To deliver value to clients and be respected as an advice based professional, a financial planner must have a written Advice Model Statement. The Royal Commission has highlighted the need for advisers and financial institutions to meet the service commitments promised to their clients. A well thought out Advice Model is essential for this. An Advice Model Statement documents the practice’s advi..... Read More

To deliver value to clients and be respected as an advice based professional, a financial planner must have a written Advice Model Statement. The Royal Commission has highlighted the need for advisers and financial institutions to meet the service commitments promised to their clients. A well thought out Advice Model is essential for this.

An Advice Model Statement documents the practice’s advice, professional services, fees, pricing model, target client profiles, and the client experience to be delivered. It ensures greater adviser focus on delivering value and solutions to clients. The statement is the blueprint for developing effective processes and back-office functions to support advisers in delivering advice. The Model is used in staff training and to demonstrate to Centres of Influence how the practice advises and manages the relationships with referred clients.

The 4 pillars for a comprehensive Advice Model Statement are:

1. Build depth with expertise.

2. Make advice ‘tangible’.

3. Make target client profiles meaningful.

4. Use an Advice Model Statement.

Advice Model Pillar 1: Build depth with expertise

• Expertise is the knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience of advisers in financial planning. Expertise is tailored to meet the needs of individual clients and is delivered as advice.
• Expertise is featured in the Advice Model as the core competencies and advice to be delivered by advisers to categories of clients.
• The practice must have the expertise necessary to meet the needs of target clients and the promises in its marketing messages.
• When updating the Advice Model to add new advice or services, the current expertise of advisers is reviewed. This identifies any gaps in their expertise for providing advice. The gaps are filled through adviser training, the recruitment of qualified advisers, and third party consulting relationships.

Advice Model Pillar 2: Make advice ‘tangible’

• It is necessary to differentiate between the intangible features of advice and its tangible benefits. The adviser focuses on the tangible outcomes sought by clients in terms of the value, benefits, and solutions they are receiving, or will gain in the future.
• The 5 methods for making advice tangible are;

An asset of all professional firms is the expertise, knowledge, and experience of advisers. Too often this wealth of knowledge is only used in advising individual clients, or in presentations to small groups of existing clients. Yet this knowledge can be developed into a powerful on-line marketing asset by implementing Content Marketing campaigns. Whilst Content Marketing is the popular term f..... Read More

An asset of all professional firms is the expertise, knowledge, and experience of advisers. Too often this wealth of knowledge is only used in advising individual clients, or in presentations to small groups of existing clients. Yet this knowledge can be developed into a powerful on-line marketing asset by implementing Content Marketing campaigns.

Whilst Content Marketing is the popular term for this approach, I prefer the term Education Based Marketing (EBM) as it more accurately describes the intention of the approach – to provide educational content. ‘Educating the client’ is not giving clients the tools to do-it-themselves.

EBM content explains issues and topics that are important to target clients. It provides insights demonstrating that the adviser understands the issues relevant to clients, and has the required expertise to deliver advice based solutions. It does not go into the ‘how to’ details.

EBM leverages and promotes the expertise of the firm by publishing free EBM items, e.g. articles, blog Posts, and videos, that are created by advisers. These items contain content and educational messages directly relevant to target clients in terms of their needs and interests. It is not product focused but educational and insightful.

EBM items can be distributed as standalone items or as part of a structured Drip-feed Marketing campaign that delivers multiple items over a period to reinforce the positioning of the firm.

Education Based Marketing supports the branding of the firm as advice based. It does not use a traditional advertising approach which focuses on achieving a sale. These older messages featured a sales spiel. EBM focuses on ‘educating’ the client and positioning the advisers as experts on subjects that are directly relevant to them.

The specialist expertise and knowledge of the adviser is developed into items that are published as part of the overall marketing strategy. EBM does not have to replace traditional marketing; but is a very cost effective means of using new digital platforms to reach clients. EBM items can be published in off-line formats, such as hard copy mailings.

EBM items validate and reinforce the positioning of the adviser as an expert. The Internet provides multiple formats for demonstrating adviser competencies across multiple platforms, without the traditional geographic restrictions. The clients of tomorrow are out there, you just need to make it easy for them to find you, and then value the content you publish.

The 3 pillars of Education Based Marketing are:
1.Educate clients in your expertise with free content.
2.Understand the attributes of EBM items.
3.Fully exploit viral distribution and Drip-feed Marketing.

EBM Pillar 1: Educate clients in your expertise with free content
Clients and prospects must understand the expertise of the firm and their adviser in terms of its application and benefits. Advisers do not want to be defined in terms of their function, but the value they add. Often clients will associate their adviser with the immediate advice they consume. They need to be aware of the full range of advice delivered by the firm.

