Content Marketing Strategies for Financial Advisors

Content marketing can be a powerful tool for financial advisors looking to connect with potential clients, build credibility and grow an advisory practice. By creating valuable content in different formats, you can showcase your expertise and establish trust. With consistent, thoughtful content, you can foster relationships that ultimately lead to new client opportunities.

SmartAsset’s Advisor Marketing Platform offers financial advisors services like client lead generation, automated marketing and more. Learn about SmartAsset AMP today.

Content Marketing for Financial Advisors: 5 Strategies

How effective is content marketing for financial advisors? According to a 2024 Kitces report on how financial planners market their services, content creation generates $6,500 in revenue per new client on average. That surpasses the average $5,000 in revenue per new client produced by referral generation and networking. ¹

Developing a content marketing plan starts with understanding what your clients or prospects need.  This can help you be more efficient in meeting those needs with your content so that you’re not wasting time throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.

These tips can help you come up with a strategy for successful content marketing.

1. Create Content With a Purpose

There should be a purpose or motivation behind the content you create, says David Wright, executive director of practice development at M&O Marketing in Southfield, Michigan.

“You shouldn’t create content just for the sake of having content,” Wright says. “Good content marketing is something that your reader will find to be valuable or usable in their buying experience.”

For example, say your target niche is pre-retirees who are between five and 10 years from retirement. They may be interested in learning how to create a realistic plan for drawing down assets or how to protect their accumulated wealth with annuities or long-term care insurance. Writing content about how to invest in aggressive growth funds would be a wasted effort, as that doesn’t speak to your target audience’s needs.

Instead, your content marketing should focus on the financial services that your ideal buyers may need. Before you begin creating a new piece of content, ask yourself what need it meets for your current clients or new clients that you’re trying to attract. If you can’t readily identify the value it holds for them, you may need to rethink the topic.

2. Create Content That’s Timely

Good wealth management marketing considers the things investors may be most concerned about in the long-term, but it doesn’t ignore what’s happening right now. Regular commentary on what’s happening in the markets and in the current administration remains a hot topic of discussion, says Dan Biagini, chief distribution officer at Foundations Investment Advisors. “Investors want to know how their investments can be affected by what’s happening in the news,” he says.

As inflation rises, for example, investors may worry about how it will impact purchasing power or their ability to retire. Creating content that addresses these fears or concerns can help you remain relevant to your audience while meeting their immediate need for answers.

Timeliness can also matter in a different context. As your clients undergo various life changes, such as starting a family, changing jobs, preparing to send kids to college or nearing retirement, you can get ahead of the curve with your content marketing plan.

“Making sure to push out regular content on each life change can pay dividends with clients who see it as a call to action,” says Biagini.

3. Choose the Right Format

How you deliver content to clients or prospects is just as important as what you deliver. Changing up the format can make content more digestible so that it’s better received. This can lead to higher engagement and potentially more client conversions.

“With more complex, hard-to-understand topics like financial planning, long-form content can help better educate your reader or potential customer,” says Wright.

The Kitces report examined the content creation formats that were most and least used by advisors. Here’s how they compare:

• 37% of advisors create content for email newsletters
• 32% write blog content (or outsource this task to a content creator)
• 30% rely on search engine optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to their website
• 17% write for third-party platforms
• 14% create video content
• 13% leverage paid ads or sponsorships
• 11% have a podcast
• 8% make media appearances
• 8% author books
• 2% host a radio show

You don’t have to adopt all of these content creation techniques; you can pick and choose what’s most appropriate for your firm. Whatever you create, it’s important to make it valuable to the people who will receive it.

For example, you might draft a white paper or a detailed brochure to explain a key aspect of estate planning or investing. This is a comprehensive resource that can become a springboard for a one-on-one conversation with a client about the topic.

Blog posts are great for diving into complex financial topics in a digestible way, allowing readers to learn at their own pace. Video content, on the other hand, can make difficult concepts more approachable, adding a personal touch that helps build trust. Sticking with short, easy-to-consume pieces of content can work better on social media channels for encouraging engagement, says Wright.

