7 financial advisor marketing tips to grow your clientele

Key takeaways

• To make your marketing efforts more powerful, develop a niche brand that’s focused on a specific audience or area of financial advisement 
• Optimize your website, create videos, and write guest blogs on authoritative sites to boost your visibility on search engines
• Build trust by responding promptly and professionally to every online review you receive, and create a referral program that offers incentives

As a financial advisor, you know how to crunch the numbers, which means you know when your clients’ business growth isn’t hitting the mark. The same is true for your own practice. When this happens, it’s time to figure out how to capture the attention of your target audience and expand your client base.

Whether your sales have slowed down, your bottom line has sunk, or you simply see room to improve your metrics, consider these seven financial advisor marketing tips that you can implement in your business today.

1. Carve out a niche 

Before you can develop a successful financial advisor marketing plan, it’s helpful to identify a focused niche for your business. While there are plenty of financial professionals for your potential clients to choose from, you can stand out from competitors by being the best advisor within your area of expertise.

Your niche can be audience-focused. For example, you can offer financial planning services exclusively to retirees or small business owners. Or you can specialize in a small subset of financial advisement services, such as wealth management or debt management. Consider securing additional credentials or certifications that show off your unique qualifications.

Once you’ve identified your niche, consider ways you can shape your business branding to reflect your particular area of expertise. For instance, if you’re focusing on attracting novice investors, you should adopt a friendly, helpful, and encouraging brand personality instead of an academic one.

2. Optimize your website for better search rankings

Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to improving your financial advisor website to get more traffic from search engines. 

One essential SEO tactic that every business owner should use is including relevant keywords on their site—for instance, “portfolio management” or “tax planning” for a financial advisor. When search engine algorithms scan your website, these keywords help them determine how relevant your web page is to certain search terms. The page is then ranked accordingly on search engine results pages (SERPs).

To achieve the highest rank possible on the right SERPs, use a keyword research tool to build a list of relevant terms to use on your website. Just be sure to weave the keywords naturally into your messaging to keep your content concise and impactful.

3. Send regular email newsletters

When you want to market to your clients on a recurring basis, you’ll need to collect their contact information. Building your email list can be as simple as creating (and promoting) a helpful email newsletter that your target audience will want to sign up for. For example, you can send out weekly stock market updates or offer actionable personal finance tips each week.

Once people sign up for your email list, you can also engage them with other email marketing campaigns, like those promoting discounts or new services.

4. Create video content for social media

The majority (72%) of U.S. adults now use at least one social media platform. To ensure your brand shows up where your prospective clients are already looking, include social media marketing as part of your digital marketing strategy.

While standing out amid all the noise on social media apps can be challenging, video can help you captivate your ideal clients. Consider hosting a weekly video series or monthly webinar that breaks down complex investing terms. You could also film client testimonials or go live for a financial planner Q&A. 

Your video marketing campaigns don’t have to be professionally filmed or edited—just make sure there’s good lighting and high-quality audio to draw and retain new clients.

5. Set up a referral program

When seeking information about brands, consumers trust their friends and family members above all other sources. If you want your current clients to recommend your financial services to others, give them an incentive to do so by setting up a referral program.

Your referral program can be as simple as offering a gift card or a free financial planning session in exchange for every successful referral. Or you can make your offer enticing on both ends by providing discounted financial services to your client and the person they’ve referred. 

This financial advisor marketing strategy can effectively boost your word-of-mouth marketing efforts, turn your clients into your biggest advocates, and help your business grow faster.

6. Guest blog on high-authority sites

Guest blogging is your opportunity to show off your expertise and build trust in your brand. Whether you’re publishing retirement planning tips on a tax preparer’s blog or sharing personal finance strategies on an online lifestyle publication, this form of content marketing can help you reach, inform, and impress an audience other than your current one.

To start guest blogging, reach out to other business owners or publications—ideally, those with similar target markets to your own—that may be willing to publish your writing on their website. You can do so with a quick, professional email or LinkedIn message outlining your topic proposal. Research their sites and look for opportunities where you can fill in the blanks so you can offer valuable information that will appeal to their audience.

This financial advisor marketing tactic can also help you raise your search engine ranking. When you guest blog on authoritative websites (like those for a professional organization or chamber of commerce), you can show search engine algorithms that your brand is trustworthy by linking back to relevant pages on your site. Use the free domain analysis tool on Moz to ensure you’re blogging on sites with higher domain authority scores than yours.

7. Manage your online reviews

Winning new clients who trust your financial advice starts with getting new leads who trust your brand. With 77% of consumers always or regularly checking online reviews, positive feedback from existing clients can quickly make your target audience confident in your company and boost the success of your digital marketing efforts.

The best way to earn 5-star reviews is by providing high-quality financial services. However, if you want to inspire even more leads, respond promptly to every review you receive on platforms like Yelp. Your gratitude for positive reviews and professionalism in response to negative ones will show that your business cares what its client base has to say.

Claim your Yelp Business Page to start responding and receive notifications every time you get a new review. When you claim your page, you can also run Yelp Ads that allow your business—along with its star ratings—to show up in a number of key places on the site and app, including above relevant search results and on your competitors’ pages. 

You can set and adjust your own advertising budget, and you only pay when your ad actually gets a click.

Sharpening your financial advisor marketing tools

Even the most successful business can use more customers. However, new clients won’t come on their own. You must implement effective financial advisor marketing ideas to attract shoppers, gain leads, and make sales. 

Start capitalizing on your area of expertise by developing a niche brand. Then, show what you know with email newsletters, video marketing, and guest blogs—and recruit the help of your existing clients by building a referral program.

When you claim your Yelp Business Page, you can further build trust with your potential customers by responding to reviews and showing that you care about what current clients have to say. If you’re interested in running ads on Yelp (and beyond) to improve your brand’s visibility, take a look at our digital advertising guide for helpful tips and examples.