January 2016

Also:• Getting fired• Fall conference review• Integrating interns• Thinking about

“two and 20” fees

Creating a marketing

planwith

Marie Swift

Hereweareagain,lookingatanoth-ernewyearfullofpossibilityandhope.Nodoubt,you’vealreadyhit

thegroundrunningandarefocusedonac-complishinggreatthings—especiallywhenitcomestoattractingtherightclientsandbringinginnewbusiness.Right?

Herearesomeoftheobjectivesyouhavelikelyincludedinyour2016marketingplan:

• Raiseprofilethroughcommunityserviceandothervisibilitytactics(e.g.,sponsoredevents)onalocal(orregional)level

• Buildshareofmindwiththerightpeoplethroughtargetedcommuni-cations

• Enhancereputationbyconsistentlybeingseenincrediblemediaoutletsasasubjectmatterexpertandfinan-cialprofessional

• Buildthoughtleadershipstatusthroughpublicationofuniqueinsightsandforward-thinkingconcepts

• Improvesearchenginerankingandbecomemorediscoverablethroughsocialmediauseandastrongonlinepresence

Goals,ofcourse,shouldbespecificandmeasurable,suchas:

• Hosttwolunch-and-learns,sixaffinitydinners,andtwoclientap-preciationeventsin2016,generat-ingatotalof30newhigh-valueprospectiveclients,resultingin10newclientsand$10millioninAUM

• Attracttwonewpeopletothe

firm—youngerprofessionalswhohavethepotentialtobecomepart-nersovertime—andstartgroom-ingthemaspartofthesuccessionplan,throughvisibilityinnationalindustrytradepublicationsandlocalbusinesscommunity(alsoworkwithamatching/recruitingserviceandexploreopportunitiesatcollegeswithfinancialplanningprograms)

• Increasewebsitetrafficby50percent,drawingatotalof2,000uniquevisitorspermonthtothehomepage,with200ofthosevisi-torswatchingoursignaturevideoand100permonthenteringtheirbasicinformationbeforebeingallowedtodownloadourspecialreportandgoingintoourautomaticsix-touchnurturecampaign

• Establishamonthlycolumnwithalocalnewsoutlet,andsubmit12educationalarticlesin2016,withaninvitationtoaccessthefreetoolsandresourcesonourwebsite

• Respondtoonepressrequestperweek,resultinginoneinterviewandsubsequentmediamentionpermonth,andusesnippetsfromandlinkstothosearticlesandmediaclipstoboostcredibilityonourwebsiteandviaoursocialaccounts

• EstablishacompanyFacebookpagetosupplementourcompanyLinkedInpage,addingonenewpostperweektoeachwhilestayingtruetothesocialmediaguidelinessug-gestedbyourmarketingconsultant

Whateveryourgoalsandobjectivesarethisyear,makeapointtowritethemdownandcreatea13-monthmarketingplan(thatway,you’llhaveayearandonemonthmappedout,anditwillbeeasiertobudgetforandexecuteyourplan).

Remember “the three M’s”Thebeginningoftheyearisalsoa

goodtimetorevisitthethreeM’s:yourmarket,yourmessage,andyourmediums.

Your market.Everythingyoudoshouldcenteronyourtargetmarket(andit’sokaytohavetwoorthreeofthem).Whoareyoutargetingandwhy?Developanidealclientprofileforeachmarketsegment,andbespecific—wheredothesepeoplecongregate,howdotheygettheirnewsandinformation,whodotheytrustordistrust,whatcommonalitiesdotheyhave,whatkeepsthemupatnight?

Shareyouridealclientprofilewithstrategicpartnersandinternalstakehold-ers.Postitwhereyouandyourteamwillseeitonadailybasis.

Your message. Revisityourvaluepropositionandrefinekeymessages.Haveyouaddedarobo-componentoranothernewserviceoffering?Howdoesithelppeople,whoisitgoodfor,andwhydidyouaddthisnewelementoroption?Haveyouaddedstaffornewcapabilities?Whyisthisimportant?

Ifyoucouldonlysayonethingaboutyourcompany’svalueinaclear,concisesentence,whatwoulditbe—woulditbeshortenoughtobea140-charactertweetandmemorableenoughthatotherscouldrepeatitwithoutrackingtheirbrains?Af-

B y M a r i e S w i f t

Sweet successFuel your business growth in 2016 with a robust marketing plan

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Single article reprint as seen in the January 2016 issue of the

Marketing Playbook

teryouhaveyourprimaryvaluestatementfiguredout,thinkhardaboutthetopthreebenefitsyourclientsenjoyasaresultofworkingwithyou;thosethreebenefitscanformthethreepillarsofyourpositioningstatement.