EBM items reinforce the need to engage professional advisers to achieve the right outcomes. Target clients are usually high income earners in occupations that make them time poor. For example, they are too busy to do their own financial planning, they invest their efforts in careers and their businesses.

The more content the firm and advisers produce, the more publishing options there are, e.g. a series of blog Posts becomes an e-book and a presentation or webinar.

EBM Pillar 2: Understand the attributes of EBM items

EBM items have the following attributes:

They communicate the expertise of the firm in a form that educates existing and prospective clients on subjects that are relevant to their needs and interests.

The educational content is directly linked to the advice and services of the firm.

Target clients value the expertise. The expertise is insightful, and in many instances, assists clients to make informed decisions, or reinforces decisions they have made.

The items communicate that the firm understands its clients and the issues relevant to them. It does this by not only presenting facts; it provides insights, often through actual client case studies and examples.

The content is written at a level that is suited to the client.

The items are distributed in many different formats, e.g. written article, PDF report, blog Post, e-book, audio, and video.

The EBM articles strengthen the brand of the firm as a specialist on its chosen subjects.

The content is free, it is not a sales spiel or a reworked advertisement.

The content does not directly ‘sell’ the firm’s advice. It contains calls-to-action which specifically appeal to the target audience and are focused on building relationships and delivering value.

The content does not contain any sensitive intellectual property.

Clients may just skim the item and not read it thoroughly, however this still reinforces the adviser as having expertise on the topic.

The content encourages recipients to share it with their networks.

It can be distributed by Centres of Influence and other referral sources.

Example – Hard copy booklet – in 2006 I published 1,000 hard copies of a free booklet on business strategy at a cost of $3,000 for typesetting and printing. This was my first (and last off-line) EBM campaign. It also cost me $1.50 to mail a copy, plus the cost of a covering letter, compliments slip, etc. Today the digital distribution of content is not only a fraction of the cost, but allows content to be distributed immediately and with greater reach.

EBM Pillar 3: Fully exploit viral distribution and Drip-feed Marketing

The reach and effectiveness of EBM campaigns is maximised through viral distribution and Drip-feed Marketing campaigns.

Viral distribution
Viral distribution is the forwarding of emails and the sharing of on-line content by the initial recipients. For example, a client shares a Facebook Post by an adviser with their friends.

EBM items are ideally suited to being distributed over the Internet or via email because of their digital format. In most instances, it is just a click away from being shared. If the item is of value, recipients will share it with their networks or the contacts who they believe can benefit from it.

Delivering EBM items in a digital format is a cost-effective method of marketing and communicating with clients. It is also used to encourage the recipient to forward the item to people they know who may have an interest in the topic.

Forwarding emails and sharing social media content is known as Viral Marketing.

EBM items provide existing clients with a resource when referring or recommending an adviser to their family, friends, and networks.

Example - Viral distribution of an article within a corporation – a client, aged in his 50s, used email to share an article written by his financial planner with twenty two other senior executives in the corporation where he worked. The client did this because he felt the article on transitioning to retirement would be of interest to his fellow managers, who were mostly in their 50s. Two of the recipients ultimately became clients of the financial planner. The item was educational and demonstrated the adviser’s competence. There was a call-to-action at the end of the item offering a no-obligation discussion with the adviser. The original client did not have to go and personally recommend the adviser, all he did was write a quick email recommending the article.

Drip-feed marketing
EBM campaigns can consist of a single item, e.g. a report emailed as a one-off to existing clients. Alternatively, several EBM items can be delivered to clients and prospects over a scheduled period to consistently reinforce the positioning of the practice as a specialist. This form of regular EBM communication is known as Drip-feed Marketing.

The material from this is taken from the free PDF Download Financial Planner’s Marketing Blueprint available from this website.

Influencer Marketing is: ‘the on-line marketing of expertise through influential individuals with an audience matched to the target profiles of the adviser.’ Every community has gatekeepers. Those individuals who can provide access to target clients. For many advisers, e.g. financial planners, this traditionally consisted of word-of-mouth referrals from existing clients, and referrals fro..... Read More

Influencer Marketing is:

‘the on-line marketing of expertise through influential individuals with an audience matched to the target profiles of the adviser.’

Every community has gatekeepers. Those individuals who can provide access to target clients. For many advisers, e.g. financial planners, this traditionally consisted of word-of-mouth referrals from existing clients, and referrals from Centres of Influence, such as accountants.

