Financial Advisor Marketing Plan

The Canadian Financial Advice and Wealth Management sector will receive approximately $216.6 billion in investment in 2024. It shows the massive size of the market and existing competition. Financial advisors in Canada are searching for an effective financial advisor marketing strategy.

Yet, it is hard to conquer the market with digital marketing tools like text notifications, emails, social media ads, etc. People these days are facing an influx of digital information on their devices. For this reason, many financial advisors are using the tried and true – direct mail to implement their financial advisor marketing plan. 

This blog will explore how direct mail can help develop a marketing plan for financial advisors. 

When most advisors draft a financial advisor marketing plan, they ignore direct mail for other modern marketing methods. Yet, it would help if you wore something other than the tin foil hat like others to go only for social media and digital marketing. 

According to Newswires, the average response rate of direct mail is between 2.7% and 4.4%. It is higher than email’s 0.6% response rate. Thus, direct mail for a marketing plan for financial advisors can provide better results. 

Also Read: Bulk Or Mass Mail Services

Your Prospects are Getting Tons of Emails 

Let’s check your email inbox to understand. What do you find? There could be hundreds of emails present in your inbox. And you can quickly delete, filter, archive, or ignore emails you don’t want to read. 

Your prospects are receiving approximately 605 emails per week but only 17 mail pieces. Additionally, the total lifespan of an email is just 17 seconds compared to 17 days for a direct mail piece. Thus, direct mail can be more effective for a financial advisor’s marketing strategy. 

Physical mail accounts for around 90% of all communications, whereas email accounts for 20 to 30%. The older generation is more familiar with direct mail, while the younger generation treats it as a novelty item. Your financial advisor marketing can be more successful with a direct mail campaign. 

The Response Rates Speak Everything

Despite many digital methods, direct mail has significantly higher response rates. The average response rate of direct mail is between 2.7% to 4.4%. Your prospects cannot ignore your mailpiece because it is a tangible marketing piece. They have to take a glance before discarding it into the trash. Thus, It can increase the effectiveness of your financial advisor marketing plan with higher response rates. 

Less Competition Will Give You More Opportunities 

The competition among financial advisors is increasing in the digital realm. Yet, only some businesses are considering direct mail for their financial advisor marketing strategy. Direct mail volume might be declining in the country, but it could be less competitive for your finance business. Thus, you can expect higher chances of success with your financial advisor’s marketing plan. 

Perfect Way to Compliment Your Digital Campaigns 

Intelligent businesses never use direct mail as a standalone marketing tool. Instead, they will use omnichannel marketing plans to complement direct mail with digital marketing strategies. Marketers combining direct mail API and digital marketing get 40% higher responses than a digital-only marketing campaign. 

To make the marketing plan for financial advisors effective, you can use QR codes, online promo codes, and unique URL addresses for your website. Once they visit your website, tracking and engaging with your digital strategies will be easier. Data collection can improve the effectiveness of the marketing plan for financial advisors. 

Improving Results with Personalization 

Direct mail is popular as leaving a more personal touch to a target audience. It gives a more tactile and live impression on clients’ minds. With variable printing solutions and a direct mail platform, you can personalize an individual piece of your campaign. You can focus on geographic, behaviouristic, demographic, and psychographic data.

Also Read: Best Direct Mail Marketing Companies

You will need a complete direct mail campaign strategy to install the financial advisor marketing plan. The following financial advisor marketing plan example outlines the key components of a successful direct mail strategy.

Here’s what you can do; 

Define Your Goals First 

It would help if you had a target audience to use your financial advisor marketing plan. It would help you optimize your direct mail marketing campaign. 

Ask the following questions to determine your goals; 

• What exactly are you trying to do? 
• Are you focusing on building brand awareness or lead generation? 
• How long will it take to achieve your goals? 
• What will be your target audience for your campaign? 