Your mediums.Whattacticsandmethodologieswillyouusetobringyourmessagetoyouridealtargetmarket(s)?PerhapsthisistheyearyoustepintoaleadershiprolewithinNAPFA(therearePRbenefitstobegained)orbeginwritingthatbook(whichcanopenallsortsofnewdoorsandopportunities).

Eventmarketingisalmostalwaysfruitfulifathoughtfulapproachisusedtocreatetherightmix:people,content,setting,purpose,andtone.Relationshipmarketingcouldincludeaclientsurveytounearthhiddenattitudes,assetsandrefer-rals.Credibilitymarketingmightincludeappearingontelevisionandradiostationsandthensharingthoseclipsviayourweb-site,email,andsocialmedia.Contentmar-ketingcouldhingeonwritingablogonceortwiceamonth,whichyou’dpublishonacompany-brandedsiteandbuzzuponsocialmedia,mentioninspeeches,etc.

Onceyouhavegeneratedalistofpo-tentialactivitiesandtactics,prioritizewhatyouwillactuallydobasedonthepotentialreturn-on-investment,andswingyourbudgetinthatdirection.

Embrace the PESO modelToday’smostprogressivefirmsare

alsoembracingthePESOmodelasawaytobridgetraditionalmarketingmethodsanddigital/mobilerealities.Thisintegrat-ed,modernmodelincludespaidplace-ments,earnedmediaattention,sharingthroughsocialmedia,andowningonlinepropertiesthatyoubuildandcontrol.Us-ingthePESOmodelcoversallthebases:helpingyouenhanceyourbrand,buildshare-of-mind,andderivenewbusiness.Whenallfourelementsareproperlyat-tunedandworkingtogether,anewspaceemergesforthefirm.

StudythePESOmodelgraphicandmakeamentalnote:Thesweetspotisinthemiddle—that’swhere“authority”occursandnewbusinessseemstocomemagicallytothefirm.Alsonoticehowthecirclesarearrayed.

“Earned”isatthetopbecause,inmymind,itisthehardestandperhapsmostimportantelementtoconsistentlyattain.

Ontheleftandrightare“shared”and“owned.”“Shared”representsyoursocialmediastrategy,whichiswhereyoupostengagingcontentandpeopleshareitwithothersintheirsocialcircles.Thisiscloselyrelatedto“owned,”whichincludesyourwebsiteandblog.Asyourprimaryonlinepresence,theseshouldserveasaplatformfornotjustpositioningyourfirmbutfor

demonstratingthoughtleadershipandsubjectmatterexpertise.

Atthebottomofthearrayisthe“paid”category.Whilethiselementshouldnotbeignoredandcanbehelpfulindriv-ingbusinesssuccess,anythingthatispur-chasedandtotallycontrolledisstillseenaslesscrediblethanplacementsthatareearned,suchasbeingquotedinTheNewYorkTimesorhavingapieceyouwrotepublishedinthelocalnewspaper.

Here’showthePESOmodelmightshapeyour2016marketingplan:

Paid • Researchandpurchaseselect

advertisements/sponsorshipswheretargetmarketisreading/attending

• Getoutaheadofconferenceap-pearances/sponsorshipstomakethemostoftheinvestmentbeingmade

• Leveragepaidassetsaccruedonwebsite,socialmedia,etc.

Earned • Increasemarketvisibilitythrough

positivemediacoverage• FocusonstrategicPR(e.g.,media

coffeesandpressconferences,newsreleases,strategicpitches),butalsojumponorganicopportunitiesandpressrequeststhatcomethroughNAPFA

• Leverageearnedassetsaccruedonwebsite,socialmedia,etc.

Shared• Buildshareofmindthroughsocial

mediastrategy• Reviewexistingsocialaccounts

(makesureallareconsistentlybrandedandonmessage)

• Developasocialmediapolicyandeditorialcalendar

• Cross-linkandpromotesocialmediaaccountsonwebsite,ine-signatures,etc.

Owned• Generatemeaningfulcontentthat

positionskeyexecutivesasthoughtleadersandsubjectmatterexperts

• Reviewandcontinuallyenhanceprimaryassets(e.g.,website,confer-enceboothmaterials,brochures.)

• Leverageallownedassetsaccruedonwebsite,socialmedia;placeasappropriateinthird-partymediaoutlets,etc.

