How Hiring a Marketing Agency Can Help a Financial Advisory Firm

Financial advisory firms deal with complex products and services that require clear and compelling marketing. A marketing agency can provide financial advisory firms with the expertise and resources they need to enhance their market presence and attract more clients. Agencies can help increase lead volume and overall revenue. Before working with a marketing agency, it’s important to make sure you know how to find the right one for you.

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Marketing Services an Agency Can Provide

Marketing agencies offer a range of services, some of which may not apply to your firm. The key is to understand each one and avoid requesting services that don’t align with your firm’s goals. Some of the services you might be able to get include:

Website design: You may want to make your website more appealing or add some client features to your site.
Content creation: If you’re aiming to increase organic leads, a consistent flow of blog posts or social media content can help reach potential clients.
Social media management: You might want to outsource your social media communications entirely.
SEO optimization: Your website may need updates to ensure blog articles and other content are fully optimized.
Lead generation: You may just want to hire an agency to improve your overall lead generation and ensure you’re getting a constant flow of new potential clients.
Branding: You might need to create a new voice for your firm to provide a selling point to potential clients.
Public relations: If your firm has recently faced a disclosure or negative press, an agency can help manage the response.

This isn’t a comprehensive list, but it highlights some of the most commonly used services among financial advisory firms. You may want each firm you talk with to have a list of recommendations for you.

Benefits of Hiring a Marketing Agency

SmartAsset: How Hiring a Marketing Agency Can Help a Financial Advisory Firm

Hiring a marketing agency can offer numerous benefits, including time savings, expertise and innovative marketing methods for financial advisory firms. Each of these benefits is crucial when considering the competitive nature of the financial advisory landscape:

Time savings: One significant benefit is the potential time saved for the financial advisory firm. In fact, a Broadridge survey of more than 400 financial advisors found that 85% say it’s difficult to find the time to do marketing activities. By outsourcing complex marketing efforts, firms can focus on their core services while agencies handle labor-intensive tasks.
Marketing experts: Agencies provide access to marketing professionals who stay abreast of the latest marketing trends and strategies. For instance, a firm could hire a marketing agency to revamp its digital strategy, potentially leading to increased web traffic.
Ability to try new marketing methods: Another potential benefit of hiring a marketing agency is the innovative strategies they might introduce.
More effective effort: If you’re not a marketing expert, hiring professionals can be a more efficient way to connect with the right leads. It can also help protect your brand by reducing the risk of common marketing missteps.
More leads: If you aren’t good at marketing then bringing in an agency can help you improve the number of leads you’re receiving.

The benefits of hiring a marketing agency depend on your specific needs, whether that’s saving time, cutting costs or generating more leads than other methods.

Tips for Hiring a Marketing Agency

When hiring a marketing agency, it’s important for financial advisory firms to consider industry experience, past results, culture fit and the range of services offered. Moreover, understanding the agency’s approach to client communication and reporting and its pricing structure is vital. Here are some other tips that you may want to consider:

Try before you buy: Before committing to using a firm for multiple services, give them a test project or a trial run to make sure that working with them is a good fit.
Know what you’re getting: Understand both the expertise of the team you’ll be working with and the specific deliverables the firm will provide.
Understand your needs: Clarify your needs before hiring a firm to avoid signing up for unnecessary services.
Interview multiple firms: Don’t just hire the first firm that comes along. You may find a better fit (or better pricing) by speaking with multiple firms.

Ultimately, you should take your time to find the right fit and know what services you actually need to grow your practice before you decide on a marketing agency.

When You Might Not Want to Use a Marketing Agency

While the potential benefits are appealing, hiring a marketing agency isn’t without its challenges. These could include costs, potential misalignment with the company culture and a lack of industry-specific knowledge. Each of these factors merits careful consideration. Since many agencies lack experience with the unique needs of advisory firms, look for one that has worked with others in the industry.

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Bottom Line

Hiring a marketing agency might offer financial advisory firms numerous benefits. However, potential drawbacks like cost and possible cultural misalignment must be thoroughly considered. Evaluate all pros and cons carefully rather than rushing into a decision based on optimistic projections. After all, every firm’s needs are unique.

Tips for Building an Advisory Firm

Getting a steady flow of leads is the lifeblood of your firm’s survival and growth. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Get access to potential client referrals that match your needs. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
Increase your visibility online. When people need a financial advisor, they typically go to one of two places: friends and family or an online search engine. If you haven’t searched for yourself, take time to do so and see what comes up. How easy is it to find your website or social media profiles, for instance? How quickly and clearly does your online presence convey what you’re about?