The Big V …

VALUE! It’s what everything we do is based on. Relationships are judged by the value they add to our lives. We’re judged by the “true” value we provide to our customers! We judge our customers on the value they provide to us –both monetary and relationship based. All this said, when developing a marketing plan for your financial advisory business remember that in the end it’s the value that counts.

10 STEPS TO DEVELOP A SUCCESSFUL MARKETING CAMPAIGN

  1. Identify your target market.
  2. List your goals. What do you want to accomplish with your marketing plan (prospect for new clients, strengthen existing relationships, build your name recognition within your community, establish yourself as an authority on a particular topic, etc.)
  3. Develop a theme that will be consistent throughout all of your marketing efforts.
  4. Set a dollar amount you are willing to spend. This will influence the marketing methods you choose.
  5. Decide which marketing strategies compliment each other the best, and will you give you the most “bang for your buck” for the amount you have budgeted. Think creatively.
  6. Develop a line-item budget to decide how much you will spend on each project.
  7. Create a marketing calendar that allows you to stagger your efforts throughout the year.
  8. Enlist the help of others, not only to implement your plans, but to brainstorm ideas. Delegate responsibilities to people you know you can count on.
  9. Implement with enthusiasm.
  10. After each project is completed, make sure you evaluate the results. Areas to assess include:
  • new business development
  • cost effectiveness
  • attendee evaluations
  • team review

It’s important to learn how to use each element of your marketing plan to complement the others. For example, when planning a seminar incorporate PR, telemarketing, email marketing, advertising and direct mail to increase attendence and insure its success.

To Begin

Each year as you begin planning your marketing campaign and the amount you will budget for it (If you’re not doing this, you should be), you are faced with the important decision­­––where will the money you spend have the most impact. Your options might include:

  • Direct mail
  • Advertising
  • Telemarketing
  • Email Marketing
  • Seminar Selling
  • On-line and telesseminars
  • Public Relations (PR)

When making your decision, it’s important to look at the direct cost of each activity and to consider the time and energy it will take to implement each. You also should realistically estimate the end results of your efforts. Again, the most successful marketing campaigns consist of projects that complement each other.

“As small business owners, we cannot afford to use just one marketing vehicle of advertising to spread the word about our businesses, especially since there are so many other free or low-cost things that can be done to increase revenue. We therefore have to rely on the many other things that make up a good marketing attack and put them together in such a way that they work with each other. Your job as a marketer is to create marketing tactics that support, reinforce and cross-promote each other. – Al Lautenslager, business Coach and creator of Guerrilla Marketing Program [Exploring Multiple Marketing Options; Entrepreneur.com; February 2005]

A Final Word

When developing your marketing campaign, ask yourself:

  • Who are you trying to reach (target market)?
  • What message are you trying to deliver?
  • What results are you hoping to achieve?

It’s extremely important to track the results of each of your marketing efforts, measuring things such as cost, time and end results. Without such a gauge, you cannot adequately judge the success (or failure) of your campaign.

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