Shotgun approaches to marketing risk being expensive,time-consuming and nonproductive. They also fail to distinguishyour firm in the market.

“It is never a matter of just buying a list,” says Robert Sofia,cofounder of marketing consultants Platinum Advisor Strategies inSummerfield, Florida. “If you buy a list, you have the same peopleon the list that your competitor has on their list; that's all youget. It doesn't mean you can't do something with that list.Sometimes there's a place for that, but that's not the way toattract your ideal client.”

Related: 9 steps to increasing your leads

A better approach is to plan your lead development effortstrategically, according to Marie Swift, president and CEO ofImpact Communications Inc. in Kansas City, Kan. Her firm works withadvisers to identify their strengths, weaknesses and goals. Byspending some time on those themes and following up with a formalmarketing plan, it's easier for firms to execute more consistently,she says.

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1. Understand your business and clients

There's too much sameness in the financial advisory business,Sofia explains. Too many advisors copy successful firms' strategiesand tactics with the hope of replicating their success. A betterapproach is for an advisory firm to consider its own motivationsand competitive advantages. It's an in-depth process that canbenefit from third-party coaching, he says, but it's worth it“because most advisors, if you ask them what makes them different,will tell you something that every other advisor will tellyou.”

Related: Are referral leads waiting in yourinbox?

That same review process can help identify better prospects andclients. Swift cautions that trying to adapt to every client andmatch their philosophies will backfire because the prospect orclient will sense the lack of genuine identification. Sheencourages advisors to instead develop mission and visionstatements and then identify their ideal client. Profiling desiredclients clearly “will keep you to the plan of courting thoseparticular people instead of the universe of people in yourcommunity or neighborhood,” she says.

Reviewing existing clients can reveal valuable patterns, saysSofia. The advisor might learn that a good percentage of hisclients are C-level executives, widows or some other identifiablegroup. That information can reveal an unrecognized market expertiseand advantage, which in turn provides a foundation for building aprospecting strategy.

Scoring system to rank clients andprospects

That's the approach New York City-based Lenox Advisors Inc. tookseveral years ago. The firm's partners developed a scoring systemthat would help them rank clients and prospects, says partner TomHenske. The process led to the realization the firm “wanted clientsthat were young, making a good amount of money, laser-focused ontheir work and didn't have a lot of free time to do their ownplanning — all the things that make us, as financial advisors,relevant,” he explains. Wall Street executives fitted the profileperfectly and that cohort became the core of the firm'sclientele.

Other advisors use different characteristics to define theirtarget markets. Randy Scritchfield, CFP in Damascus, Maryland sayshis clients are usually age 55 or older and planning for retirementor already retired. He doesn't use income or investable assets asthe most important features in client selection; his segmentationis more subjective. He divides prospects into three categories:do-it-yourselfers, collaborators and delegators. He won't work withthe first category, will consider the second and prefers the third.Delegators, he adds, are the “ideal client.”

(Photo: Thinkstock)

2. Plan your messages

Identifying your target market is a critical first step, but howdo you connect with them? Swift advocates what she calls the threeM's: market, message and media. The message must resonate with themarket and reach them in a way that will attract their attention.She uses the example of a funnel. At the top of the funnelprospects become aware of your possible role as a resource andstart to consider your services. Ongoing communication — dripmarketing — can help move these prospects down the funnel, even ifthey're not ready to commit to working with you yet. “And, as theycome down that funnel, they're finally going to end up in, ideally,this bucket called decision-making,” she says. “(Here) they'redoing their due diligence about their decision, checking you outonline, talking to friends and family, other people that you mayrefer them to, checking with their other professionaladvisors.”

Related: 4 strategies for dealing with onlineleads

It's critical to avoid generic messaging when communicating withprospects, says Sofia. An unfocused message will not resonate withthe target market and moving a prospect from cold to warm statusrequires creating empathy. The only way to do that is to understandthe market and express that understanding in your communications.“Every piece of copy that you write and every page on your website,should be focused on one audience,” he says. “So when those peopleget plugged into your pipeline their immediate sense is that youknow them, you get them. That's the first step to warming somebodyup.”

(Photo: Thinkstock)

3. Consider customized approaches

Potential clients respond differently to different communicationmethods, Swift notes. Consequently, what works for one group —seminars, for instance — won't work with another target market. Insome cases, it's necessary to take a different approach to get infront of prospects. She cites physicians as an example. Doctors areoften unlikely to attend an event you sponsor off-site, but if theadvisor can land a speaking opportunity in front of a hospital'semployees, that event is more likely to draw prospects. Incontrast, prospects with more free time may respond better tocommunity events. “Those folks may respond better to social andcharitable events where they would be happy to come to a charitablegolf outing or to put on a hardhat and do a Habitat for Humanitybuild because they're all about community stewardship and familystewardship,” she says.

Related: 18 ways to shake up marketing and sharpenresults

Sofia shares a hypothetical example in which many of theadvisor's targeted clients live in a gated community, perhaps agolf and country club. Advertising in the community's periodicalsor their golf tournament announcements will help build namerecognition among the residents. If an advisor knows the scheduleof a retiree group she's targeting, she could schedule aneducational event around the prospects' schedules.

For Lenox Advisors, that realization led them to provide groupbenefits through their prospects' employers. Henske estimates that60% to 70% of the firm's marketing is worksite-based. As providersof one or more of the company's group benefits, Lenox Advisorsstaff members meet one-on-one with employees to discuss theirbenefits, which allows the firm to build relationships early in theemployee's career.

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4. Stay in touch

Message frequency is another factor to consider. Henske saysthat clients' and prospects' rank on an A, B, C scale, (A being thehighest) which influences the number of contacts received from thefirm. C-clients and prospects might receive six contacts per year,for instance, consisting of several newsletters and an annualreview meeting for clients. A-levels could receive up to 24communications annually plus invitations to client events and otherpersonal touches. More contacts cost more, but it's worth it, hesays because “you're basically helping to solidify the relationshipwith that person and thus getting referrals to friends and familythat tend to be in the same economic stratosphere as thatindividual.”

Related: Selling is not telling: 4 tips to offer betterinsurance solutions

Scritchfield says one of his most effective messaging tools is amarket commentary that he emails every Tuesday. It puts his name infront of prospects at least 52 times a year; clients typicallyreceive 70 or more contacts, including the emails. The frequentcommunications increase the likelihood prospects and clients willthink of him when they need financial advice. “So, when you want asecond opinion on what you're already doing, when you have a CDcome up for renewal, when you change jobs and have an opportunityto roll over your 401(k), it's very easy because my name is infront of you on a weekly basis,” he says. “It's very easy just tohit reply and say, hey Randy, give me a call.”

(Photo: Thinkstock)

5. Be consistent

Sofia reports that on average it takes seven interactions withan advisor's brand before prospects convert to clients. Those seveninteractions can take place across multiple media, however, andSofia strongly advocates cross-channel messaging. “Maybe once is anemail, once is a video, once is on social media, once is through atraditional advertising source like an ad or a billboard, once isthrough an event, once is through a piece of thought leadership,”he says.

Related: 2015's 50 best ways to generate leads:1-10

It's important that the message remains consistent across thechannels, he stresses. Swift also believes the message and medianeed to remain focused. If a prospect visits an advisor's website,for example, she says the experience should be one of “aprofessional, cohesive brand.” It's about building credibility andconvincing prospects that your firm is the best resource for theirneeds, she maintains: “Keep that in mind and make sure everythingis consistent and clean and simple.”

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