This is part three of a series. Go here for part 1 and here for part 2.
In this series, I’m addressing the seven deadly financial advisor marketing sins that continue to cost advisors like you tons of money. In this article, I’ll cover sins five through seven.
These marketing sins pertain to all marketing channels, not just digital marketing. However, a majority of them pertain to Internet marketing, merely because I have found that to be the future of marketing in this industry.
The great news is that all of these can be corrected quickly. The big question is, will you make the changes and implement them where needed?
5. Doing seminars and not building an email list of every person who ever attends your seminar
I have yet to meet a seminar producer who books and brings on 100 percent of their seminar attendees as new clients. No one is that good, and it is impossible to find continuous prospects who are all in buying mode and ready to convert into clients right away.
For those of you who have been through any kind of sales training in the past, you might recall the stats that say it can take up to seven different marketing messages in front of a prospect before they finally morph from a somewhat interested prospect into a highly motivated prospect/soon-to-be client.
I have found that, for my business, the same stats run true. That is why I email all of my financial advisor prospects once per week with new, valuable information.
And I have found that in some cases, it has taken over 18 weeks of continuous weekly emails before someone made a purchase.
The tough part is you just never know what you might say or convey that will cause the prospect to get into buying mode. The important part is just being consistent with high-value content.
Here is how you can begin to build a huge email list and get closer to converting 100 percent of your seminar attendees over time.
Your new seminar rule:
The meal is free as long as you can provide a valid email address. That simple.
And if they don’t have an email, then you probably don’t want them as clients, as they will be tough to communicate with, tough to give updates to, and tough to add value to as a client in the future.
At the end of the day, this is your seminar. You are paying for the meal; you are providing free value, and the rules are yours to make.
Let them know the reason you must have their email is that you send out a free retirement tip once per week that is usually only reserved for your top clients. Make them feel special for giving up this information.
And remind them that if they ever feel that the weekly email doesn’t add value, that they can unsubscribe with one click. Most prospects and clients will have no issues with this.
And then, once you have these emails, you can easily build an automated drip sequence with any CRM or email autoresponder.
Here’s a tip:
Drip email your list, and continue adding value to your list forever. Don’t stop after just a few weeks.
That is one of the biggest mistakes I see financial advisors make. You never know when someone might need you.
It could be two months or even two years until they inherit money, sell a company, retire, etc. And you want to be the name that pops into their head immediately after they know they need some help.
There isn’t a better way to stay top of mind than a weekly email or newsletter.