on its sales blog that three categories of content stand out as the most popular among financial advisors:

1. Timely news or market updates (69% say they seek out this content type)
2. Opinions or commentary from news media (52%)
3. Educational material (51%)

Taken together, these content preferences hint at a desire among advisors to learn and stay informed about industry trends through thought leadership sourced from credible industry partners.

Businesses that can position themselves as a valued resource in this area will be able to leverage these relationships into stronger buyer journeys based on a groundwork of credibility and trust.

4. Build out detailed email marketing campaigns and automations

Studies have consistently shown that email marketing is one of the most impactful methods for gaining dedicated followers and driving conversions.

In fact, research from McKinsey & Company has noted that email marketing can be up to 40 times more effective than social media for acquiring customers and can lead to sales nearly three times faster and 17% higher than other marketing channels.

The financial advisor profession is a relatively small target audience to market to, especially when you begin targeting subsets of advisors, such as only those who work at major financial management companies or those with more specific job titles such as Certified Financial Planners (CFPs).

The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), for example, has only 4,600 members, while the latest statistics from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) note that there are only around 330,000 personal financial advisors total in the entire country (including a large number of individuals who are likely outside of your target audience by AUM or number of clients), effectively setting a hard upper limit on the total size of your audience.

It’s important to note that many financial firms have extensive cybersecurity protections in place, which can impact email deliverability. Building a carefully curated list, following best practices, and tracking metrics like hard bounces and open rates are critical to ensuring your messages are getting through to your audience.

5. Emphasize networking and building key industry partnerships

Attending industry conferences and events where financial advisors are likely to be present, regularly speaking at or sponsoring these events to promote visibility, and finding ways to start engaging in conversations with advisors (whether in-person, online, or over the phone) are some of the best ways to insert your brand into their networks and build key industry partnerships.

Importantly, networking with financial advisors requires reaching them across multiple touchpoints, from LinkedIn and email to meeting them at events or smaller sessions.

One effective approach, for example, is to establish a regular cadence of touchpoints with the financial advisors in your network. This can be through newsletters that share industry insights, updates on market trends, or roundups of key takeaways from recent events.

This form of consistent communication keeps your brand top-of-mind and can spur collaborative discussions that ultimately relate to your business’s offering.

Another strategy is to leverage online professional networks like LinkedIn to connect with financial advisors. Joining industry-specific groups, participating in discussions, and sharing thought leadership content can demonstrate your expertise and commitment to the field.

These online interactions can complement your in-person efforts, creating a comprehensive, cross-platform networking strategy.

Effective networking is not only about expanding your contact list. It’s about nurturing relationships and finding mutual benefits that can lead to strong, enduring industry partnerships.

By prioritizing genuine engagement and support, you can build a network that knows and trusts your brand enough to forge key partnerships.

Create an in-depth marketing plan that addresses the needs of financial advisors

Effectively marketing to financial advisors requires a strategic blend of clear messaging, relevant content, and robust networking.

Important to this approach is crafting a unique selling proposition that resonates with advisors’ needs, complemented by targeted content that addresses their professional interests and challenges.

When executing your strategy, leveraging platforms like LinkedIn and email marketing to amplify your brand’s visibility and credibility in the industry is important.

Remember, success in marketing to financial advisors demands persistence, adaptability, and a deep understanding of their unique landscape. By embedding these strategies into your marketing efforts, you’re not just reaching out to financial advisors; you’re building lasting connections that can enrich both your brand and the financial advisory community.