The PESO model

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Paid media.Paidmediadoesnotnec-essarilyneedtobefancycommercialsandcreativeprintads.Considerinstead:socialmediaadvertising,sponsoredcontentordisplayadsonotherrelevantwebsites,hostedorsponsoredevents,GoogleAdwords,andemailmarketing.Asmartstrategywouldbetocreatea“musthave”specialreportore-book,whichyoucouldofferonyoursiteforfreeinreturnforanameandemailaddress.Youroffercouldincludetheweeklyormonthlydeliveryoffinancialtipsandinsights,alongwithoccasionalinvitationstospecialeventsyouarehostingorsupporting.

Earned media.Earnedmediaiswhatyouknowaseitherpublicityormediarela-tions.It’shavinganewspaperortradepubli-cationwriteaboutyou.It’sappearingonthelocaltelevisionstationtoshareprofessionalinsightsonpersonalfinancialmatters.It’shavingacrediblenewsoutletpublishyourthoughtsonsaving,budgeting,investing,collegefunding,andretirementrealities.It’swritingabookandhavingatraditionalpublisherselectitfordistributionandpro-motionviatheirplatform.

Intheagewhereanyonecanpublishandpromotetheirowncontentonline,itismoreimportantthanevertobeseenasavettedresourceforcrediblenews-and-infooutlets.Whileanyonecanwriteandself-publishabook,respectedbrand-namebookpublishersaredeemedashavinghigherstandards.

Whilebloggingorpublishingcontentonyourownwebplatformishelpfulfordemonstratingexpertiseandalsoenhancessearchenginepagerankingsduetotheconsistentuseofrelevantkeywordsthat

resultinhigherdiscoverabilityonline,studiesshowthatbeinginterviewedbyandincludedinaprofessionaljournalist’sstoryorhavingyourarticlespublishedinare-spectedmagazineornewspaperistypicallyseenbythegeneralpublicasthree-to-fivetimesmorecrediblethanpublishingthatsamecontentonyourown.

Shared media.Sharedmedia,alsoknownassocialmedia,isanevolvingart.Youknowyouaremasteringtheartofsocialmediawhenpeoplestartsharingandlikingandcommentingonyourposts.Thistypeof“engagement”showsthatyouareprovidinghighlyrelevantcontentthatpeoplefindinterestingenoughtosharewiththeirownsocialcircles.Whenshar-ingoccurs,firmsexperienceanewformof“earned”visibility.Atsomepointinthefuture,wemightevenseeorganizationsuseitastheirmainsourceofcommunica-tionsinternallyandexternally.

ThegreatthingaboutthePESOmodelisthat,ifyouembraceallthesegments,youwillhaveatonofgoodcontenttoshareonyourownsocialmediaaccounts.Ifyouareattunedtoyouraudienceandtheirneeds,andalignthatmindsetwiththeideaofattractingidealclients,youwillfindagoodbalancebetweenpromotional,educational,andbusiness-casualcommu-nications.

Owned media.Ownedmediaisthecontentyoucreateand/orcontrol.Itissomethingyouown.Itlivesonyourwebsiteorblog.Youcontrolthevisuals,themessaging,andtheplatform.ItisyourprimarypresenceontheWeb.

Asmartthingtodoistoplace“leadmagnets”onyourownedproperties—for

instance,apop-upboxorsidebarareathatinvitesvisitorstosignupforyourmonthlynewsletterorweeklye-tips.Itisalsowisetoincludevideos(couldbecartoontype“explainer”videosoreducationalvideoswithyouspeakingtothecamera),memes(ahumorousorinspirationalimagewithcorrespondingtextthatiscopiedandspreadbyInternetusers),andinfographics(avisualimagesuchasachartordiagramthathelpssimplifyacomplicatedsubjectorturnanotherwiseboringsubjectintoacaptivatingexperience)onyourprimarymarketinghub.Studiesshowthatpeoplesharevideolinks12timesmoreoften(andimagestwotimesmoreoften)thantheydosimpletextandlinksalone.

Get a jump on your marketing plan now

Infutureinstallments,we’lldrilldownintoallfourofthePESOsegments.PleasekeepthisissueoftheNAPFAAdvisormagazinesothatreferringbacktothefoundationalelementsandtermsiseasyforyou.Betweennowandthenextinstallment,Iencourageyoutohammeroutamarketingplan,embracingthePESOModelandrememberingthethreeMs.

Marie Swift is President and CEO of Impact Communica-tions, a full-service marketing communications firm serving a select group of independent

financial advisors and allied institu-tions. Learn more at ImpactCommunica-tions.org. Find additional insights and marketing tips at MarieSwift.com.

Marketing Playbook

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The opinions, conclusions, estimates, projections and descriptions of specific market trends are in whole or part based on current market conditions and therefore, subject to change without notice. The reprint above is from an article originally appearing in the January 2016 issue of the NAPFA Advisor Magazine. All Rights reserved. The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, Chicago, Illinois.