If you have a financial seminar coming up on the calendar, then you understand the importance of marketing. It takes more than a winning smile and a firm handshake to get clients through the door. Not only is it key that you market yourself — it’s necessary. On top of that, you’ll have to diversify your marketing, reaching out to potential clients everywhere they might be.
Intimidated? Don’t be! We here at Impact have collected more than a few means of beefing up your financial seminar marketing network.
Digital Advertising
Naturally, an advisor’s first inclination is to advertise online, far and wide. Good start! But where? How? With what? Good questions!
You want to make sure your ads are reaching the right people in the right markets at the right time. What good is an ad if the wrong people are seeing it, or worse, no one’s seeing them at all? It’s vital that your financial seminar marketing finds its targets. With a digital marketing approach, targeting will measure which ads perform the best with particular audiences in particular areas. This way, you can be certain that retirees, or those approaching retirement, are getting the news about your upcoming financial seminar.
But what will potential attendees see? The variety of the Internet allows for a variety of ad types. Facebook ads for upcoming seminars put your events in the feeds of the world’s largest social media website. Google image ads put upcoming seminars front and center with interested prospects looking for seminars in their area. Promotional radio, podcast, or video clips can put a voice to the name and get people familiar with your style of education.
Digital marketing ads also don’t have to be specific to a particular financial seminar. General brand awareness ads get your company’s name out while also establishing your credibility in the financial space. If potential clients already recognize your name, they’ll be more likely to engage with you on an educational level and return for more, or turn themselves from a potential client into a current one.
Our educational seminar program, The American Retirement Institute (ARI), is a great resource to get you started with ready-made ads and email automation. Check it out for some ideas on how to market yourself, or sign up to become a financial educator yourself to get access to all its resources.
Mailers
It’s important to remember that online, far as it may reach, isn’t the only place to meet potential clients where they are. Direct mail marketing is a vital and easy way to get the word out about upcoming financial seminar marketing events.
Those nearing retirement are more likely to be receptive to a mailer campaign for an upcoming financial seminar. That alone makes a mailer a key tool in your financial seminar marketing toolbox. With that, a mailer is a material way to differentiate yourself from the competition — Impact designs dozens of mailers a year with vibrant colors, memorable copy and additions like QR codes for easy event registration. There’s a huge variety of options any financial advisor can employ to tailor a mailer to their specific seminar needs.
A mailer also gives you more space to talk about yourself and your practice. Include a short bio of yourself, explain your financial philosophy, or talk about what you see coming down the financial pipeline! Show potential clients the face behind the process and they’ll come to appreciate the mind behind the seminar. The mailer provides an excellent first opportunity to get your foot in the door.
Referrals
With all this said, in-person referrals are still an efficient and immediately satisfying way to build a client base and get the word out about upcoming financial seminars. Word-of-mouth is quick, friendly, and — best of all — free!
Your current client base knows your practice better than anyone. This puts them in a great position to spread the word about your upcoming seminars and vouch for your expertise in the field. Furthermore, past seminar attendees who’ve benefited from your services can generate strong referrals for the next seminar, explaining details and finer points from your presentations to make an impact on an incoming crowd. Encourage your current clients to bring a friend, family member, or colleague who they think could use your services. Employ the “guest ticket” technique — make clear that they’ll need to bring a guest to the seminar who will serve as a “ticket” to get in.
Don’t be shy about asking seminar attendees to spread the word, either! Anyone who can benefit from your services can and should make up a prime part of your target demographic. Securing a client isn’t just a one-time deal — it’s a process of renewal and reengagement.
Email Marketing
Need a quick communication between you and your clients? Shoot them an email!
A colorful email marketing campaign is a quick, zero-weight means to remind clients about just what it is you do for them. In fact, you could even combine the CAE and email campaigns to market one event or seminar — approaching from both directions ensures that your coverage is saturated among clients in a non-aggressive, friendly manner.
Another benefit of an email marketing campaign is the ability to follow-up with interested attendees, called a “drip campaign.” In a drip campaign, emails are automatically sent on pre-determined schedules, relaying information about new seminars, educational topics or financial developments to prospects, guiding them down the path to conversion. With this type of an email campaign, the process is already automated, providing a hands-off but effective means of communication. Prior attendees are encouraged to attend new seminars, building your client base all the while.
Other campaigns can be focused on the particular event the advisor is hosting. Different campaigns based on upcoming dinner seminars, financial workshops and tax optimization clinics, just to name a few, create unique opportunities to engage with your client base and draw focus onto your specific brand and style of seminar. If you need it, it can be done!
For more tips on how to build and nurture a successful email marketing campaign, check out our blog post here.
Have more questions? Fill out the form after reading about our educational seminar marketing program, American Retirement Institute! We’re happy to help build your financial seminar marketing into a efficient seminar marketing machine!
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