A New Way to Think About Marketing

If you have regularly been following my blog, you know that I’m a strong proponent of cultivating client and center of influence relationships (COI) in order to grow your client base. But what if you already have this process mastered and are looking for something more to do? Or what do you do if you are just starting out and don’t have strong client and COI relationships yet? Usually this is when you would try some traditional marketing tactics like direct mail, workshops, advertising or a radio show. Some of these methods definitely work, but they are expensive. If you are like most people, you are looking for ways to cuts costs, not add to them. Luckily we have the internet which has created an entirely new form of marketing – social media marketing.

Since you are reading this blog, I’m assuming you are somewhat familiar with social media marketing. For those of you who are not, social media marketing is online marketing techniques that leverage user-generated content. In other words, it is using tools like YouTube, LinkedIn, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and webinars to market your business. Many people still believe this type of marketing only works for companies selling products to teens and twenties, but this is no longer the case. Facebook reports that it’s fastest growing age demographic is 35 – 54 year old users. In fact, this age group had a 276.4% growth rate in the last 6 months of 2008. The 55+ demographic had a 194.3% growth rate during this same period. (See more at www.istrategylabs.com/2009-facebook-demographics-and-statistics-report-276-growth-in-35-54-year-old-users). This shows that your target age demographic is quickly adopting this new form of media and you should be there to take advantage of this opportunity.

Still not convinced? Let’s look at it from a different angle. I think most advisor reading this would agree that the most effective way to build a business is by building relationships. In all likelihood, you are managing hundreds of thousands if not millions of your client’s money. You advise your clients on how to protect their family in the event of death. You help them plan for their children’s future. You discuss intimate details of their life that they probably don’t share with anyone else. They share this information with you because you have developed a trusted relationship. Workshops and radio shows are effective in this way because they build trust and credibility between you and the attendee/listener. I can almost guarantee, though, that no one has ever developed a relationship with an advisor through direct mail or advertising. Social media allows you to develop relationships with prospects before they ever come into your office. Whether you provide retirement strategies in a blog or webinar, or chat with people in your target demographic via Twitter, you are developing a relationship in the mind of your prospect. That’s what makes social media marketing such a powerful tool.

I recently “met” a CFP^® by the name of Cathy Curtis (www.curtisfinancialplanning.com) on Twitter who seems to have mastered social media marketing for her business. The focus of her business is to help women become financially successful. To do this, she has started a Facebook Group called Women & Money which currently has 174 fans. On her Facebook group page she posts videos of herself giving a short 5-10 minute lecture on topics such as protecting your credit score. She has published an e-book called 10 Simple Truths about Money which she offers for free on her website and through her Facebook group. She uses Twitter to promote both her e-book and her Facebook group. She also uses Twitter to directly chat with other business women. If that wasn’t enough, you can also find Cathy on LinkedIn. By integrating all of these different social media tools together she is creating strong relationships with the women who are her target demographic. The more information Cathy gives away for free and the more she communicates to the world, the deeper her relationships with her prospects become. I have been so impressed by Cathy’s use of social media marketing that I’ve asked her to write a guest blog about what she does to share with all of you. Look for her article here in the next couple of weeks.

Now that you are onboard with the idea of using social media marketing to promote your business, where do you start? Well that is such an extensive topic that it needs to be addressed in a series of articles. In the next couple of weeks I’ll show you how to use and integrate the various social media marketing tools into a successful marketing strategy. In the meantime, review the articles I’ve posted about how to use just a couple of the social media marketing tools available to you and check back next week to find out how get started on your own strategy.

How to Use LinkedIn to Market Your Business, Part One  

How to Use LinkedIn to Market Your Business, Part Two

How to Host a Webinar for your Clients & Prospects

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 or need assistance with a specific project. Visit www.WealthManagementMarketing.net for more information.