The Internet and social media networks have created a new generation of referral sources called ‘influencers’. These gatekeepers use on-line social interaction to influence their audience, e.g. a Mention, Comment, Endorsement, and sharing of the content of others. Their audience consists of individuals who are following the influencer by various means:

1. Being a Fan on Facebook
2. Following them on Twitter
3. Connecting with them on LinkedIn
4. Subscribing to their YouTube Channel
5. Following their blog Posts
6. Liking them on Facebook, etc.

Influencers specialise on topics of interest to their audience and are expert commentators and thought leaders. Some influencers are celebrities, who use their profile to promote products or causes. Influencer Marketing is different to search results, which are based on the algorithms used by the search engines and not the actions of influencers.

There are 2 approaches for an adviser to use Influencer Marketing:

1. Work with third party influencers to recruit new clients and expand the reach of the practice’s marketing presence.
2. Develop their on-line presence and personal brand to become an influencer in their chosen areas of expertise.

The objective with third parties is to establish relationships with influencers so they share the adviser’s educational content and provide social proof that endorses the adviser. This reach gains the attention of prospective clients and referral sources who have no relationship with the practice.

Advisers can become influencers by creating their own on-line audiences. Social media networks, such as LinkedIn and YouTube, publish and host content that positions the adviser as an expert on topics that can be found by clients and influencers through Internet and social media search engines.

The more content advisers have across multiple platforms, the more opportunities to be found by prospects and new referral sources. All networks relevant to target clients are used for Education Based Marketing campaigns to maximise reach in engaging clients, and accessing prospects and referral sources.

The next blog post on Education Based Marketing details the approach to be used in being positioned as a provider of organic content for influencers, and developing the adviser as an influencer.

Note: this information is based on my free PDF download Financial Planner's Marketing Blueprint - available from this website.

Marketing can be categorised as Inbound or Outbound. We all understand Outbound Marketing. It’s the traditional approach where the adviser initiates contact with a prospective client. This can take the form of placing an advertisement in a newspaper, engaging a telemarketer to call prospects, etc. Outbound Marketing is a proactive activity that seeks to reach prospective clients and have the..... Read More

Marketing can be categorised as Inbound or Outbound.

We all understand Outbound Marketing. It’s the traditional approach where the adviser initiates contact with a prospective client. This can take the form of placing an advertisement in a newspaper, engaging a telemarketer to call prospects, etc. Outbound Marketing is a proactive activity that seeks to reach prospective clients and have them initiate a call-to-action, e.g. phone for a complimentary appointment. It has a short-term focus, i.e. to create an immediate client response.

Inbound Marketing is where the client initiates the contact by themselves, e.g. finding the practice on-line by reading a blog Post or acting on a word-of-mouth recommendation from a friend. Inbound Marketing does not generate a direct response to a piece of Outbound Marketing, but leverages the reputation of the adviser, their networks, and their on-line presence. Inbound Marketing is the set of activities which build the marketing assets that ultimately lead to prospective clients initiating contact.

Inbound Marketing is the future for advice based professionals because it leverages their expertise. This form of marketing builds long-term marketing assets consisting of Internet based professional profiles and a library of published content that is educational in nature, and that ultimately generates referrals and leads. When prospective clients conduct searches on topics relevant to their needs, they find the content and professional presence of the adviser.

A strength of Inbound Marketing is that most of the items published on-line are evergreen content, i.e. they don’t go out-of-date and will be available on-line for an indefinite period, e.g. a Post on a website and a LinkedIn profile. Traditional Outbound Marketing like an advertisement in a local newspaper has a limited life of a few days to attract clients. (Content on the Internet can also have a limited life, e.g. a Twitter Tweet without a Hashtag, however, most blog Posts have a long life.)

Demonstrate your expertise and competencies by using Inbound Marketing to build a powerful on-line presence which includes a library of relevant content published on multiple platforms. This includes the practice website having dedicated landing pages for specialist areas of advice and campaigns, blog Posts, social media profiles, published content, videos, Tweets, LinkedIn Posts, etc. All this content can be accessed by clients and prospects using search engines.

Inbound Marketing uses on-line content and search engine optimisation so it is easy for prospective clients to find the practice and advisers. This form of marketing is unlikely to generate immediate results, but like all strategic investments will reap significant benefits in the future.

Note: this information is taken from my free PDF download Financial Planner's Marketing Blueprint available from my website.

As an adviser, and at the practice-level, if you are not actively developing your on-line presence and using Internet marketing, you are playing a losing game. Whatever the excuses for not doing so, clients are making the Internet and social media networks an essential part of their lives. That’s where they are active and engaged. That’s where advisers and their expertise need to be featured...... Read More

As an adviser, and at the practice-level, if you are not actively developing your on-line presence and using Internet marketing, you are playing a losing game. Whatever the excuses for not doing so, clients are making the Internet and social media networks an essential part of their lives. That’s where they are active and engaged. That’s where advisers and their expertise need to be featured. Growth oriented advisers use the Internet to engage better with existing clients, develop referral sources, and reach new markets. They exploit the reach of the Internet to create advice based opportunities and to distribute educational content at little, or no cost.

