We live in the information age, and it seems like the rate of change continues to accelerate. This acceleration poses a significant threat to effective marketing. I see financial planners and advisors jump on the latest trends before they get results from the last shiny marketing initiative. The worst part is that they often cannibalize resources and energy on basic things that should already be in place in an effective marketing program. The thrill of trying something new is a blessing and a curse.
Don’t violate the most basic marketing principle
Neglecting what is working and abandoning things that have more potential for showing a return is a threat to a basic marketing principle – repetition. Consistent exposure builds awareness and trust in financial planner marketing. Trying something new all the time is a rather lousy way to market something.
So before you are enticed to try something new, ask yourself these three questions.
- Will it work for me? I too often have conversations with people who say, I want to do “abc” because it works for “xyz”. Before you pick up a strategy, you better examine the criteria that made it work for “xyz”. What works for “xyz” — who has a huge house list, and who has built a strong personal brand — will not work for someone who doesn’t have a personal brand or even a house list of prospects. The factors that make something work need to be identified and examined before one tries to mimic the success.
- Do I have have a plan in place? Trying new things all the time is not a plan. Do you have a solid website that clearly communicates your value? Do you have an offer that entices people who are not ready to act, and a path to lead them up to a sale?
- Am I measuring something? Most are not ready for deep analytics, but it is just not acceptable to have no measurement in place. Is your blog traffic growing? Are you getting more email subscriptions than last year?
Experimenting is not bad
I am not proposing that one sticks their head in the sand. The truth is that it is more important than ever to be aware of how the world is changing and how this effects communication and marketing. A portion of your marketing should be invested in trying new things.
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