Content marketing is amazing for many reasons, and as a financial planner it’s especially useful to you. Building an honest brand with bold content marketing strategies helps you to solidify who you are, who you serve, and the incredible value you have to offer. Whether you’re blogging, writing ebooks, building email marketing funnels, or engaging with prospects on social media, content marketing helps you to:
- Tell your story.
- Connect with clients who you genuinely want to work with.
- Immediately add value to the lives of your clients with educational content.
- Improve your SEO.
- Solidify your brand.
- Build your credibility as a financial planner.
As useful as content marketing is, I in no way think that it’s the only marketing solution. In fact, I think the more you can create a cohesive strategy using multiple marketing methods, the more success you’ll have. When I talk to business owners about their content marketing, I hear a lot of similar themes:
“I’m stuck.”
“I’ve been trying *insert content marketing strategy here* for a year now, and don’t feel like I’m getting results.”
“I feel like there are so many options, I’m getting in my own way trying to decide what’s best for me.”
“I’m out of ideas – putting together content is exhausting, and I’m running out of creativity.”
All of those feelings are valid. Content creation is tiring. It also can be time-consuming (although it doesn’t have to be), and there are a lot of options out there for you to pursue. Content marketing is a fantastic way to grow your financial planning practice and deliver value – but when you’re stuck, none of that matters. Sometimes I think we need to step away from our current strategy, try something new, and get back into the creative groove.
And you know what? I firmly believe it’s possible to shake things up without spending a ton of time or money on a strategy. Let’s talk about what you can do to break out of your marketing rut (and take a break from creating content that’s draining you).
Get in Front of People
If you’re feeling stuck when it comes to creating content, it may be time to step out of “creation mode” and into “social mode.” Figure out where your ideal clients are, and do what you need to in order to get in front of them. This could look like:
Offering a free seminar on a *specific* financial planning topic at your local library.
Better yet? Offer that seminar where your ideal clients are – at the school where they teach, in the conference room at their corporate office, in the cafeteria at the hospital where they work.
Step in front of the camera.
Host a live webinar or, heck, even a Facebook LIVE video. Don’t overthink how you look or sound, brainstorm a few talking points, and go for it. People like seeing your face – it offers another way to connect with you.
Sponsor events.
Is there a local 5k going on next month? A young professionals group who is hosting a networking event near you? Sponsor it.
Decide what your ideal clients need, and find a way to fill that need.
You may be thinking, “They need my services!” And that’s probably true. But your ideal client’s needs don’t start and end with financial planning. Here are a few niche-specific examples:
- If your niche is teachers, consider setting up a catered breakfast during that exhausting week after finals when everyone is grading and students are gone, or during parent-teacher conferences.
- If you work with young families in your local area, coordinate a “Parent’s Day Out” at your local church, preschool, or YMCA where you cover the cost of a few hours of childcare for a limited number of families who sign up.
- If you work with business owners, round up a few stack of your favorite books on entrepreneurship, marketing, and building a business – and send them out, free of charge.
- Work with retirees? Host an event with local professionals who offer discounted services or products to seniors to raise awareness and encourage community amongst the retirees in your area.
- Do most of your clients share a hobby with you? Create a Facebook event for a local get together! Beer and wine tasting, a long-distance bike ride, a local fly-fishing trip – you name it! Connect with potential clients doing something you both love.
Join a Small Business Association Near You
You have to pick and choose your networking events wisely, and not all of them are created equal. But joining a nearby small business association or mastermind group can help you to move past the awkward, “I’m not sure how to connect with people locally,” stage.
Go Old School
There’s nothing like a good, old-fashioned, printed flyer or pamphlet. Buy up several copies of finance-focused or niche-focused magazines, insert your printed flyer, and leave them at local businesses, in faculty lounges, on the tables at a cafeteria – the sky’s the limit.
Give Away Swag
Who doesn’t love swag? Free stuff is the bomb.com! Send swag baskets out to anyone and everyone who might want to work with you! What can you include in your swag baskets? I’m glad you asked!
- Branded everything – notebooks, pens, pencils, mouse pads, coozies, stress balls, flashlights, water bottles, phone chargers, stickers
- Things that support local businesses – gift cards, food/drink items (keeping in mind that allergies may be an issue), pet owner supplies/products
- Branded marketing materials – financial planning checklists that you’ve created, copies of a book you’ve written, a small postcard promoting your recently-launched podcast
- Stuff that is niche-specific – Think outside of the box! Work with teachers? Bring BIG bouquets (tied together and presented in vases) of rulers or pencils to set up on the tables in the teacher’s lounge during the first week of school. Is a local organization who employs several of your ideal clients sponsoring an employee event, like a company field day? Ask to provide swag bags for attendees – hats, water bottles, sunscreen, energy bars.
Remember – Have Fun
The point of this exercise is to break out of your marketing rut. So have fun with it! By getting involved with your audience in a way that goes beyond creating content, you’re reigniting the passion you have for working with them. You’re helping to jog the creative side of your brain by stretching to think outside of the box. This isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card. You still need to actively work on maintaining your content marketing presence. These activities will just drive people to you in a new way, and the content you create will cement you as the financial planner they want to work with.
