The financial advisory industry is a competitive space, and RIA firms must be proactive in order to reach new clients. It’s essential that firms stay top-of-mind with prospects and educate them on how your firm can help manage their wealth and achieve their lifestyle goals.

Don’t assume that you’re not only targeting people who have never hired an advisor. You also must keep in mind that potential clients may already be working with another advisor. One-third of clients plan to switch wealth management advisors over the next three years.

How do you become the first firm someone thinks of when they begin to shop around, or when a person is looking to work an advisor for the first time? Through consistent touchpoints along their buyer journey.

Create Awareness

It starts with awareness. High-net-worth individuals can’t choose your firm if they don’t know you exist.  At this point in the buyer journey, it’s about getting the word out about your firm. You can do this through PR, an article pitched to a news publication, referrals, and advertising.

Consideration

Gaining awareness with prospects is only the first step. For prospects to consider your firm, they need to know more about you. At this point in the buyer journey, they will begin to visit your website or LinkedIn page. They may sign up for an email newsletter or download an e-book from your site.

It’s important to keep your website current and consistently updated with fresh content so that prospects see you are staying on top of industry news or trends.

This point in the journey is when you’ll send more information about your advisors and the firm to prospects and set up an in-person meeting.

You’re Hired!

Prospects typically convert into clients after interacting with you in person. Set up a pitch meeting to discuss your services and why you’re the right firm for the prospect. During this part of the buyer journey, you may also interact with a prospect during an event presented by a COI, such as a lunch and learn or a dinner.

Stay Active

Your work isn’t done once you land a new client. As you know from the statistic above, just because you have a client today doesn’t mean they’ll be with you three years from now. You need to maintain touchpoints with your existing clients to remind them why they should continue working with your firm.

One easy win is to periodically send client alerts. These e-alerts can be an update about a new law that impacts retirement accounts or a change in tax law. This shows that you are staying on top of matters that may impact them.

Consider presenting educational webinars for your clients on relevant topics, such as alternative investment opportunities or changes in tax law. You could partner with a COI to present it, which may in turn bring in other prospects. Also, consider writing a guest column in a publication about a pain point for your client and how your firm solves it.  (This is also a great tool for attracting prospective clients and nurturing leads with current prospects.) Guest columns and webinar presentations establish your firm as a thought leader in the industry.

Thought leadership is important and a way to stand out among other firms. In a recent survey, 55% of business decision-makers said they use thought leadership to vet organizations they may hire. Nearly 60% of business decision-makers said thought leadership directly led them to award business to an organization.

Remind People You’re Here

Thanks to technology, companies aren’t forced to serve the same ad to various audiences. Programmatic advertising has made people accustomed to a new level of personalization in their online experience. Programmatic advertising lets a firm buy ads through automated, software-enabled placements that can narrow impressions based on user type or specific users.

Two-thirds of respondents in the 2018 Adobe Consumer Content Survey said it’s important for brands to automatically adjust content based on their current context.

Show your existing clients (and prospects) that you understand their needs by advertising services tailored to their pain points. Targeted ads can be a cost-effective way to reach specific people – those who share certain demographics or those who share the same buyer intention.

You can also use retargeting ads to follow up with clients or prospects that have visited your website or attended a webinar.

Check out our recent blog on targeted ads for COIs to learn more about how it works.

Experienced marketers know it can take anywhere from seven to 13 touchpoints to deliver a qualified lead. With a cohesive brand and message across all channels, you can convert prospects to clients and grow your RIA firm.

Contact us to learn how we can help your firm accelerate growth.