The Three Minute Marketing Assessment

Marketing is like any other business strategy. It needs be well planned out for it to be successful. But where do you start? You want to continue the efforts that have been successful, but you feel like there is more you can do. And, of course, you are right because there is always something more you can do. However, there is only so much time in the day, so you need to be smart about your marketing.

Whenever an advisor engages me to develop an overall marketing strategy, I always start by conducting a full marketing assessment to identify strengths and weaknesses. This helps me create a plan that focuses on correcting weaknesses while capitalizing on strengths at the same time. Now, you can do the same for yourself. For this week’s blog, I have provided a tool which I like to call “The Three Minute Marketing Assessment.” It is a modified version of the assessment I conduct for my own clients. Take three minutes to see how your marketing measures up.

	Yes	No
Marketing Basics	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a defined target market?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a defined ideal client profile?	[ ]	[ ]
How many clients would you like to acquire this year?_________
Do you have a marketing plan in place to achieve this goal?	[ ]	[ ]
Marketing Collateral (Check “Yes” for the Items You Have)
General Brochure	[ ]	[ ]
One Page Firm Summary	[ ]	[ ]
One Page Summary for Each Service/Product	[ ]	[ ]
Professional Bios	[ ]	[ ]
Website	[ ]	[ ]
PowerPoint Template (For Workshops or Client Presentations)	[ ]	[ ]
Pitchbook	[ ]	[ ]
Reprints of Articles (If Applicable)	[ ]	[ ]
Newsletter Template (Electronic or Print)	[ ]	[ ]
Marketing Email Template	[ ]	[ ]
Stationary	[ ]	[ ]
Branded Folder (One or Two Pockets)	[ ]	[ ]
Branded Note Cards	[ ]	[ ]
Letter Templates for Prospects & Clients	[ ]	[ ]
Client Engagement/Communication
Do you conduct quarterly reviews, by phone or face-to-face, with your A clients?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you conduct annual reviews, by phone or face-to-face, with your B & C clients?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you touch your clients is some way at least 24 times per year?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you gather client feedback annually through surveys or focus groups?	[ ]	[ ]
Client Referral Program
Do you have a formal client referral program in place?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a system for tracking and following up with referrals?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have letter templates to use throughout the referral process?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a standard procedure for thanking clients who refer?	[ ]	[ ]
Do your clients know which type of people you can best serve?	[ ]	[ ]
Do your clients understand the referral process?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a client referral kit to help them identify and refer prospective clients?	[ ]	[ ]
Centers of Influence (COI) Referral Program
Do you partner with attorneys, CPAs or other professional advisors in your marketing efforts?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a formal COI referral program in place?	[ ]	[ ]
Is there a process and tracking system in place to nurture COI relationships?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a system for tracking and following up with COI referrals?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have letter templates to use throughout the referral process?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you touch your COIs in some way at least 12 times per year?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you meet with your COIs at least quarterly?	[ ]	[ ]
Can your COI partners identify your ideal clients?	[ ]	[ ]
Do your COI partners understand your products, services and sales process?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a COI referral kit to help them identify and refer prospective clients?	[ ]	[ ]
Public Relations
Do you submit articles to local or industry publications?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you write press releases for news relating to your business or key hires?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you present to business and/or community organizations?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you sponsor events and/or organizations?	[ ]	[ ]
Do you have a media kit for media outlets interested in interviewing you?	[ ]	[ ]

 

If you checked “No” for any of the items listed in the assessment, this is an area of weakness you should address. In my opinion, the Public Relations portion of the assessment is the least important of all the sections. Focus on remedying the “No’s” in the other sections first. If you can get your marketing to a point where you answer yes to everyone of these questions, you’ll be well on your way to becoming a marketing genius. In the meantime, here are some tools to help you get started:

• SchwabInstitutional.com – If you use the Schwab Institutional platform, you have access to some of the best Marketing & Business Development tools I’ve seen. Just visit the Resource Center’s Practice Management site to find the information.
• Horsesmouth – Horsesmouth is a paid subscription service, but has great marketing tools for advisors. They offer a free 60-day trial so I strongly suggest you check out this site.
• Financial Marketing Wire – I have to plug my own blog. Each week I aim to provide the marketing tools financial advisors need to build their practices. Visit the site weekly for new tips and tools.

Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a consulting firm specializing in marketing solutions for independent financial advisors. She works with advisors to develop and implement strategies like the ones mentioned in this article. Please contact her if you would like to engage in a comprehensive marketing assessment. Visit www.WealthManagementMarketing.net for more information.