The 3 Gears of Marketing and Communications

In today’s marketing world there are many effective strategies financial advisors can adopt to reach and communicate with clients and prospects — and drive growth.

Because there are so many options, the process can seem overwhelming or even out of reach. However, the lack of a financial advisor marketing plan — or not executing a plan at all — can leave clients and prime prospects in the dark and deprive you of an opportunity.

The good news is there’s an easy way to organize your marketing and communication plan using the 3 Gears of Marketing and Communications. All three gears work together to generate a comprehensive marketing plan that fires on all cylinders.

Gear 1 – The 1 to 1 Approach

Gear 1 is your plan to market and communicate to existing clients only.
The goal is to increase client engagement with you and your staff while also increasing the assets you provide service to.

Some examples include sending:

• birthday cards
• holiday cards
• service updates
• account topics (e.g., retirement contribution deadlines)
• lifestyle topics
• portfolio updates

The plan is executed by using an in-person or webcast meeting (e.g., GoToMeeting.com), email, mailer, or reaching the client by phone.

Gear 2 – The 1 to Many Approach

Gear 2 is your plan to market and communicate to the public.
The goal of this gear is to increase engagement with the public, which includes prospects, to drive awareness and elevate your brand in the local and digital communities.

Keep in mind that your marketing efforts and public communication will also reach existing clients. Some examples of Gear 2 include providing general market research from LPL Research or third-party providers, creating or sourcing general financial literacy content or nonfinancial topics you are interested to share, and distributing information about your practice and specialized topics.

The execution can be in the form of a blog (written and/or video), a newsletter, email, and social media campaigns to amplify the message; the development of brochures, print, and digital advertisements; and public relations.

Gear 3 – The 1 to Select Approach

Gear 3 is your plan to market and communicate to segmented lists of clients and prospects.
The goal of this gear is to provide content that’s interesting to the targeted group, increasing engagement.

This is a great way to nurture leads into clients or to service additional assets with existing clients. Some examples of Gear 3 include creating an email campaign for clients and prospects aged 55 and older that includes relevant topics (e.g., social security), or executing a geo-targeted Facebook ad for an upcoming seminar on a specific topic (e.g., young families interested in college planning).

The execution of Gear 3 is most effective using email and digital ads because you can track and report results based on your campaigns.

Using the 3 Gears of Marketing and Communications will help you create a strong foundation for your marketing strategy to make it easier to execute and track your marketing efforts while targeting your clients and prospects for increased engagement and business.

Get more financial advisor marketing ideas when you grow your business with LPL.

If you’re an existing LPL advisor, access premium marketing tools and training in the Resource Center.

You should consult your compliance department for information about the approval or marketing materials, and the rules and use of social media.