Why advisors are struggling to fill their events with ideal prospects and turn them into high-value clients (and how to fix it)

Often agents and advisors believe that just seeing more people is the key to their success. They focus solely on getting more leads. However, those who want greater marketing ROI … to spend more time on financial planning than event planning … and to have a more profitable business, focus their attention on something different. 

The secret to marketing that leads to millions in sales or AUM is to shift from just generating more leads to attracting and nurturing “better prospects.”  

Consider two advisors. Both have been in business for a few years. Both are confident in their ability to help clients with their financial plans. They’re contracted with similar carriers and offer many of the same products. Both are motivated to grow their practice. And want the business and loyalty of ideal clients. 

But there’s a difference between these two advisors. 

The first type is generating leads for their events by relying on sporadic Facebook ads or emails that lack a cohesive plan. They don’t even like doing dinner seminars but don’t realize there are other options out there. They’re disappointed with a low show-up rate and rarely set appointments or get million-dollar clients from their events. But they keep repeating this faulty process hoping for different results.

Compare that to the second financial advisor who decides to focus on attracting and nurturing better prospects. This advisor from Los Angeles, CA, put a digital marketing strategy in place for his events, which led to submitting $950K of annuity premium within just two weeks of his most recent seminar — with an additional $3.7 in the pipeline.

The story of these two types of advisors illustrates a couple points. One, marketing events that attract high-quality clients require more than the typical lead generation efforts. And two, hope is not a strategy.

To help predictably fill your events with ideal prospects that become million-dollar clients, here’s what digital marketing expert and Founder and Managing Director of Safe Money Marketing, Clifford Blodgett, helps his financial advisor clients do. 

5. Lean into your strengths. 

You’ll be more likely to consistently do and excel at the type of marketing that suits you. If you like dinner seminars, great. But there are other options out there. 

How valuable would it be to have an expert work 1:1 with you to identify and implement the most effective marketing strategies for your business? 

4. Ensure a continuously full pipeline. 

Stay several steps ahead. Top advisors have the following year’s events planned, ensuring a continuously full pipeline. Knowing your marketing is set for the next 12 months also brings confidence and
security. While planning ahead may cost a bit more up front, with expert guidance, the financial investment in marketing becomes a calculated, profitable decision. 

3. Follow up, follow up, follow up. 

When it comes to marketing, you can’t give up after one interaction. It can take seven to 15 or more “touches” before someone is ready to do business with you. 

Blodgett says, “It never fails. Every time I’m at a conference or meeting with financial professionals, someone will tell me they just had an appointment and closed $2 million, for example, from the emails in the follow-up campaign we did for them.” 

The money’s in the follow up — if you do it right.

2. Get a verbal commitment. 

Don’t rely solely on online registrations. Have a skilled confirmation caller, preferably not you, contact registrants to ensure they plan to attend. When you add this step to your process and get it right, 75-80% of them confirm. And once they’ve made that verbal commitment, it increases the chances they’ll show up.  

1. Know your client better than they know themselves.

The foundation of effective marketing is identifying and understanding your ideal client: their self-perception, pain points, and the language they use to describe what keeps them up at night. 

Incorporating these insights into your digital marketing is what leads to full venues — so full you have 89 registrants and have to make it a two-day estate planning event like Advisor Court P. 

Or Advisor Adrian D. who paid a mail house to do a traditional direct mail invite, which bombed with only 7 responses, to filling that event within 4 days.

By using these strategies, you can build a thriving practice with profitable events. 

But what if you could consistently and predictably fill your events with engaged prospects eager to do business with you, without having to worry about all the marketing pieces…

Learn more about the no-stress system that fills your events with ideal prospects more likely to become your next million-dollar clients. Visit PutOnProfitableEvents.com to find out more.