Make Advisor Marketing Easier by Choosing a Target Market

When you zero in on your ideal client and using a “high value, hyper-targeting” strategy, your marketing priorities fall into line. Clarifying this specific type of client whom you enjoy helping and who appreciates your value at the fee you want to earn can help you follow through on your marketing plan execution.

An overlooked benefit of ‘less’

With this prioritization in place, you know where to focus your messaging, what content to develop, and which kinds of partnerships to pursue to attract in new clients. Higher revenue from adding new high-value clients is where most advisory firms expect they will feel the benefits of the targeting strategy. While this is the intended and expected outcome, one major overlooked benefit of this hyper-targeted focus is the ease of execution you and your team experience. With less to think about, you create more desire to implement.

Recently, I shared my experience of putting the KonMari method to the test with our hall closet. The purging released a new found energy and excitement. What I did not expect was the continued payoff that this one purge delivers.

With a simplified, organized closet, I now feel like everything has a place. I can open the door and complete my task without feeling overwhelmed by shifting boxes, kicking bags out of the way, or shoving coats to find a hangar. Oddly, when I take off my jacket, I feel more inclined to hang it up right away*. When I take out a bag to use it, I can easily return it to its spot**.

What really surprised me is that I want to put these items back. With absolute clarity and less to evaluate, I have eliminated this resistance to doing a task I do not enjoy. It’s effortless to execute now, so I do it. I have even discovered the joy in this ease – or at least the joy in the result of the action.

Eliminate your resistance to marketing

A high-value hyper-target strategy can bring the same ease and relief as a Mari Kondo clean out. When you are clear on the client you want to attract who will help you sustain a profitable business, you can eliminate your resistance to execute. You will free up energy in yourself and your team to make the mundane more enjoyable.

Consider these benefits from a tighter focus on a specific target:

1. Fewer service offerings and the opportunity for templates and standardized processes.

• Example: Your team will have a clearly documented “Year 1 Client Experience” from which to work with clients.  CRM triggers and email templates allow you to systematize communications and keep a consistent message for all clients, no matter which advisor or team member reaches out.

2. Acute knowledge of the scenarios these clients face, making you even more appealing as you draw from numerous case studies.

• Example: Your firm works with numerous executives from the same company. You understand the benefit plan, the compensation structure, the incentives, and the culture. This experience is an easy “wow” factor that put a prospect at ease.

3. Less research, preparation for your advisors and your support team, as “common scenarios” emerge.

• These common scenarios become the acute knowledge that turns into “wow” factors.

4. More money coming in to invest in support to provide service and increase engagement.

• Example:  With more clients at a higher fee, you can devote additional resources to client events or personalized outreach.

5. Fewer initiatives as you purge what no longer fit for the audience.

• Example: You teach a one-day adult education class at a local college and most of the attendees are do-it-yourselfers. You’ve never really gotten a client from it, although you’ve spent hours preparing and holding consultations with unqualified people.

6. Compelling content is easier to craft.

• You can connect at a deeper emotional level about issues that are relevant to your audience.

7. Easier to attract more high-value clients.

• Clients refer people who are similar to themselves.  If they are high-value clients, the people they refer will likely match the profile, too.

While a targeting strategy does not magically do the work for you, it does remove the obstacles that can prevent your firm from executing your marketing plan. You and your team will find it much easier to follow through and reap the benefits.

*not a skill I have mastered over the past 40+years of my life much to my husband’s and my mother’s dismay.
** see previous note (*).