Trick or Treat: Face Your Fears of New Marketing
Scared of trying something new? Here are three ideas of “newer” marketing strategies that many advisors have not yet fully embraced
Consider Creating Your Own Podcast
Podcasts are by no means new but they are surging in popularity. Many advisors host their own radio shows, but few have considered adding podcasts to their overall marketing strategy. While the new platform may be intimidating for some, there’s a long list of reasons as to why you should jump in on this trend. First, podcasts are mobile and accessible at any time which means popularity surrounding them will only continue to increase. According to a recent study conducted by Edison Research – 21% of U.S. adults listened to a podcast in the last month – which is up from 17% in 2015. Secondly, podcasts allow for flexibility. Unlike radio shows, podcasts can be recorded whenever, wherever and can be any length of time. For many advisors, committing to a weekly, hour-long radio show can be daunting, but creating a podcast can allow you to create similar content on your own terms. Finally, podcasts are forever and far-reaching. With the option to submit your podcast to iTunes, the amount of listeners you can reach is endless. With more than a billion podcast subscriptions — that’s right 1 billion — iTunes can help spread your message far and wide.
Already doing your own radio show? You’re halfway there. Creating your own podcast is as simple as saving the recording from your radio show, and sharing it on iTunes or your preferred platform.
Become a Source for the Media
Want to try something new and scary for Halloween? Put yourself out there and become an expert source for media outlets. Whether you aspire to reach the public through local media, national print or TV outlets, becoming a source, especially in the beginning can be a frightening ordeal. But the rewards can definitely be worth it. When your clients see you on a news show they watch, it will reinforce that they made the right choice in working with you. Also, when prospects learn that you’re a trusted voice with the media, why shouldn’t they trust you as well? There is also the potential of finding new clients through your media appearances. Having appreciated the advice you provide through the media, they might contact you to learn more about your services and expertise.
Regardless if this leads to new clients, becoming a source just adds to the overall branding and marketing of you and your company that, if seen enough times can become recognizable — which can be extremely helpful in the long run.
Implement an Email System
While IMOs and web designers may offer useful email systems, it is often best to treat your database as an exclusive asset and to maintain autonomy and full control of it. Services like MailChimp, Constant Contact and iContact are popular, inexpensive options that provide easy-to-use templates and tools for the typical small business owner. As a rule of thumb, any time you want to send the same email to 10 or more recipients, you should go through a third-party provider such as these to avoid deliverability issues or being black-listed as a spammer. Added benefits also include trackability to see who is opening your emails and clicking your links so you can become more proactive in your sales cycle.
Pro tip: Already have a system in place? Take the next steps with refining your list segmentation or building automated email sequences to stay top of mind with clients and prospects alike.
Write a book
Yes, a book is a time commitment, but not to the extent you might think. And a finished product can be an amazing tool to build credibility, illustrate your authority and serve as a strong deliverable to build trust and likability. A book is a great tool to use with clients, prospects, centers of influence and even the media. After all, you must know what you’re talking about you – you wrote a book on it! And these days, self publishing is efficient and easy, and generating “best seller” status through Amazon is as simple as hiring a book-promotion team.
So, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Start by determining the topic or direction. Then, create an outline of 10 chapters in addition to an opening and a summary. Consider these chapters as short stories or lessons you can teach your reader in a relatively short time period. Keep it simple, and remember your reader will never know as much as you do, and most won’t want to. Give them enough information to learn the topic with the direction on how to ask for more if interested, but not so much information that they finish the chapter thinking that’s more than they ever wanted to know on that subject.
As FDR said, “There’s nothing to fear but fear itself.” So, whatever is holding you back from reaching your potential, it can end now. Any of these marketing tips have the potential to take your practice to the next level. To learn more about how you can become a media expert, integrating your email system, hosting a podcast or writing a book, email us at info@advisorpr.com or give us a call at (866) 888-5333.
