How do you primarily communicate with your existing clients and recent leads? Email might not have the current appeal of social media and video, but for communicating with existing contacts, it is still critical.
Ideally, you should organize your contacts into a simple database (e.g., an excel spreadsheet) and upload that to one of the many software services available such as MailChimp and Hubspot). Once this is done you have built your own marketing platform! All those business cards and email addresses will have been transformed into a lead-generating, client-renewing, prospect-warming, referral-creating machine.
The next step — or if you have already created your contact list — will be able to segment according to the profile of the individual: their value, age and engagement levels. Messaging can then be created for specific groups. For example, you would want to email existing HNW customers more frequently (say, weekly) than a cold lead from a seminar a couple of years ago (monthly). Similarly, you would not be looking to sell final expense insurance to someone fresh out of college.
Your newsletter must offer something of value for the reader—financial news, product updates, investment insights, etc. The recipient should feel educated and enlightened by your communication. This will strengthen their impression of you as a knowledgeable, trusted resource.
Open and click-thru rates for email have never been huge, so do not be concerned if you are not immediately overwhelmed with meeting requests. To get in front here, you will need to come up with subject lines that grab attention, ask questions, and encourage engagement. Here is a tool that can help you practice and come up with enticing subject lines.
While useful content will help your client and burnish your brand, you need to get something out of this too! Whether the focus is a new sale, client retention, or referral, each email should include a Call to Action—a hook to prompt the reader to respond. For example, this might be an invitation to a webinar, a meeting, or downloading new product details.
Include a compelling lure here to encourage that response. Action verb prompts are more likely to get people to get in touch: “Optimize My Retirement”, “Unlock New Info”, “Discover Tax Savings”. Similarly, always ensure that there is a link to your website, your email address, and your social media links. If you are confident that what you are sharing with your clients is valuable, you should give them the opportunity to pass on your wisdom. And your phone number…
If you are not a confident copywriter, you can use AI tools such as ChatGPT to help compose content. Put yourself in the mindset of the lead and ask relevant questions of the software, and it will give you some copy which you can improve and personalize. When using AI generators it is recommended that you do not simply copy and paste. Be sure to edit the resultant copy to be more relevant to your practice and client.
Financial advisors should use email marketing to connect effectively with their current clients, engage with leads, and build strong relationships within a target audience. The key advantage it has is that you are engaging in an already established relationship. It never hurts to be able to get your name and number back in front of a client or prospect.