If you want to set practical goals, consider using the SMART framework; 

Thus, your goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The marketing goals might align with your business and financial advisor marketing plans. Thus, it is also essential to consider what you want to achieve in the short and long term. You can boost your financial advisor marketing strategy with clear goals. 

Understand Your Target Audience

You might get some idea about your target audience while determining your marketing goals. Yet, it would help if you defined a clear client persona for your direct mail campaigns. Start listing them based on characteristics, attributes, and financial goals. 

You can answer these questions to find the ideal target audience; 

• Where do they stand in their investment journey? 
• What is their financial condition? 
• What are their key demographics? 
• What is their age group or income level? 
• What are their financial goals? 

Answering these questions would help you understand the basics of your target audience. Thus, it will become easier to classify them into different investment groups. You will improve your direct mail campaign for your financial planning marketing strategies. Next, segregate this audience further by answering the following questions; 

• Is your audience likely to buy their first home? 
• Are they planning to save for retirement? 
• Are they planning to start a new business? 
• Are they planning to send their children to college? 
• Are they planning to make new investments?

Understanding these questions would help you write the message for your direct mail campaign. The brand message won’t end with advertising – it will also echo different customer value points. You will get higher lead conversion rates when personalizing your direct mail. 

Tailoring the Content for Direct Mail Campaigns 

Content plays a significant role in influencing the target audience of a business. After identifying your target audience, it will become easier to customize the content. For example, a younger audience would prefer visual information to understand something. Understanding pain points would help define the content of your direct mail pieces. 

You can draft content to get higher responses, generate leads, and create brand awareness. Use direct mail marketing services to; 

• Share Critical Updates: You can create a newsletter to share critical updates, industry insights, essential tax deadlines, and more. It would assist your financial advisor marketing plan. 
• Share Educational Content: Start sharing educational content on investment and finance to build some authority as a financial advisor. Your prospects will show more interest when you share valuable content. 

Highlight Your Unique Selling Proposition

Canada finance already has enormous competition. So what will make your prospects choose you over your competitors? Most financial advisors need to differentiate themselves from the competition. Thus, it is crucial to identify the unique value while drafting a financial advisor marketing plan.

Showcase what makes you unique and ideal to your potential clients. Your business can have cross-industry experience, financial specialty, or demographic differentiator. There will be investors who will find your unique expertise interesting. You can reach these investors by sending compelling direct mail pieces. 

Conduct a competitor analysis to identify your differentiator; 

• Understand how others align their brand message to communicate their business value. 
• Closely study your website and marketing materials to highlight the unique attributes and value to align with your clients. 

Even minor tweaking in your marketing message can increase their interest in connecting with your brand. An effective financial advisor marketing plan encourages prospects to make a decision. 

Review Previous Marketing Efforts 

It is essential to analyze the result of any previous marketing efforts. Financial advisors often take their time to understand the effectiveness of each action. You can remove the redundancies and keep what worked in your marketing campaign. It would help you to create the right balance for your financial advisor marketing strategy. 

Drafting the Budget and Timeline for Direct Mail Campaign 

As a financial advisor, your time and resources are crucial for business success. Thus, defining the budget and timeline for your marketing campaign is essential. A financial advisor marketing plan template can help determine your campaign’s parameters. 

To define a clear timeline, you must ask when you will finish each task. To determine the budget, you must divide funds each quarter of the year. Yet, you must also ensure consistency with your efforts to expect the best results.

Create a realistic budget and timeline to set your financial advisor marketing plan for success.

Also Read: Elements of Effective Financial Communication

Which direct mail format works best for your business- a letter or a postcard? 

Postcards have become very popular these days due to their visual appeal. But are they practical for generating responses? No, there might not be the best. Here’s why; 

• Postcards are direct and highly visual. They might be suitable for grabbing the attention of prospects, but letters are more explanatory and personal. 
• People will look at postcards, but they will read a letter. 
• Letters give a reply mail option that is not available with a postcard. 

Postcards are ideal for building brand awareness, while letters are ideal for lead generation. 

