How Digital Marketing Builds Trust and Credibility

Shannon Rosic  00:19

So as fellow fellow marketers, I should say, and experts in this space, you know, why do advisors struggle when it comes to marketing,

Marie Swift  00:27

You know, advisors or entrepreneurs, they're pulled in a million different directions. And sometimes they just don't think of marketing as one of the things that they should be paying attention to. Or they try to delegate it or outsource it. So I find that if the advisor can dedicate some time to either do the marketing themselves, or assemble a team, even if it's outsourced, some internal, some outsource that, then they can start to have a plan that's consistent, where they can bring their best thinking and their authenticity and voice to it. And then the rest of the team can execute. But totally delegating never works. And I think just giving it short shrift. That's part of the reason that advisors stink at marketing.

Shannon Rosic  01:09

Absolutely. And why is good marketing so essential, right now you hear a lot about advisors needing to stand out, you know, showcasing their value proposition and you need marketing. To do that.

Marie Swift  01:20

You have to stand out in today's noisy digital world, if you're not present, if you're not online, if you're not on that single pane of glass, wherever your best clients and centers of influence are new or not. Even there for them, you've got to be out there to compete with your competitors to stand out. And to build that credibility by being in the press by having your own podcast or show maybe it's a video series where people get used to your face your voice, how do you see things and why they might want to trust you. So I think all of that that authenticity, and being present through that digital world is a way to build trust.

Shannon Rosic  01:57

So you talk about trust and credibility. And that can be a difficult thing in today's landscape with being digital, not always being able to meet face to face and still very much being in a hybrid environment. And when it comes to marketing, its podcasts and video and being in the press, it can be overwhelming for advisors. So where should they start to build that trust and credibility?

Marie Swift  02:18

I think if you think about who you are as a human being and where you have your strength, start there. If you're a good speaker, then find something where you can speak if you're a good writer, find a way to write and then shore up those other portions of your marketing with other people because either coach you, or that you can just get better by practice, right. So if you're not good in speaking to the press or being on camera, get some coaching. Because as you write, if you're a better writer than your speaker, you're going to be asked to do both. So I happen to be a better writer than I am a speaker, but I've had to shore that up. So pick one thing, maybe it's a podcast, and then do that really well. And then branch out, you'll find that there are a dozen different ways that you can take that longer form content, and turn it into smaller bite sized chunks that you can continue to get the word out about who you are and how you add value.

Shannon Rosic  03:07

And on the flip side, how do advisors lose credibility, you see that a lot too, because maybe they don't have a structure or plan in place.

Marie Swift  03:16

Indeed, so anything that's inconsistent or inauthentic that people can tell that just by looking at who you are online, maybe slipping up in your odd moments on social media, and maybe after hours showing a little bit too much color and personality that could lose credibility with some of your constituents.

Shannon Rosic  03:35

And as a marketer, as well. I've always found it very frustrating that marketing teams seem to always be the first to go when things get tough. Why is that? And I feel like that shouldn't be the case.

Marie Swift  03:46

Well, it's very short sighted because the best time to be marketing is when you don't need business. So marketing in good times and bad. It's just like dollar cost averaging into a portfolio. You want to keep planting those seeds all the time. Think of yourself like the modern day Johnny Appleseed planting seeds all the time on digital mediums, because those will take root they'll grow and they'll bear fruit over time. So don't cut your marketing just because you don't need the harvest right now. It takes a while to get those marketing efforts to bear fruit.

Shannon Rosic  04:16

I appreciate that. You said it takes a while because it absolutely does. And so just to wrap up, you know, are there any trends that you're going to be following Marie when it comes to advisors in marketing? Is there technology they should be looking at, you know, how they should be approaching it. You know, what's next?

Marie Swift  04:31

Well, you know, devices have modernized the way that we communicate. Everybody has the power in their hand with a smartphone to do a podcast or a video wherever they are. I think the next thing that we're hearing about that we're watching is voice so someone could say hey, Alexa, play Marie Swift Swift chat podcasts, and it would just turn right on.

Shannon Rosic  04:51

That's fantastic. Looking forward to the future. Marie, thank you so much for your insight.

Marie Swift  04:54

Thanks for having me.

Shannon Rosic  04:56

For Advisorpedia. I'm Shannon Rosic.