This summer marks 10 years of Perfectly Planned Content. That’s a lot of years partnering with financial advisors on all things marketing. Over the past decade, there’s one consistent mistake I see firms make when they start to tackle marketing: they want to do it all at once.
And here’s the thing, I totally get it. I’m guilty of this, too!
Marketing is fun. Growth is exciting. It’s easy to want to go “all in” before you even know the difference between a title tag and a meta description.
That being said, if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that marketing works so much better when you build it in phases. This is something we’re working on with our clients (and internally at Perfectly Planned Content — who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks?).
So, today, we’re going over a punch list to help you get your marketing off the ground in 90 days. Ready? Let’s go.
Days 1-30: Get Your Foundation Right
Before you create a single piece of content, lock in the basics. Teeing up each of these things will help set you up for long-term success, and narrow your focus so you can stay consistent even when your calendar gets full.
Define your ideal client.
High net worth, close to retirement, etc. are not the only markers you should be using. Instead, take time to jot down all of the core traits of your favorite 2-3 clients. It could be their asset level, personal values, personality traits, hobbies, career path, retirement timeline, legacy goals — you name it. The more specific you can be, the better.
Audit your current digital footprint.
For most advisors just starting out, this might include a website, social media, and maybe a Google My Business page or a profile on a find-an-advisor site. Notice where you’re showing up online, and where you get the most engagement. Are your clients liking and sharing posts on Facebook? Do your Google Analytics indicate most of your web traffic comes from organic search? Now’s the time to understand where you exist online, measure baseline effectiveness, and figure out if those two things align with the ideal client profile you mapped out above.
Double down on your differentiator.
More often than not, this one’s more nuanced than a firm owner thinks it is. Yes, you may be fee-only. Yep, being a fiduciary does set you apart from bad actors. But I’d hazard a guess that that’s not what your clients would say if asked why they like working with you. Differentiators for advisors usually look like:
- A specific expertise: federal employee planning, integrated tax strategy, multigenerational wealth
- A distinctive client experience: outdoor adventure events, birthday calls, remembering the details that matter
- A unique business model: subscription-based planning, in-house tax and estate services
When in doubt, now is a good time to survey your clients and community. Ask them what they think sets you apart from the crowd. The answers might surprise you!
Pick 1-2 channels max.
When you’re building a 90-day plan, you need to build your marketing “floor.” If you get sidetracked trying to jump on TikTok trends, post Instagram and Facebook reels, be a thought leader on LinkedIn, grow your email list, do webinars, and commit to in-person presentations — you’ll burn out fast. Instead, pick 1-2 channels that directly tie to your marketing goals.
I’ll use myself as an example here. This year, our only two marketing goals are:
- Grow the email list.
- Build website traffic and optimization.
So, we’ve committed to:
- Consistent LinkedIn posting (you won’t find me on Facebook, X, Instagram, or TikTok) because the data shows that’s where we get most of our email subscribers.
- Monthly newsletter and long-form blog content, because I know it drives website traffic, search and AI visibility, and nurtures our subscribers.
- Webinars and events that contribute to our subscriber count.
- A website update project we tackled in Q1 (love the final results — check them out here!) to better organize our site for end-users and for AEO.
That’s it. Anything else we do is icing on the cake, but those two goals and four action items are our “floor” that defines whether or not we’re succeeding.
Set 3-4 simple KPIs you’ll actually track.
This one is tough, because marketing is so interconnected. It can feel like you have to track everything to know what’s working. Using my example from above, here’s what I’d track based on those goals:
- Overall website traffic (and if I wanted to get fancy, I’d track new versus returning users to see how engaged my audience is).
- Time on site and average pages per session — in other words, how long are people hanging out reading my content?
- Email subscribers.
- LinkedIn engagement, which I usually break down into number of connections/followers and average views per post. LinkedIn’s analytics capabilities are pretty limited right now, so I keep it simple.
That’s it. It isn’t fancy — it’s focusing on what’s moving the needle.
Of course, at the bottom of every business owner’s funnel (myself included), the number one metric for marketing success should be total sales calls booked — and whether those prospects were a good fit for your services.
That’s part one of our series. Next up: Days 31-60, where we move from foundation to actually showing up — consistently, and without burning out. See you then.