How to Increase a Financial Advisor’s Clientele in 7 Steps

Something financial advisors strive to do is grow their client base. The more clients they have, the better business is, and the more they can scale their growth. There are so many options for financial advisors to grow their client base — where do they even start? And how can they determine which strategy works best for their brand?

If you’re looking for new clients, there are strategies you can start using right away to get results.

Here is how to grow your client base as a financial advisor: 

1. Build Brand Awareness and Trust 
2. Define Your Target Audience 
3. Create Free Lead-Generating Opt-Ins
4. Consider Paid Ads 
5. Create Strategic Partnerships 
6. Set Up A Referral Program 
7. Offer Great Customer Service 

1. Build Brand Awareness and Trust

We live in a digital-first age where consumers are constantly bombarded with content, so how are you going to cut through the clutter? The key to getting viable leads is to build brand awareness and trust for your services. Your marketing efforts will get prospects to come to you, but it’s your brand that will make them stay. 

Branding is essential if you want to build a loyal client base, and there are multiple statistics that back that statement up: 

• 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values
• It takes 5 to 7 impressions for people to remember a brand
• Presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23%

This means that you have to be consistent with your branding across all channels, including your website and social media profiles. Make sure the content you’re posting aligns with your values and properly exhibits who you are and what you do.

The more authentic you are, the more your audience will connect with you. 

It’s also important to provide value for your audience through content. 

One way to do this is to set up an informative blog that tackles common topics in finance. You could write blog posts on topics such as stock trading for beginners, the benefits of having a financial advisor, and how to choose the right portfolio. 

Another way to provide value for your audience is to post educational content on platforms like YouTube and Instagram. Creating content on these platforms can help you reach more people at a faster rate.

Content ideas include: 

• A YouTube video on how to plan short-term and long-term financial goals 
• A 60 second Instagram video outlining five financial tips for beginners 
• A YouTube video explaining the ins-and-outs of financial advising 

Consistently creating content that educates and provides value will help you build a loyal client base and increase your brand awareness. The more consistently you post across your social channels, the more impressions you’ll make in the digital world. 

2. Define Your Target Audience

When thinking about how to grow your client base as a financial advisor, you have to do one key thing: define who your target audience is. Your target audience is the group of people you want to market your brand to. You want to narrow this group of people down to maximize your marketing and branding efforts. 

The more targeted and niche you are, the better. 

You can define your target audience by identifying key aspects of their lives and spending habits. Define them by their age, gender, salary, hobbies, and financial goals. The more you know about them, the more accurately you can target your content and services. 

Another key aspect to define within your target audience is which platforms they consume content on. 

If you’re targeting women aged 25 to 40, research which social platforms they consume and create content on those platforms. Keep in mind that audiences consume content differently from platform to platform, so you have to create content that’s suitable for your target platforms. 

Once you define your target audience, brainstorm ways you can attract them to your blog, website, and social channels. Creating high-quality content on your blog that targets primary keywords can get your website to rank higher online, which means your site can be found faster and by more people in your target audience.  

Consistently creating this content can help your website: 

• Be regarded as an authority by Google 
• Rank your website above your competition’s 
• Be found by viable leads looking for your services 

You can’t create a solid marketing plan without knowing who your target audience is. Define who that audience is and start crafting your marketing and content strategy from there. 

3. Create Free Lead-Generating Opt-ins

Providing free content that’s of value to your audience will help establish your brand and build trust with your audience. Some of that free content can come in the form of free lead-generating opt-ins. 

These opt-ins are valuable resources your audience can access for free, as long as they enter their email address. When making a plan for how to grow your client base as a financial advisor, email marketing is a tactic that, when done right, can generate a high ROI for you. 

Some examples of email-capturing opt-ins include: 

• A webinar on how to maximize investments right now 
• A playbook for reaching financial goals 
• A PDF outlining the top financial mistakes people should avoid 

Offering these materials for free and including an email capture does three things: 

1. It shows your prospects the value of working with you. If you’re giving away this content for free, imagine what your paid services must offer 
2. It provides a way for you to soft sell to prospects before they decide to make a commitment 
3. It helps you build your email database and nurture prospects effectively 

Remember, getting someone’s email address is a privilege. Don’t abuse it by sending prospects too many emails. Instead, email them valuable content at appropriate intervals and include an “unsubscribe” link in your emails in case they no longer want to hear from you. 

