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Financial Advisor Marketing Plan Template

As a Prospecting Coach for Financial Advisors since 2004, I know what works when prospecting for new clients. This article gives you a blueprint for writing a Marketing Plan that includes the most important sections and actions for you to follow.

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Hello. I am Suzanne Muusers, Business Coach for Financial Advisors since 2004. I make marketing easy by giving you 4 sample marketing plans with 35 propsecting tactics and a 6 DAY E-COURSE to help you write your own plan.

I love giving my clients tons of great information!

So below I am giving you a Simple Marketing Plan Template. Your Marketing Plan should be PART of your Business Plan to develop long-term success..

I view Sales and Marketing as a sandwich. Marketing should “butter up” your prospects so that your services are pre-sold. Your product or service is the “meat” in the middle of the sandwich. It’s up to you to create the right Marketing Plan to position your product or service appropriately and encourage affluent prospects to eat the sandwich.

Marketing Plan Objectives:

• Use marketing to STAND OUT in a crowded marketplace
• Position your firm so that it is DIFFERENT
• Showcase the BENEFITS your firm provides its target clients
• Channel a consistent flow of NEW AFFLUENT PROSPECTS into your firm – see additional resources below

In order to accomplish these objectives, you should become an Expert in Your Field and use your marketing to showcase your expertise.

Benefits of a Marketing Plan:

• Increase exposure, with clients and with prospects
• Become recognized as an expert in a specific area
• Create a flow of qualified prospects sailing in your direction
• Take more risks, get out of your comfort zone (and out of the office), and grow your business

Section 1

Create a Marketing Plan in a Word document that includes the following sections:

Marketing Plan for [firm name / advisor name]
Date:

Target Market

Describe the affluent markets you will be targeting [up to 3]. Business owners, professionals, doctors, lawyers, divorced women, widowed women, expats, unmarried couples, young couples with children.

Value Proposition

Who we are; What we do; What makes us different; What your company provides affluent clients in terms of a benefit; investment philosophy to attract affluent clients.

Competition

Who are your top 5 competitors and what is their Value Proposition?

Business Model

Commission, fee-based, fee-only; why this model benefits clients.

Sample Elevator Speech

What are you passionate about? What makes you different?

Marketing Goals

What are your goals for client acquisition, income; six months, twelve months.

Marketing Strategies

A strategy is a plan or broad approach for how you will grow your company over time.

Marketing Tactics

Tactics are the ACTIONS you will take to implement your Strategies above. Each Strategy should have between 1-5 tactics. What marketing tactics will you implement over the next six to twelve months?

Marketing Budget

How much will you spend on marketing? Hint – from 10-30% of revenue

Marketing Calendar

Map out your marketing events for the entire year using a color-coded excel spreadsheet that lists tactics on the vertical axis and months on the horizontal axis. Make a column for budget and list your expected expenditures.

Section 2

Select Marketing Tactics – What marketing tactics do you want to employ? They should be varied and encompass areas that will carry out your strategies and promote your expertise.

You’ll get 4 sample Marketing Plans here:

Strategic Alliances

Seek out a select number of strategic alliances with Lawyers and Accountants. Benefits: Widen your circle of influence. Drive qualified prospects to your practice.

Client Events

Hold 4 events per year. Client appreciation events build trust and credibility with your clients, the ones who have helped you build your practice. They can also be a rewarding path directly into referrals from your best clients.

Networking

Find up to 3 venues to network and gain exposure to new prospects. Benefits: gets you out of the office and helps you to further define your 30 second commercial.

Public Speaking

The public admires public speakers and view them as experts. Benefits: decrease the time it takes to explode your profitability by widening the number of prospects you get your name in front of at one time.

Press Releases

Tie in with articles and send as you post new articles on your website. Benefits: the press will become accustomed to receiving your releases and will view you as a credible industry source.

Section 3

Schedule Each Tactic on your Marketing Calendar – Marketing only works when it is consistent. This is because marketing activities will take 90 to 180 days to show results. The seeds you plant today are growing, so don’t expect immediate results.

You can’t meet with a strategic partner once and have it be worthwhile. You must follow up and nurture consistently. You can’t write one blog post and then say it doesn’t work. You can’t give one speech and lament lackluster results. Plan your tactics, add to your calendar and do it.

Section 4

Assess Results After 6 to 12 Months – Create a spreadsheet in excel. On the horizontal section label each row with a marketing tactic. On the vertical section create a column for Cost, Revenue, % Return on Investment, What you get out of the tactic other than revenue, What you dislike, and time commitment rated from 1-10. Assess where you got results and consider what you get out of each tactic other than revenue. Tweak and start all over again.

Hang in There!

All too often I see financial advisors give up on marketing far too soon. It’s unrealistic to expect immediate results from your marketing, yet in our fast-paced, immediate-gratification world this is what we look for. Make a plan, take it slow, and keep on doing it!!

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