9 ideas for financial services marketing on a shoestring

With the prices of goods and services increasing daily, agents and advisors are looking for ways to stretch their hard-earned dollars. Two industry experts recently offered some helpful hints on how to inexpensively perform a task at the heart of every successful practice: financial services marketing.

1. Email marketing: One way to market a financial services practice inexpensively is email marketing, suggested Robert Arzt, founder and president of Polaris One and InsuranceCoachu.com. He suggests advisors target specific clients and prospects and email them information that meets their individual needs and/or interests. This can include information on saving for their children’s college education, the benefits of owning life insurance, and estate planning essentials. “The goal is to keep in touch with them on a regular basis so that you can be top of mind when they are ready to move forward with any of your products or services,” he said.
2. Partner with complementary businesses: Another idea is for agents to collaborate with owners of other businesses, said Arzt. “Find a partner who complements your business to reach a broader audience. These partners can be attorneys and real estate brokers. “Then perhaps you can feature each other in your respective distribution lists.,” he advised.
3. Attend community events: Advisors can make it a habit to attend events happening in their communities, such as Chamber of Commerce meetings. Although there may be fees to attend these events, these are usually not expensive.
4. Local advertising: Local advertising is something else that advisors might want to consider, which may not be very expensive in a local publication. Another idea for financial services marketing is contributing articles to a local publication, said Arzt.
5. Host an event: Finally, advised Arzt, advisors might want to consider hosting an event at their place of business. “Find a local business to either co-sponsor the event or provide food or wine and cheese,” he said. “You may want to feature someone who can speak on a timely topic. This is a great way to build new relationships and/or strengthen existing relationships that will also add to your word-of-mouth marketing.”
6. Send a sweeet treat: “Send folks a surprise sweet treat,” award-winning advisor and NAIFA Trustee Brian Haney, founder and CEO of The Haney Company. “Everyone already does cards for birthdays, but no one ever sends treats to clients or prospects. With so many bakeries now willing to deliver, picking a short list of your best clients or warmest prospects and sending them a box of cupcakes with a fun note can be a great way to build your relationship/reinforce your value in an unexpected way. Heck, OREO even has a website that allows you to customize your OREOs!”
7. Family fun festival: Advisors in search of ways to grow their businesses while on a budget should also look into organizing a family fun festival, Haney said. “If your target market is families with younger children, send your top 10-20 clients a super-soaker or a decent water gun (one per kid) and invite them to a Family Day at the Park where you’ll be facilitating a water battle for the kids. Send these to your best clients but ask them to invite a friend or neighbor and you’ll have a built-in networking experience that can be extremely powerful in opening doors."
8. Family portraits: If advisors want to make this event even more memorable, they should find a local photographer who is willing to do a setup for a family portrait in exchange for the opportunity to do some business with these folks (or for a small fee) and they will get a ton more mileage, with the opportunity for a nice free family picture by a professional photographer (as opposed to their iPhone), Haney said.
9. Private movie screening: Advisors can also invite prospects and clients to a private movie screening, Haney added. Lots of movie theaters are willing to help people host a private movie. “So, why not do a client- appreciation event and invite a ton of folks to come watch a movie with you?” he asked.

The main idea with financial services marketing is to think outside the box and be creative, Haney added. “People like experiences, and there are lots of ways to facilitate a memorable experience without spending a ton of money.”

 

Ayo Mseka has more than 30 years of experience reporting on the financial services industry. She formerly served as editor-in-chief of NAIFA’s Advisor Today magazine. Contact her at [email protected]. 

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