Many consultants have long viewed marketing as a cost; They invest money to update their website, logo and colors and they're done. But the industry is entering a new phase of modern marketing as advisors turn to digital channels as a revenue stream, according to panelists speaking at this week's MarketCounsel Summit in Las Vegas.
“Now we're in the online trust building realm, so it's really about reaching your target customer where they are, digitally and in a human way, and making sure you have a strategy and a platform that brings them to you bring back,” says Candace Carlton, director of growth marketing consulting at FiComm Partners.
While traditional marketing used to be a thing, the consulting industry is now seeing an evolution as it evaluates the ROI of marketing and how it can be used to drive business outcomes. Carlton said.
"If it's just a good idea that excites you but doesn't lead to new customers, it doesn't matter," he said.
There's a science to how you track that ROI, said Anthony Stich, Entrustody's chief revenue officer. But he also noted that for smaller consulting firms in particular, if they forgo modern marketing, their growth will not accelerate and they will be left behind for years to come.
Registered investment advisors are already increasing, with the average return on investment growing at only 2-3% annually, excluding trading activity. And nearly two-thirds of RIAs depend on referrals for their growth.
"You have to grow up and be more active in your marketing," Stich said. "Over the next two to five years, if you don't capitalize on your marketing, if you don't believe in your people, if that message doesn't reach the marketplace, you're going to face ongoing growth challenges."
Marketing involves a lot of fear, failure, and experimentation, and consultants need to embrace these things. He said, "If you want to fail, fail forward."
One of the challenges that can arise is the cooperation of the company's marketing department with sales. Locations can be entered, Stich added, but if the sales team doesn't oversee it, conflicts can arise between those departments.
"As you develop your marketing engine, you have to create what's called service level agreements, service level agreements," he said. "You make trade-offs between sales and marketing."
These agreements should not be contradictory, but should be appropriate contracts between the two departments to ensure customers are targeted for marketing and sales are converted into customers.
Many consultants expect immediate results from their marketing. It takes time, said Advisor Circle CEO Matt Middleton.
"I think most people look at that and budget and hire all these people, they drop some campaigns, and next month we're not getting any of that," he said. Just."
He said: Develop a marketing plan and trust your people and you will see results.
Carleton said that a chancellor does not have to spend large sums of money. Be clear about who you are and who you serve, and create so much customer value that it's a natural progression for them to start talking about you and their friends.
"I guess I'm not thinking about content or marketing to prospects, I'm more thinking about creating content for existing clients," he said. "When you create content and value for existing customers and broadcast it on public channels, you automatically attract potential customers."