What if you had a crystal ball to help you with your marketing plan? A plan to help focus your marketing efforts and minimize your potential fallout from the “great wealth transfer?” A plan that includes ideas for creative, fun client events that attract and retain clients, their kids, and grandkids? