Finding Your Niche As An Advisor Will Make Your Marketing SO MUCH EASIER

I feel like I should start this blog with a confession: I find this "rule" hard to implement myself. As I was redesigning my website I, once again, created content that was geared toward all service providers. After all, shouldn't that be enough of a niche?

As it turns out...no.

So, depending on when you're reading this blog, I may or may not have changed most of the content on my website to appeal to financial advisors. I'm doing my best to follow my own advice, but like you I find it hard to do.

Here's the thing. When I think about niching myself even further than I am, I feel two things:

1. Scared of possibly turning away business from other industries.

2. Relieved that I only have to concentrate on ONE type of client.

It's very conflicting.

But when I think about blogging or researching only for financial advisors, it makes my life so much easier. I know the industry and I know what needs to be done. More than that, I'm passionate about what needs to be done and that makes my job incredibly fulfilling.

The reason why I encourage (or browbeat, depending on how you look at it) my clients to concentrate on their ideal client is because if we don't, we really have nothing to market. Everything we do, from blogging to infographics to posting outside content, should appeal to the client. If you're not, I can almost guarantee that your social media efforts are failing and you're frustrated.

As Michael Ktices says...

"...it appears to me that “most” social media fails, simply because its content is so general and for everyone, that it fails to connect personally with anyone. And in turn, it’s content that anyone who does read would probably not feel compelled to share with anyone else, because it is so bland and undifferentiated. Which means, in essence, planners may be relying on personal referrals because their social media content itself isn’t very referrable in the first place."

What I see on almost every financial advisor blog is the same thing that's on every other financial advisor's blog. It's the same industry information that, as the client, I have a really hard time applying to my own life. And if that's the case, why should I care?

Let's put it this way:

If this blog started out with a bunch of marketing statistics and a basic run-down of SEO, would you still be paying attention? Probably not because you'd have no idea how to implement what I'm saying into what you're doing.

Most whitepaper or standard content does nothing to answer the most important question when it comes to marketing: Why should I care? And if you're not answering that question, you're wasting my time and yours.

This blog is the perfect example of what I'm trying to communicate:

1. At the beginning, I identified the problem in a way that let's you know that I personally understand the difficulty you're having because I'm going through it myself.

2. I'm talking about the frustration you might be feeling and why what you're doing might not be working.

3. And, last, I'm going to try and help you solve the problem.

When it comes to marketing of any kind, you have to know who you're marketing to. And when I bring on a new client, it's not enough to ask them the gender, age, and income of their ideal client. We have to go deeper.

Are they supporting adult children or aging parents? (Or will they?)
How educated are they in terms of financial planning?
Do they like to ask questions or would they rather hand things off and be done?
Where do they get their information/news?

These are just a few of the questions I ask a new client to get a sense of who they're talking to so we can meet the client where they are. This influences EVERYTHING we put out digitally. After all, if you're out to catch a fish, would you rather go to a small populated hole or take your chances with an enormous lake?

If you're interested in talking more about your ideal client or you'd like to have access to my Ideal Client Profile for Financial Advisors, email me at catherine@socialseedmarketing.com and I'll be happy to send it to you!