Updated on: July 20, 2022

It’s always exciting to gain more followers on social media, receive invitations to connect, and add new contacts to your CRM, but with growth comes responsibility! And as a busy financial professional you need to work smarter, not harder.

If your audience has opted in, then they expect to hear from you. Do they want to hear about your services constantly? Probably not. But if consistent engagement seems daunting, think about it in a few distinct steps to start building a thoughtful content marketing strategy that builds a full financial advisor sales pipeline.

Before Engagement, Think About Segmentation

Once you have your digital crowd—whether it’s 50 contacts or 500—can you start to see some trends emerge? Are there demographic commonalities, such as location, age, or gender amongst your audience? Alternatively, are you uncovering any gaps in your target market? Breaking your overall client list into smaller groups based on these commonalties can help increase engagement.

You can use these groups as separate email lists, or tags on social platforms. By creating alignment in the message to a similar group, you can increase the likelihood of your audience responding to that message.

For example, if you have a lot of families in your email list, perhaps they would like hearing about education funding, or life insurance options, or tax credits that could be advantageous. Client segmentation for financial advisors helps you add your value and expertise as a financial professional with topics that matter to your audience.

Cadence Is Key with Marketing

As your audience becomes clear and there are distinct messages and topics that each group cares about, you then need to consider how to keep the conversation going. Are there opportunities to supplement those topics with some general interest material or content that is more personal to you or your brand?

Think about sharing sneak peeks of what it’s like to work with you or your office. You can use images, photography, or video content to market your story. And don’t be shy about posting accomplishments like a new certification or a milestone event.

Maintaining a content marketing calendar can help guide you if you are feeling stuck on what to share. Holidays and universal events offer an opportunity to connect. You can even use an economic or policy calendar to proactively make sure you are engaging with clients and prospects when breaking news or major policy changes occur that can impact their finances.

Additionally, well-timed engagement campaigns around major life events or different client experience touchpoints—such as an upcoming meeting, meeting follow-up, tax season, etc.—can enhance your engagement strategy.

Utilize Customization When Appropriate

Another fundamental aspect of successfully engaging your audience is to make every member feel like an individual, not just part of a crowd!

Customization can occur in emails, online experiences, and product or service recommendations that automatically incorporate client data points like client name, company name, and family member names. Email marketing automation can help to personalize engagement on important topics and make scaling personalization easier.

You can also use analytics in your financial planning software to filter for opportunities that are right for that client. For example, in a low interest rate environment can you find everyone in your client list that has a mortgage? Perhaps it’s worth reaching out to start a conversation about refinancing.

Putting It All Together in a Marketing Campaign

The ROI of any one component in your marketing toolbox is important, but the sum of your marketing efforts will be greater than its parts. So when you think about engaging clients in your CRM, creating email lists, and using social media to hit your audience, always consider how each of these pieces will work together as a campaign.

Marketing campaigns are important because they are designed to create momentum and engagement by building on previous promotions you have shared—especially when you use the same messaging and ideas between pieces.

For more ideas on engaging your audience, check out our eBook, Elevating Your Financial Planning Business: Improving Client Engagement and Experience Through Better Marketing.

DISCLAIMER: The eMoney Advisor Blog is meant as an educational and informative resource for financial professionals and individuals alike. It is not meant to be, and should not be taken as financial, legal, tax or other professional advice. Those seeking professional advice may do so by consulting with a professional advisor. eMoney Advisor will not be liable for any actions you may take based on the content of this blog.

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