Cold calls and referrals can only bring you so far. It’s difficult to scale up client acquisition for financial advisors who rely solely on one-to-one outreach. The best way to grow your assets under management — quickly — is through financial education.
You’ll get the most out of your educational efforts with these four tips.
Embrace digital education to scale relationship-building
Webinars, virtual meetings, and online courses existed prior to 2020. However, much of the hesitancy around remote formats evaporated in the aftermath of COVID-19. Advisors that once balked at virtual financial education programs — out of concern that it lacked a personal touch — are now amazed at how much more quickly they can “form quick rapport and meaningful relationships despite never meeting in person,” as reported by ThinkAdvisor.
Digital financial education services have finally gone mainstream. In fact, online seminars from FMT attracted an average of 20% more attendees than pre-COVID in-person courses. Remote education services take advantage of this demand and scale up client acquisition for financial advisors. An online course allows you to connect with prospects nationwide in a cost-effective and convenient manner.
If you’re nervous about your camera presence or your ability to communicate effectively in a virtual environment, you’re not alone. This may be a new adventure for some, but comprehensive financial education platforms offer ongoing coaching, training, and best practices to help you refine your presentation skills and drive conversions.
Offer comprehensive subject matter in your courses
The more you can demonstrate your rich experience and financial expertise, the more trust you’ll build with course attendees. Resist the urge to skim the surface and save the good stuff for client relationships. Share real-world stories and give attendees the serious direction they need to improve their financial lives.
Quality course content with interesting storytelling positions you as a credible subject matter expert and a likely “first call” when these prospects or their households need more personal guidance. No matter how much great advice you give away through courses and workshops, folks will always need more. The ROI for an informative and well-designed educational class comes back tenfold.
The longer that financial advisors have used the FMT educational marketing system, the more they’ve grown their AUM.
Create quality educational assets for lead generation
Many successful financial education programs incorporate complementary content like webinars, PDF playbooks, and video tutorials alongside more exclusive paid resources or coursework. You can offer materials like eBooks for download on your personal website or post video tutorials on popular content platforms like YouTube or Vimeo. The free content requires a lower level of commitment for users, drawing in clicks and spreading awareness of your brand.
Free educational materials give the prospect a preview of the value of your services. Since your content is user-friendly and educational in nature, your expert services — whether fee- or commission-based — are well worth it for your prospects. It’s also wise to have some of this educational material “gated” behind a landing page with a contact information form. While still free (as long as the prospect enters an email address), this allows you to generate a list of email leads for further nurturing. These opt-ins show definite interest and can be a valuable source of appointments and new clients.
As always, work with your compliance team before developing and implementing campaigns. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!
Target an exclusive market
The more focused you can be with your market niche, the better your results will be. Marketing your services to a dedicated geographic area narrows your competition and makes you more memorable and credible to local clients.
A subject matter specialization within your financial education program — such as retirement income planning, wealth transfer, elder care, or estate planning — can also differentiate you from generalists. A virtual format for your educational sessions gives you the ability to easily partner with relevant experts (attorneys, CPAs, tax specialists, etc.) and increase the value of your offering.
FMT provides advisors with a turnkey educational marketing platform with a reserved market area. Each exclusive market area we build will connect you with qualified prospects and bring affluent investors to your table.
Our advisors regularly describe incredible results. Check out this case study of one advisor who achieved 546% one-year ROI and over $12M in new AUM. We’d love to hear from you and answer any questions you may have about the FMT platform and how it makes client acquisition for financial advisors faster than ever before.
This article was originally published in November, 2021. Updated January, 2023.