The best format often depends on your target audience. If you work with younger clients, video and social media content might be more effective, while older clients may prefer longer, more in-depth articles or guides. Doing some A/B testing with different formats can help you determine which type of content your audience is most responsive to.

4. Automate It and Be Consistent

As an advisor, your time is valuable, and it’s important to make the most of it. For instance, automating your marketing efforts using a lead generation service like SmartAsset AMP can save you time and energy to devote to other areas of your business. This subscription-based service enables fiduciary advisors to build automated outreach campaigns using text messaging and email. But AMP is more than just a marketing tool: it can also connect advisors with leads in target asset tiers and geographic locations.

Also consider using scheduling tools to publish content regularly on your website or other platforms. Being consistent is key, says Biagini. “The worst thing an advisor can do is send out good content for a few weeks or months, then shut it down,” he says.

Advisors can also use AMP’s newsletter tool to maintain regular communication with prospects and clients. The platform allows you to select topics, audience segments and tone, then generates draft newsletters using SmartAsset’s library of more than 10,000 financial articles. Advisors review and approve each draft before it’s sent, and the content passes through an automated compliance review before entering the firm’s compliance workflow.

5. Personalize Your Content Marketing

Clients and prospects want to feel important. Adding a personal touch can help to strengthen your wealth management content marketing plan.

That might be as simple as mentioning something you did over the weekend when sending out your weekly email blast or leading in by asking a question. You want to capture a client or prospect’s attention quickly so they have a reason to keep reading.

“This will ensure clients continue to show up and listen to what you have to say,” says Biagini. Knowing how to talk to clients as an advisor is key to good communication, which can help build trust and loyalty.

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Why Content Marketing Matters for Financial Advisors and Wealth Managers

First impressions matter, and content marketing often shapes them.

“Content marketing is extremely important for wealth management firms because not only do third-party pieces legitimize one’s practice and provide brand awareness, but they also answer prospective clients’ core questions about a firm,” says Wright.

Wright adds that wealth management content marketing offers an opportunity to communicate your expertise and core values to potential clients without directly selling to them. And it’s also important for remaining competitive in the advisory landscape.

“Staying in front of clients and prospects with good content will always be a golden rule for wealth management firms,” says Biagini.

This can help you avoid falling into the “out of sight, out of mind” trap. By providing a steady stream of consistent, relevant content, advisors can maintain informative, long-term relationships, says Biagini.

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Content Marketing Mistakes to Avoid

If you’re new to content creation, there may be a lot to learn. Having a list of pitfalls to steer clear of can help ensure that your content hits the right note every time.

• Avoid using overly technical language that confuses prospects. Content should be accessible, not filled with jargon.
• Ditch generic, impersonal content. Inject content with authenticity and a unique perspective to build trust.
• Don’t make content purely promotional. Instead of pushing services, focus on educating and addressing common financial concerns.
• Optimize posts with relevant SEO keywords and share them strategically across social media channels where they’re most visible to your target audience.

Lastly, always ensure that your marketing materials are compliant (here’s a marketing compliance checklist to help). Financial advisors must follow industry regulations, so verify content aligns with legal and ethical standards to maintain credibility.

Bottom Line

Content marketing for financial advisors is not an exact science – there’s a certain amount of trial and error that goes into getting it right. By taking time to learn what your clients or prospects need and how they prefer information to be shared, you can create a content marketing plan that can help you further your growth goals.

Tips for Sourcing Clients

• Let leads come to you. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
• Ask for referrals. Sometimes landing a new client can be as simple as asking your existing clients for a referral. This is something you can do through your content marketing via social media posts or email marketing.
• Expand your search. More investors are searching for financial advisors online these days. Rather than limiting your search for leads to your local geographic area, consider how you can widen your search to connect with clients who may be turning to digital channels to find financial professionals.

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