How Financial Advisors Can Build Long Term Relationships with Email Marketing

 

Email marketing can be the great marketing equalizer for many business owners, including financial advisors.

 

Many financial advisors, unfortunately, underuse email marketing.

 

Financial advisors who use email marketing can realize a 4,300% return if they combine this marketing technique with solid lead lists.

 

If your book of clients needs a little boost, here are some ways you can implement email marketing best practices and strategies into your overall online marketing strategy for a great return on your investment.

 

Why is Email Marketing so Effective?

 

Think about it this way.

 

If you were into golf, would you join an email list for some other topic that didn’t interest you?

 

No, probably not.

 

And, if you were on an email list to improve your golf game and you received regular emails that taught you how to do that, wouldn’t you open them?

 

Probably.

 

Finally, if the golf pro who sent you those emails hosted special workshops in your city to help people improve their game, wouldn’t you sign up if you could afford it?

 

Again, most likely you would. 

 

Now, think about an email marketing campaign that you’ve created for people who really want to improve their investment results.

 

If those individuals on your list were as passionate about investing as the golf players are about their golf games, could you see how you could build relationships with prospective clients by employing a strong email marketing strategy?

 

People like email marketing because it seems more personal than other types of marketing.

 

And perhaps it should be.

 

You are, after all, managing your clients’ financial matters. This can be a sensitive subject.

 

By personalizing your email marketing campaign, you can let your prospects know that you do care about their financial well-being.

 

That’s bound to help you build your business in the long run.

 

Start with a Strong List

 

 

Weak email lists commonly lead to poor results.

 

If your lists are highly targeted and you send your contacts articles, videos, and other educational materials that help clients and prospective clients solve their financial issues, you’ll likely see a high open rate for your email.

 

The most successful financial advisors in this respect are those who carefully plan their email content to fit their audience, also commonly called segmenting. 

 

Segment Your List(s) with Client Avatars

 

All communication may not be appropriate for your entire email list, especially if you serve clients from different backgrounds and going through different stages in life.

 

These are some thoughts on how you can segment your clients and prospects into different avatars:

 

1. Give the avatar a name and gender (i.e. Rich the Newly Retiree)

 

2. Find common characteristics for your different segments, including their employer/industry, age, income, location in the country, and educational background

 

3. Add some fun to each avatar profile, by noting down their interests and hobbies, passionate causes, and career or life aspirations. With these details, you can add some color when you contact your clients via email.

 

4. Note down key details about each avatar’s financial profile, such as individuals who are dependent on them, financial goals, financial concerns, and financial topics that would interest them.

 

With this information, plan and implement different email marketing campaigns that are personalized and targeted.

 

Expert Tip: Make sure you separate your clients and prospects, too. Your approach and communication should be different for these two groups.

 

How to Build a List

 

 

If you don’t already have a great email list, you’ll want to start building one in order to implement a great email marketing campaign.

 

Building your email list really doesn’t have to be complicated. You just have to be consistent in your efforts.

 

You can start by:

 

• Capturing the email addresses of people who land on your firm’s website. Try enticing them with a reason to sign up, such as a free eBook or whitepaper with unique research

 

• Sending a mass email to everyone in your professional and personal network

 

• Exporting and filtering your email contacts from LinkedIn, focusing on those connections who would be ideal prospective clients

 

• Using your blog and social media accounts to attract people to your email list. One way to do this is to write a blog post that answers common questions that people have about financial matters. Common question may include:

 

• • What are their problem areas?
  • Which financial concepts confuse them?
  • What are they afraid of?
  • The answers to all of these questions can be good topics for an email marketing campaign.

 

Once they have landed on your website, include a call to action so that they sign up for your list!

 

Leverage Software for a Strong Email Program with Your Financial Services Clients

 

 

Building, nurturing, and encouraging a lead from your website to book an appointment takes time and effort. While you can manage this process yourself, it’s best to take advantage of one of these email tools for maximum efficiency:

 

1. aWeber
2. Blueleaf
3. Campaign Monitor
4. Constant Contact
5. FMG Suite
6. iContact
7. Infusionsoft
8. Mailchimp
9. Redtail CRM
10. SimplyCast
11. Vertical Response
12. Wealthbox CRM

 

Other Email Marketing Tips for Financial Advisors

 

 

These are some other tips you should consider when planning and executing on your email marketing strategy:

 

1. Use an email campaign calendar where you schedule the cadence of your emails

 

2. Add value with each touchpoint. This is a great way to entice your subscribers to share your content and become more loyal to your firm.

 

3. Personalize your emails with content personalized for that subscriber

 

4. I can’t drive this point home enough. Segment your lists!

 

5. Use appealing headlines. Tools such as the headline analyzer from the American Marketing Institute or CoSchedule are great for this. Questions or numbered lists are two good tricks to try!

 

6. Test out your sending times, and try to align your email schedule with your target subscribers’ schedules. Traditionally, first thing in the morning works best, but also test sending out emails in the evening.

 

7. Measure the results, and tweak your strategy as required.

 

8. Curate content from other reputable sources. This is really useful if you’re short on time or not the best writer.

 

9. You don’t need to add elaborate graphics or design in your emails to run an effective email marketing campaign. That’s really not what people are looking for from an advisor. In fact, most clients looking for a financial advisor are more interested in the type of information their advisor can give to them.

 

Final Thoughts on Email Marketing for Financial Advisors

 

 

As a financial advisor, you too can take advantage of the power of email marketing.

 

Studies show that email marketing is among the most effective types of marketing that can be done to boost a business’s bottom line. 

 

It would be a mistake to think that just because email marketing is simple, it’s also ineffective.

 

Most of the time, you’ll find an email marketing campaign to be one of your most powerful marketing tools.

 

 Looking to start an email marketing campaign for your firm, and not sure where to start? Contact us today so we can talk strategy!