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Event Marketing Can Deliver Advisors New Business, Positive PR
By Marie Swift
January 3, 2012
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In this Business Builder series of articles, we're examining 5 key marketing strategies that are working for financial advisors today. This week, we’ll continue our series with Key Strategy #3: Event Marketing.If you missed any prior installments, please see the library of Marketing Maven articles below.
GIVE PEOPLE SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT
Events can be a great way to help enhance relationships with current clients, position yourself in front of qualified prospects, and build important mutually beneficial relationships with Centers of Influence (COIs). But yesterday’s event marketing strategies may not work today. Times have changed and people are tired of the same old thing. Today’s investors want to be a part of the experience, and attention spans are not what they once were. They want information from an authoritative source, presented in a fun and dynamic way.
If you create something unique and compelling, people will not only take notice and participate themselves … they’ll tell others about you and your unique, compelling approach.
THINK OF EVENTS AS PROACTIVE PR
If your event is interesting enough, you might be able to create some buzz with the local media. Consider this proactive PR. If your event is covered by the media, it can clarify exactly which segment of the public you serve and make those people aware of you. Leveraging your position in the media can be an important motivator for a client-focused event.
CONSIDER A TOWN HALL FORMAT
For many financial professionals, the Town Hall Meeting is fast replacing the traditional dinner seminar event. Instead of one or two presenters in a formal seminar setting, consider bringing in a panel of experts (COIs) for a discussion on a pre-determined topic, such as investing in uncertain times or financial literacy for kids and young people. The Town Hall Meeting format gives participants the satisfaction of interacting, rather than just listening. Another advantage is that Town Hall Meetings are less expensive than traditional dinner seminars because venue, food and beverage costs are typically quite low.
During the worst of the Wall Street Scandals and economic downturn in 2009, Stan T. Webb, CFS, a Wichita-based financial advisor and principal of Stan T. Webb Companies, Inc.,, began talking with other community business leaders about the state of the economy, the problems that financial illiteracy can cause and suggested that they all band together to do something about it. April is financial literacy month, so the group, led by this financial professional, determined to host a Town Hall Event for Community Leaders and other interested adults in the community.
TIE YOUR PROGRAM TO A COOL LOCATION
A good venue can make or break the event. Webb researched venues and determined that one of the small auditorium theater rooms at Wichita State University would be affordable and set the right tone: a serious subject in a serious setting, an educational facility devoted to higher learning. He enrolled various leaders in the community in his vision, assigning each of them roles and speaking parts at the event.
-- Someone from the Federal Reserve volunteered to speak about the financial literacy programs that were available through the Fed.
-- A detective on the police force offered to talk about how to prevent identity theft.
-- The city mayor offered to declare that day Financial Literacy Day in Wichita. She sent a City Council member to read the official proclamation at the event.
-- A retired astronaut who lives in Wichita offered to speak about his experience in space. He tied his 20-minute talk to “the choices we make in life”—a good tie-in to being personally responsible with money, work and education.
-- A book author from Kansas City drove down to speak about personal finance and how parents and educators could access teaching aids for kids at various ages.
-- Webb served as master of ceremonies, welcoming the media, introducing each speaker and/or panel, and facilitating the Town Hall Q&A segment.
GET THE WORD OUT WITH PR
Webb worked with a PR firm to send out media alerts to local radio, television and newspapers. He hired a photographer and videographer to capture important “digital assets” that could be leveraged and promoted after the evening event. He started a virtual community-gathering place using a low-cost service called Ning.com so that the Town Hall conversation could continue online. He posted the photos, videos, news clips and other official documents (agendas, news releases, calendar of future events) on the site.
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When you start putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), think carefully about the words and the style you use. Every communication is an opportunity to reinforce your positioning, market your firm and your build your brand. Sometimes, dear mild-mannered financial planners, it’s okay to be bold – and even a bit (gulp!) bossy. It’s a noisy world out there. Your ads, flyers and other marketing promotions must stand out and grab attention. …
Every communication is an opportunity to reinforce your positioning, market your firm and your build your brand. Yes, you really are marketing, whether you think so or not. Might as well do it right.
Marie Swift is a nationally recognized consultant who has for over twenty years worked exclusively with some of the industry’s top financial institutions, training organizations, investment advisory and financial planning firms. A top rated speaker at dozens of industry events including FPA, NAPFA, TD Ameritrade Institutional, Securities America, Schwab Institutional, NFL Players Association, Financial Network, Pershing and Lockwood conferences, Marie is dedicated to elevating the conversation in the industry.
Marie is also a prolific writer and contributes to many of the industry’s leading publications, including Financial Planning magazine. You can read Marie’s
newest content on www.financial-planning.com where she writes the weekly Marketing Maven column. She is also contributes content to the Networking 2.0 blog for Sourcemedia’s interactive, online destination created just for women advisors as an extension of the Women Advisors Forum events being held in cities across the country multiple times every year.
A thought leader for thought leaders, she is known for bringing some of the industry’s best and brightest voices together for dialog and debate. Her Thought Leader Round Table series is just one example how Marie generates interesting conversations with movers and shakers in the financial services industry.
Her Best Practices in the Financial Services Industry blog provides additional insights and advice, including podcasts, articles, videos and other helpful content for independent
financial advisors and the institutions that serve them. Find it at www.marieswift.com.
Prior to establishing her own firm in 1993, she served as Director of Corporate Communications for Worldwide Investment Network in Irvine, California, where she helped FNIC’s then #1 Top Producer attain and maintain that title for five consecutive years. She managed a staff of twenty that supported two-dozen successful registered representatives,
estate planners and wealth managers.
As president and CEO of Impact Communications, Inc., Marie leads a dedicated team of marketing communications and PR professionals serving financial institutions and a select group of independent advisors on an exclusive basis. Marie resides in Leawood, KS and can be reached through her website, www.ImpactCommunications.org. For breaking news, follow @marieswift on Twitter -www.twitter.com/marieswift.
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