Four Rules to Drive Home Your Message

Determine Your Target Audience. Your strategy should first revolve around identifying your key audience and delivering your message to them. Based on the size of your practice, this exercise could entail surveying your current client base, or could require conducting an analysis of your current and potential target markets. Once you have your audience profile, you need to define your services from the client’s point of view.

Identify Your Core Message. Although you may come up with a long list of good reasons why an investor should select your practice, try to identify the most critical reason why he or she should choose it. You may find that the most compelling answer has little to do with your practice or abilities. Make sure that this becomes your primary message and back it up with a couple of support points that reiterate the value of your services.

Personalize Your Message. Make your messages resonate on a personal level, and make sure your core principles are reflected in all your collateral material and daily interactions with clients. Constantly communicating your fundamental beliefs throughout every facet of your business will enable you to create a positive impression within your target market.

Stay with the Message. Resist the temptation of changing your messages if immediate results are not achieved. Sticking with well-conceived messages is similar to sticking to an investment plan; the primary goal is to achieve long-term results. You must commit yourself to your messages and realize that in the long run, this is the key strategy that will enable you to build credibility and brand recognition for your practice.

Claudio Pannunzio is a public relations consultant with more than two decades of experience working with financial services firms and advisors. He can be reached at [email protected]