Overwhelmingly, the adviser marketing of today is embedded in the comfortable off-line routines of the past, i.e. Outbound Marketing that uses marketing initiated by the practice. Few advisers apply up-to-date, on-line strategies that use content and search engine optimisation as part of an Inbound Marketing strategy. Hence, many client and referral opportunities are missed. A passive website is not a marketing strategy.

The Internet and social media networks are ideal for the core marketing activities of:

• Publishing shareable content to engage target clients beyond the restricted reach of traditional adviser marketing and client networks. This uses Education Based Marketing.
• Establishing a strong brand that positions advisers as experts for their chosen areas of expertise and advice. This uses a Positioning Statement and Drip-feed marketing.
• Having professional profiles with the on-line media where clients are active and paying attention. This is relevant when clients have a need for advice and conduct on-line searches.
• Interacting with clients, particularly with milestones and other significant events in their lives.
• Protecting the reputation of the practice and advisers.
• Building professional business networks and relationships, e.g. LinkedIn for B2B networking.
• Conducting market research into client needs and advice triggers.
• Reaching beyond existing client and COI networks.
• Using Influencer Marketing to engage the on-line gatekeepers for target clients.

These on-line activities provide numerous opportunities for advisers to be front-of-mind with clients. This presence protects their on-line reputation and makes it easy to be found by prospective clients looking for specific areas of expertise and advice.

Marketing restricted to promoting the practice website is a limiting option in an expanding digital world. To find out more on how to implement a proactive on-line presence download the free Marketing Blueprint for financial planners from this website.

It is essential for advisers to use all avenues for engaging existing clients, and in developing opportunities with prospective clients. The Internet is the most powerful marketing resource for achieving both of these aims. Internet and social media marketing is used to: Engage existing clients – build stronger relationships through regular contact where clients are active on-line. Have a..... Read More

It is essential for advisers to use all avenues for engaging existing clients, and in developing opportunities with prospective clients. The Internet is the most powerful marketing resource for achieving both of these aims. Internet and social media marketing is used to:

• Engage existing clients – build stronger relationships through regular contact where clients are active on-line.
• Have a presence where target clients are – the Internet and social media enable practices to find and reach clearly defined target client niches, whether they are existing clients or prospects.
• Build on-line communities – the practice should have an email database with clients categorised on relevant criteria. In addition, the practice can build on-line communities by having Facebook Fans, Twitter Followers, LinkedIn Connections, YouTube Subscribers, etc. Each of these communities receives content tailored to their needs.
• Build an on-line library of valuable content – when target clients search on the Internet, or searches on a social media network, or visits the practice website, they find a wealth of relevant content.
• Own the reputation of the practice and advisers – if the practice regularly publishes quality content, it has greater control over search engine results, its on-line reputation, and its professional presence.
• Be the experts on chosen topics – authored content positions advisers as experts and influencers.
• Build the practice brand and personal brand of advisers – the Internet allows both the practice and individual advisers to create and build their own distinct brands.
• Develop new referral sources – the Internet provides access to other professionals. The Internet itself becomes a referral source through the publishing of Education Based Marketing items that generate referrals from the practice website, social media networks, and the overall on-line presence of the practice and advisers. The practice uses Influencer Marketing to establish relationships with those individuals who have a large on-line audience matched to the target client profiles.
• Be found in search results by prospects – make it easy for prospects who do not know the practice, to find it. Then engage them with quality content and a professional presence.
• Validate word-of-mouth referrals – as soon as an existing client or COI recommends an adviser, the prospective client checks them out on-line. You control what prospects find.

Example - Accountant presentation. As a service to a financial planner, I did a presentation to the partners of an accounting firm who are a referral source for the practice, on social media marketing. After the presentation, a Partner asked me to have a quick look at his LinkedIn profile. There were over fifty requests to connect. In fifteen minutes, we accepted over thirty Connection invitations, and wrote recommendations for 2 of his top clients. In other words, thirty-two contacts were notified of this activity in fifteen minutes. One of the recommendations wrote an immediate thank you. This is engagement and keeping front-of-mind with clients.

Note: this information is taken from my free PDF download 'Financial Planner's Marketing Blueprint' available from this website.

All professional advice based practices need to fully embrace their clients of today and tomorrow on the Internet. That’s where these clients are active and can easily be engaged.