Types of Leads You Can Cater with Direct Mail

A financial advisor marketing strategy will gather different types of leads. Not all leads are equal and have additional requirements. It would help if you defined the goal of your direct mail piece; 

• Seminar Leads 
• Appointment Leads 
• Lead Magnet Request Leads 
• Appointment Leads

It would help if you were consistent with your direct mail marketing campaign. It would support your financial advisor marketing plan in the following ways; 

Stay Top of Mind

Having flexible and great content in your direct mail will help you stay on top of the mind of your prospects. It would make you the most popular “financial advisor” in your area. 

• Create Thought Leadership: Great brand message in your direct mail would showcase your professionalism and expertise. You can show your prospects that you’re different without self-promoting. 
• Build Strong Client Relationships: Including social content in your direct mail pieces would help you build strong, relevant, and meaningful relationships. It would also boost your financial advisor marketing strategy. 
• Create a Great First Impression: Direct mail with industry insights, customer journeys, and engaging content creates a great first impression. It is one of the most effective financial advisor advertising ideas that you can try. 

Sending Newsletters 

A newsletter could be a great addition to your financial advisor marketing plan; it would educate your prospects about your financial services and industry insights. You can highlight the latest developments in your business or provide valuable information. 

Send Postcards 

You can send postcards to customers that you care about them on a personal level without spending tons of money. It is a great visual tool for connecting prospects and building brand awareness. PostGrid can help you create a cost-effective financial advisor marketing plan with creative campaign templates. 

Send Brochures 

It is a comprehensive format and one of the best financial advisor marketing ideas. You can send brochures to provide in-depth information about your services and expertise. There could be different size formats for brochures with images and graphics to make them visually appealing. 

Send Catalogs 

They are an extensive version of brochures in terms of information. You can provide a more comprehensive overview of your services and offerings with the help of brochures. Finance with a wide range of products and services prefer catalogues for their financial advisor marketing strategy.

Relate to Your Target Audience 

Clearly understand your target audience’s pain points, concerns, interests, and needs. It would help you create a more effective message for your financial advisor marketing plan. 

Personalize Your Message 

Include the recipient’s name in the proper salutation and reference their interests in the direct mail piece. It would make your mail pieces more personal and relevant. 

Make the Message Clear and Concise 

Avoid using any technical or jargon terms that might confuse your target audience. Instead, use clear and precise language to make your financial advisor marketing plan solid and practical. 

The Right Use of Eye-Catching Design 

Use eye-catching design to make your direct mail pieces stand out. Use the right colours, high-quality images, and minimalist fonts to create an exciting design. 

Precise Call-to-Action

Your direct mail pieces must have a clear call-to-action (CTA) to encourage recipients to take action. It could be anything from scheduling an appointment, visiting your website, or signing up for your newsletter. 

Effective Follow-Up 

Suppose you want continuous dialogue with your prospects. In that case, it is essential to consider follow-ups in your financial advisor marketing plan. Personalize the follow-up direct mail pieces to continue the conversation with your prospects. It would help you to build a relationship and improve your chances of converting them into clients.

Suppose you want a reliable platform to automate your direct mail marketing efforts. Then, PostGrid’s Print & Mail API could be the best solution to implement your financial advisor marketing plan. 

Here’s why you should consider our print mail platform; 

• Automate Mail: You can launch trigger-based marketing pieces with the help of our API. It helps you to ensure a higher response rate. 
• Superior Personalization: Our platform features an inbuilt template gallery and editor to customize direct mail pieces. It enables you to leave a personal touch on your prospects.
• Smooth Integration: PostGrid’s Print & Mail can easily integrate with any CRM and over 1600 tools. It helps you streamline your workflow and ensure maximum productivity. 
• Secure and Compliant: Our platform complies with HIPAA, PIPEDA, GDPR, and SOC-2 standards to ensure maximum data and information security. 

Sign Up now to get started! And our team at PostGrid will ensure you implement the best financial advisor advertising ideas!