5 Ways to Market Your RIA Practice
Allianz Global Investors recently spoke with KSGilmore Founder and CEO Katie Gilmore on how RIAs can boost their marketing efforts and set themselves apart from the competition. The blog post below was originally posted by Allianz Global Investors' RIA Exchange.
Today's Registered Investment Advisors (“RIAs”) face a complicated marketing ballgame. Social media and digital channels have sculpted the landscape in exciting ways. But it's easy to get swept up in the torrent of online marketing without having a handle on how all the gears mesh together to boost business. RIAs need to remember that one marketing component does not necessarily negate the need for another. Instead the different building blocks can work in concert to drive more awareness and leads to your firm.
We talked to Katie Gilmore, founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based KSGilmore Consulting LLC, on how RIA firms can put their best marketing foot forward. She shares the five building blocks that should be a key part of every RIA firm's marketing plan. These incorporate social media and digital components into a multi-pronged robust strategy.
Brand development
RIAs can't be all things to all people. Executing a brand development exercise will highlight where your strengths lie and what your value proposition is. “Brand development is critical because it will help your clients, prospects and your centers of influence ("COI") understand who you are, who you help and how you help,” Gilmore says.
“Beyond that, it's also going to help people understand your key differentiators.” RIA firms need to establish key differentiators as part of their value proposition to clients. Ask what are the things that make you different, Gilmore says. “How is your client service approach different? What are your competitors doing, what are the things you offer that set you apart?,” asks Gilmore.
She cautions RIAs against playing down the fiduciary aspect of their services. “Sometimes RIAs don't see the broad competitive landscape, which includes banks, money managers and brokerages. They can really set themselves apart [by focusing on the fiduciary angle] because chances are they're not going head-to-head against another RIA. A COI likely referred them so differentiating on the fiduciary aspect is huge.”
Differentiating your brand and setting out your value proposition clearly also helps drive COI referrals. “You've got to define the type of work you want people to send your way,” Gilmore says. RIAs that say “I want to help everybody, I don't want to be limited,” complicate the referral process for COIs.
An optimized website
Once an RIA firm carves branding in stone and clarifies the value proposition, they need to ensure that pitch decks and the website align with these fundamentals.
The website must include bios for every client-facing member of the team, not just the advisor, Gilmore says.
And while website optimization for Google is a good thing, knowing which keywords to optimize for is important, Gilmore says. Since the route to a client's discovering an RIA online is usually through a COI, it's more critical that your website be optimized for your firm's name and the services you offer rather than a more generic “best financial advisor” keyword search. Gilmore reiterates that your website needs to relay your RIA branding loud and clear. “When someone comes to your website, they ought to quickly and easily understand who you are and who you help,” she says.
Social media engagement
While it might be tempting to be everywhere at once, it's best if you pick a social media platform you're comfortable with (or where clients are) and establish a solid presence there, Gilmore advises. LinkedIn is popular among RIAs. Ensure the firm has a dedicated page on LinkedIn and that all the visual elements including the banner, logo and marketing materials convey the same brand proposition as your website, Gilmore advises.
Spend at least 30 minutes a week engaging on the platform, Gilmore says. “Make sure to share thought leadership not just from the firm but also from others. Interacting with COI firm accounts, sharing their news, offering congratulations is all part of social media engagement,” Gilmore says, which leads to sound marketing. Sharing thought leadership on LinkedIn (or other social media) establishes branding, but mix it up, Gilmore says. Among her own clients, Gilmore has found that news about golf outings with COIs gets much more engagement than routine sharing of market impressions.
Well-crafted blog
While sharing thought leadership on social media is a good strategy, your marketing should not end there, Gilmore says. Blogging on your own website is an important part of an RIA branding strategy. A bonus: Websites with frequent content updates rate higher in online searches.
Authenticity is key with both blogging and social media updates, as is frequency. Engage on LinkedIn at least once a week and update blogs at least twice a month, Gilmore advises. “That frequency is minimum because you're being vetted by high net worth individuals and you want to demonstrate professionalism and consistency through the thought leadership you're sharing,” she says.
Consistency is also one of the biggest challenges for RIAs especially as topics are difficult to come upon. Tap into market commentary and even your own clients for inspiration about topics to address, Gilmore says.
Gilmore suggests white-labeling as a way to decrease some of the heavy lifting related to content creation. White-label providers have a pulse on what's current in the market and can deliver accordingly, Gilmore says. The key, she adds, is for RIAs to use the white-label content as baseline material only and to add their own brand stamp on it to make it stand out and reflect their brand accurately.
Email marketing
The final spokes of the marketing wheel can be trusted reliables like email marketing and hosting and participating in regional events for increased visibility, Gilmore says. Your RIA blog content can drive email campaigns and news and pictures from events can feed blogs.
RIAs can stand out by adopting a well-oiled marketing plan that adopts the best of traditional and social media strategies. When implemented well and with an authentic voice, marketing can help your RIA firm stand out from the crowd.
To kick your 2020 marketing plan into gear, download our free RIA Marketing e-book, or simply contact us!