April 7, 2009
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives
Marketing your business has never been more important and the current economy presents a great opportunity to pick up new clients. Revenue is down, however, so you don’t have the money you need to spend on marketing to get these clients.
Don’t despair!
There are many low cost options that will have great impact on your business. Recognizing the need for an effective strategy that requires very little money, I have created the $3,000 Marketing Plan. Here’s what you can do to grow your business for as little as $250 per month.
Webinars - $1,188
A webinar is a live meeting or presentation via the Internet. Each participant sits at his or her own computer and is connected to the presenter via the internet.
If you haven’t integrated webinars into your marketing plan, this is the year to do so! For as little as $99 per month using GoToWebinar.com, you can conduct as many webinars as you wish. This strategy helps you reach hundreds of people simultaneously.
Start a monthly webinar series for your clients and prospects. Remind your clients to forward the invitation to their friends and family members. If you want to reach a larger audience, list your webinar on free calendar of events websites and social networking sites like LinkedIn. Conduct webinars for your Centers of Influence (COI) and consider inviting outside panelists to present with you. Invite COIs to become panelists and ask them to extend the invitation to their clients as well. You can extend the reach of your webinars by recording the session and posting it to your website, or email links to people who couldn’t make the event.
A couple hours of work and $99 a month can make a big difference in your marketing.
Email marketing - $180
If you are still using print newsletters, it’s time to upgrade to electronic versions. Not only are print newsletters not environmentally friendly, they are expensive. You can subscribe to Constant Contact to reach your clients, prospects and COIs via email. You compose the email, and Constant Contact handles the delivery, giving you reports showing, for example, who opened the email and how many bounced. A monthly fee of $15 allows you to send marketing emails to up to 500 contacts an unlimited number of times.
You can send as many weekly market wraps, quarterly newsletters, invitations to special events and client surveys as you want for only $180 per year. To best utilize email marketing, continue to build your list of clients, prospects and COIs and send information relevant to each group. You can reach out in dozens of different ways to people through email marketing. All you have to do is be creative!
Networking events - $1,200
Some people love networking events, such as Chamber of Commerce and Rotary meetings. Others despise them. To continually build your list of prospects and COIs, you should regularly be collecting cards at events and adding them to your email and webinar campaigns. To stay within the $3,000 budget, you can attend two events per month at an average cost of $50 per event. If you can go to more, great! Just remember to collect contact information and add the people you meet to the campaigns mentioned above.
In-office roundtable discussions - $300
Twice a year, hold an economic roundtable discussion in your office. Invite other advisors who have varying perspectives on the economy such as bankers, CPAs, attorneys, and commercial real estate agents. Invite a select group of people (prospects, clients, COIs) so that the event feels exclusive. Hold the event in the evening with wine and cheese served. For 25 people, you need 12 bottles of wine at $8 apiece and a $50 cheese and fruit platter from your local grocery story deli. That is approximately $150 for each event. Such a deal for such a great relationship building event!
Cards - $125
Good old fashioned note and greeting cards go a long way. At a minimum, you should send holiday cards to all of your clients. You should also send thank you cards to clients who provide you with a referral, and greeting cards on special occasions. Include a handwritten note and your gesture will go a long with your clients and your word of mouth marketing.
The marketing plan described gives you a lot of flexibility and provides you with enough activities to last an entire year. The total cost of this plan? $2,993! With this budget, here is what you can accomplish in just one year:
- 52 Weekly Market Wrap Emails
- 4 Quarterly Email Newsletters
- 12 Client/Prospect Webinars
- 12 COI Webinars
- 2 Round Table Discussions
The most successful firms tell me that, in economic times like these, their business grows the most. Why? Because they focus on marketing when other firms do not. This year, don’t neglect your marketing. Take advantage of the low cost marketing options available to you and watch your business thrive!
Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a firm dedicated to providing marketing advice and support for financial advisors. Kristen works with independent advisors to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back office support required to implement the strategies. For more information, visit www.WealthManagementMarketing.net.
Display article as PDF for printing.
Would you like to send this article to a friend?
Remember, if you have a question or comment, send it to .
