5 Types of Paid Advertising to Reach Your Target Audience

5 Types of Paid Advertising to Reach Your Target Audience

If you’re a financial advisor prospecting for clients, paid advertising can be an effective tactic. Learn what you should consider when deciding what to do next.

Understanding your resources and target market can help you select the outlets that produce the greatest returns.

For financial professionals actively prospecting for new clients, paid advertising can be an effective marketing tactic. There are five major advertising outlets to consider, each with distinct costs and marketplace reach. Understanding your resources and target market can help you select the outlets that produce the greatest returns.

Below are details of the various options:

Print advertising

Print ads offer a variety of choices. These include the hyper-targeted (neighborhood newsletters), mass media (metro newspapers and magazines), and niche and trade publications.

Generally, advertising costs are tied to circulation: the wider the reach, the higher the cost. If you’re considering print ads, think about audience — does the publication reach the demographic you’re looking to work with and if so, what is the readership size. 

Contact the publication’s advertising department for information on demographics and circulation.

Digital

Common forms of digital advertising include paid ads and sponsored content appearing on social media, and Google Ads for priority placement on search engine results pages. Compared to print advertising, digital tends to have a lower cost of entry and greater targeting potential.

However, digital campaigns typically require ongoing management, a considerable time investment. Outside resources can help by managing digital campaigns on your behalf.

Pro Tip: LPL Financial advisors can partner with Marketing Solutions to execute your digital campaigns.

Sponsorships

Many organizations and events offer paid sponsorship opportunities, providing advertisers with various levels of brand visibility and access to their members and attendees. To assess whether this is a viable opportunity, consider your target market and the following:

  1. Will this event/does this organization reach my targeted demographic?
  2. What opportunities are included to highlight my brand and mingle with key prospects and influencers?
  3. Does this sponsorship represent a cause that I regularly support?

The sponsorships you select reflect your firm’s values and provide an opportunity to highlight them to both clients and prospects.

Radio and Television

While relatively expensive compared to other paid advertising options, Radio and TV advertising can yield powerful results. Similar to your evaluation of print advertising opportunities, it’s important to understand each station’s reach and programming demographics before committing to a media buy. Their advertising department or a local advertising agency can help you choose the right frequency and broadcast times that are best suited to help you meet your goals while aligning with your budget. 

As with all advertising, you’ll want to have mechanisms in place to track results and calculate the ROI of this significant investment.

Advertorial

Advertorials are paid editorial pieces that appear alongside a publication’s regular content. They offer an opportunity to showcase your expertise and thought leadership, capitalizing on the reputation of the surrounding content. Advertorials will typically include a disclaimer identifying the placement as paid, thereby distinguishing it from the publication’s other pieces.

While it’s not always easy to seek out advertorial opportunities on your own, they are sometimes presented by ad sales representatives as an option or part of a larger ad buy. If you’re considering an advertorial, consider writing the content on your own or retaining editorial review to ensure the messaging meets your approval. Alternatively, LPL Financial advisors can find pre-approved educational articles available for download on Marketing on Demand that you can repurpose as advertorials.

Questions and Consultations

If you have questions or would like to schedule a one-on-one consultation, or if you’d like to subscribe and receive email alerts when new articles become available, contact LPL Marketing Consulting at (800) 877-7210, ext. 6700 or email Marketing Consulting.

If you’re interested in LPL running your digital marketing plan for you, ask us about our Marketing Solutions program.

As always, our Marketing Consulting team is here to help support you in your SEO journey and would love to consult with you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us by email Ask Marketing, or by phone at (800)-877-7210 X6700, option 1.

Consult your compliance department for information about the rules and use of social media and the review of all advisor marketing materials.

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Sarah provides custom marketing and social media consultations for LPL Finanical advisors and investment programs. In this role, she consults with and supports clients in effectively marketing their business in today's increasingly competitive environment. View full bio.