5 End of Year Marketing Tips

With only two months left in 2009, time is running out to get in your last minute marketing campaigns.  It is important to realize that marketing in November and December is a different beast than the rest of the year.  If you are like many advisory firms, you might find it difficult to set appointments with prospective clients during this time.  This slow period doesn’t mean you should halt your marketing efforts.  Instead, you need to adjust your strategies and take advantage of the unique opportunities that are available to you during this period.   Here are five tips to help you make the most out of your end of year marketing.

Write your 2010 Marketing Plan
Now is the time to write your 2010 Marketing Plan so that you can come out of the gate running in January.  Document your objectives and strategies for the year and write down how you plan to accomplish them.  I recommend you pull out a calendar and schedule the specific dates in which you wish to accomplish each activity.  This will provide you with set deadlines to ensure that you are systematically and consistently marketing.  Marketing plans take time to create and executing campaigns takes even longer.  If you wait until January to write your plan, you’ll be playing catch up.  Worse, you many miss out on great marketing opportunities in January which is traditionally a receptive time for prospective clients.

Meet with CPAs
CPAs are in a slow period for their business from now until the end of the year.  Take this time to nurture your relationships with these professionals for the purpose of generating referrals in 2010.  If you host continuing education courses (CPE) for CPAs, schedule them from now until mid December.  If seminars are not your style, schedule coffee, breakfast or lunch meetings.  Once February hits, these professionals will be out of reach, so nurture your relationships now to plant seeds for referrals in 2010.

Reach Out to Clients
Your clients are the lifeblood of your business.  Show them you appreciate their business by doing something nice for them.  Whether you send Thanksgiving cards, holiday cards, gifts or flower arrangements, your clients will appreciate the sentiment.  You may also consider hosting a fun holiday appreciation event like a Holiday Lights Limo or Bus Tour where you are chauffeured around town admiring light displays and drinking seasonal libations.  Encourage your clients to bring friends and your field trip may turn into referral business.

Network
Networking is an important part of any marketing strategy because it helps you expand your social and professional circles. The more people you meet, the more opportunities for business.  Late fall provides a variety of unique networking opportunities.   It is common for associations, charities, and businesses to host holiday parties and fundraising events.  Take advantage of these opportunities to meet new people by attending as many events as you can manage for the remainder of the year.  More importantly, find a way to connect with these people after the event, whether that is by phone, email, LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.  While the introduction to a new contact is important, maintaining the relationship will be even more critical to success.

Develop a Client Survey
Client surveys are valuable tools to analyze satisfaction levels, evaluate service offerings and identify potential referral sources.  It makes sense to gather client feedback through surveys at the end of the year or at the beginning of the coming year.  Either way, now is the time to develop your survey.  You can easily create your own email survey with a tool like SurveyMonkey.com or you can hire a firm like Advisor Impact to help you.  You will want to encourage participation by either offering to donate X amount of dollars to a charity for each survey returned or conduct a drawing for a prize among those clients who complete the survey.  Just remember to distribute your survey in the first week of December or after the first week in January to garner the most response.

Make the most of these last two months of the year by planning for 2010 and finding fun and creative ways to market to your clients, network within the community and nurture existing relationships.  Doing so will set the stage for a prosperous new year.

Kristen Luke is the Principal of Wealth Management Marketing, a firm dedicated to providing marketing strategies and support for financial advisors. Kristen works with independent advisors to develop effective marketing plans and provides the back office support required to implement the strategies. For more information, visit www.wealthmanagementmarketing.net.