3 pro tips for advisors: Marketing financial services to retirees

The ongoing digital transformation of our society has impacted every aspect of marketing financial services. Young people and retirees from 9 to 99 are engaging with their world in new and emerging ways. Leads are conducting research on their own, educating themselves, and engaging you further down the pipeline than in years past. The same old marketing channels aren’t working the same old way. 

Here are 3 focused tips that financial advisors can use to market their services to retirees in the new normal: 

1. Use a hybrid digital/in-person approach

In-person consultations and hard-sells may still be an important aspect of marketing your practice. However, the world has moved online — even for seniors and retirees — although perhaps to less of an extent for the older generations than the younger ones. Major financial institutions understand this and make a point of diversifying their marketing channels to include convenient and emerging digital formats. 

Consider the move by Liberty Mutual to launch an Alexa “skill” on the Amazon Echo that allows users to input voice commands for actionable advice on typical home and auto concerns. Amazon has done something similar for the Amazon credit card (their users can access and control the card entirely through voice). Retirees today are comfortable with today’s voice-driven, visual, touchscreen and video-oriented technology platforms.

2. Nurture leads with financial literacy training

This second tip builds on the first. One of the best digital strategies for marketing your financial expertise to retirees is educational programming. Retirees will have concerns about retirement savings, investments and how to ensure a safe and secure future. 

Prepare leads for personalized financial guidance with easy-to-consume educational content programs. User-friendly virtual courses will draw in attendees from the comfort of their homes. Then, you can engage and convert qualified prospects in follow-up meetings as you establish trust and they grow interested in more personalized assistance.

3. Hone in on an exclusive market area.

Focusing on a specific geographic market allows you to study demographics and customize your services to meet the specialized needs of the affluent retirees in that area. Once considered a luxury, an exclusive area is a necessity in today’s competitive financial services landscape. An area with professionals at the peak of their careers or a greying population will have an increased need for financial education programs that cover wealth accumulation, retirement savings, investments and estate planning. Highly educated areas with an expanding youth population may benefit from services geared towards debt management and college savings. 

Marketing financial services to retirees? We’re ready to help.

One way to easily establish a devoted market area is with a turnkey platform that provides longer term exclusivity. FMT Solutions builds exclusive market areas for you to engage and educate your audience. Our financial education platform includes a course locator that allows users to search by geography, driving local registrations. Your market will be exclusively yours and include affluent investors and retirees who are seeking guidance and pay to attend your courses. For over the past 2 decades, advisors have leveraged the FMT platform to engage over 30,000 affluent professionals, pre-retirees and retirees each year.

Financial advisor Brenda Dozier has realized incredible results, averaging several million assets under management per class. “By educating first, the clients will follow.” Learn more about how our programs have helped advisors succeed in marketing their services to retirees in our success stories. 

If you’re ready to get started and see for yourself, set up a demo with us today.

This article was originally published in October, 2021. Updated January, 2023.