4. Consider Paid Ads 

The online paid ads space has grown tremendously over the last decade and its potential for high ROI makes it an appealing strategy for businesses. Paid advertising returns $2 for every $1 spent – a 200% ROI rate. Plus, traffic brought through PPC advertising yields 50% more conversions than organic advertising.

If you’re thinking about how to grow your client base as a financial advisor and you want results fast, look into investing in paid ads. You can pay to run ads on popular social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, or even on Google itself. Paid online ads, when done right, can boost your digital marketing efforts by providing a direct-to-consumer solution. 

There are different ways you can target your paid ads. 

You can target based on demographics, purchase history, and even if someone has visited your website recently.  Do your research on what keywords to go after with your target audience in mind. The more accurate you can get those keywords targeted, the higher your chances of getting a good ROI. 

Paid ads don’t solely have to be online. You can advertise your services through other paid channels. These channels include: 

• Television 
• Radio 
• Newspapers 

Ideally, you want to advertise on channels that your target audience gets their content through. 

If you’re targeting a younger demographic, paid social media ads could be your best bet. If you’re targeting more seasoned clients, then you can look into advertising on television or the radio. Do your research on what channels your target audience consumes media on before you pay to run ads. 

5. Create Strategic Partnerships

Partnerships offer a win-win situation for all parties involved. When you establish a partnership, you agree to introduce another brand to your audience while your brand also gets introduced to a new audience. 

Creating strategic partnerships can generate new viable leads for your services by creating mutual value for your audience and your partner’s audience. 

When creating a plan for how to grow your client base as a financial advisor, take time to brainstorm organizations and influencers you could partner with. Think of brands and people whose services align with yours, but aren’t direct competitors. For instance, you could: 

• Partner with a job search company for a webinar on how to make your finances last if you’re unemployed 
• Partner with a community college and speak to students about the basics of investing 
• Be a guest on a finance podcast and discuss the ins and outs of tax strategies 

Business partnerships allow you to increase your brand awareness and attract new clients from a new audience. You get your name out there, and in exchange, your partners get your expertise, which adds value for their audience. 

If you can’t commit to full-fledged business partnerships, you can still use complementary businesses to your advantage. You could leave your business cards at a bank, a gym, or a local accounting firm. These business’ clients could benefit from your complimentary services. 

6. Set Up A Referral Program

Word-of-mouth advertising remains one of the most effective marketing strategies out there. 74% of consumers identify word of mouth as a key influencer in their purchasing decisions, and Nielsen reports that 92% of consumers believe suggestions from friends and family more than advertising.

A referral program for your services is an effective way to utilize word-of-mouth advertising. A referral program is a process where you reward current clients for telling their friends and family about your services. If they refer a certain number of clients, you reward them. 

A good referral program can play an essential role when planning how to grow your client base as a financial advisor. Part of creating a good referral program is offering good rewards. Some rewards you could offer include: 

• A discount on your services 
• A $50 gift card to a local restaurant 
• A free investment consultation 

There are different ways to track referrals, such as investing in a referral software system and giving clients a specific code to pass along to their inner circle when signing up for your services. 

Tracking who your top referrers are is key if you want the program to run smoothly and keep your current clients happy. 

7. Offer Great Customer Service 

You can spend all your time crafting the perfect marketing and branding strategy, but if you don’t provide great customer service, your efforts will be wasted. 

More than half of all Americans have scrapped a planned purchase or transaction because of bad service. Financial advisors should do everything in their power to ensure their clients get the best service possible. 

Good customer service goes beyond cheerfully greeting your clients and offering them something to drink during your meetings. Pay close attention to your clients’ needs and do everything you can to deliver the results they’re looking for. The more you meet or exceed their expectations, the more likely they’ll stick with you and refer your services to friends and family. 

There’s a lot to think about when planning how to grow your client base as a financial advisor, but providing excellent customer service should be at the top of your list. Some ways to do that include: 

• Providing weekly updates on investments 
• Offering advice during tax season 
• Creating a step-by-step outline for your clients’ financial goals 

The value you offer your clients, the better your brand reputation will be. 

Start Seeing Results

There’s a lot to consider when planning how to grow your client base as a financial advisor. The pillars of that plan should focus on three key things: building your brand, establishing trust, and providing exceptional service. 

Create tactics and form strategies that support these pillars, and watch the new clients start coming in. 

Contact now Mediaboom to prepare an outstanding strategy for your business.