Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
For your New Year’s resolution this year, consider updating or creating new marketing materials for your firm. Do you know how to communicate your preferences to your creative team?
Maybe you are launching a new service in the new year and would like to develop a short video clip to display on your website. Maybe you are interested in adding a pitch book to your marketing collateral arsenal. The first step to take in the creative process is to identify a specific project. Answering fundamental questions, such as those I’ve identified below, about the deliverables will help you establish clear expectations for your creative team.
Target audience
Share as much as you can about your business, your service and your target audience. Who is your target audience? High-net worth or middle-market investors? Those in the accumulation or withdrawal phase of retirement? Or a specific niche, such as doctors or CEOs? Is your goal lead generation? Are you hoping to differentiate yourself you’re your competitors? Or do you want to educate already qualified prospects about your services? The final creative product should reflect the culture and ambitions of your company or service. The more you communicate these details, the more precise the results will be.
Objectives
Just like the process of helping clients identify and communicate their financial goals, you will need to identify your goals for the project. What are you trying to achieve? What are your top three priorities or objectives? How do you envision the final design?
Message and tone
Advisors tend to have great difficulty effectively communicating the desired message and tone. What are you saying with this piece? What concepts do you want to convey? What do you want your audience to take away? How should the message be communicated? What specific adjectives would you use to describe the feeling or approach?
Format and production
Now it is time to communicate the desired format for your new marketing piece. Is this a print piece (e.g., stationery, brochure, ad or invitation) a digital piece (e.g., e-newsletter, podcast or video) or an electronic presentation such as a PowerPoint? If it is a print piece, you will need to decide if you will be using a professional printing company or if it is more appropriate to print at your office. By specifying production method, your designer will know be able to adequately prepare the piece for printing.
Content
The final information to share with your design contractor or staff member are any content or images that need to be included or are relevant to the project. For instance, if your firm recently went through a logo redesign, supply your designer with the most up-to-date files. In addition, provide any samples, colors, images or visual inspiration that may help guide the concept for this project. If there are particular colors, images or concepts that you want your designer or staff member to stay away from, this will be important to communicate as well. Some ways to share inspiration include using social platforms like Pinterest or a shared file system like Dropbox.
If you engage a marketing agency or design consultant before embarking on a new marketing project, they would be there to guide you through a creative process similar to the one I have outlined. If you manage this process internally, this creative brief outline will help you address the key foundation items to identify with any new firm marketing piece. My hope is that it will serve as a guide to help you construct concise, clear messages that truly convey your needs and help you get the most out of your firm’s marketing efforts.
Elizabeth Snyder is the Marketing Manager for clients of Wealth Management Marketing, Inc., a firm specializing in outsourced marketing department services to Registered Investment Advisors and fee-only financial planning firms. For more information, visit www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net.
Read more articles by Elizabeth Snyder
