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Written by: Marc Lamoureux
The value of uniqueness in marketing is obvious. Clearly addressing your target audience in terms of a unique value proposition is essential in order to stand out from the crowd. Approaching your market with the same content and design as your peers, positions your brand as a commodity severely limiting your ability to grow and is a failing approach. For financial advisors and similar (mortgage advisors, insurance agents, etc.) this is more important given the high volume of competitors.
In financial services, creating unique value positions are more difficult to achieve due to industry, brand and technology constraints. The financial services industry has strict compliance rules designed to protect consumers. Your license holder or perhaps brand marketing can limit your ability to share your own voice in the form of your advisor website or newsletter. Your marketing technology or your own technical aptitude may be limiting you to a narrow selection of website themes and content, unintentionally making you look and sound like everyone else. This is hardly a welcoming environment for creating a unique digital advisor brand. All financial professionals should invest in positioning themselves toward their target segments and demand technology that supports this mission.
Success is gained by thoughtful and strategic positioning with the same intensity brought to delivering on client goals. My proposal is you invest in differentiating yourself with your own voice to drive uniqueness and improved results. Improved results in client engagement and acquisition will drive retention and practice growth in the form of AUM . In doing so, your advisor website, content marketing, email and social marketing activities will all benefit from increased traffic, engagement and improved SEO ranking! If you doubt this can be done inside of a tight brand and compliance regime please visit the following websites:
“…invest in differentiating yourself with your own voice to drive uniqueness and improved results”.
All are great examples of financial advisor websites differentiated through design and content, speaking to a unique audience. They are also using the same technology (no surprise provided by Veriday) and are governed by compliance regulations yet have managed to deliver a unique position via content and design.
Pierce Fox Wealth uses graphics, splashes of color and a personal touch via their blog to connect with their clients in a unique way. Sandra Pierce’s writing is authentic, personal and guaranteed to be unique. Their website is a strong example of how to stand out from the crowd while operating under a master brand being urban-centric reflecting investment and life values with clarity.
Clearity Capital is also urban-centred but with a coastal vibe and more no nonsense content oriented to financial well being. Clearity is an independent firm, so establishing their unique market is confirmed in their selection of locally relevant photography and featured team members.
Last but not least and reflecting how imagery can clarify core value propositions, is the Schmidt Investment Group. A home page with a simple message and image that captures the essence of market and strategy.
For many years, the advisor marketing ecosystem has gravitated toward speed and convenience favoring recycled content and uninspired website templates sourced from a limited choice of providers. At the same time, an industry of marketing and practice development consultants continually reinforces the need for defining and servicing your target segment. You can’t look and sound the same way as others and develop a unique market position so a service community that convinces you that you only need 3 visual templates and 100’s of old articles to compete is outdated and wrong. This approach gets you in the game but doesn’t allow you to compete and win.
Competing and winning in the advisor marketing arena requires thoughtful strategy and segment clarity. Effective market position requires a unique selection of relevant, impactful and authentic content, not settling for “cookie cutter” designs, content and tools. Our innovative platform, Digital Agent by Veriday makes this seamless for you. For the same effort, you are going to get a better outcome by leveraging DA to realize strong ROI in the form of increased client engagement, improved lead generation and accelerated practice growth.
We work with large and small financial enterprises and advisors, many are strong and powerful brands. If an advisor can position uniquely inside of a large Bank or Wirehouse imagine what an independent advisor can do? Please contact us today.
Related: Fixing 7 Critical Mistakes Made in Advisor Email Marketing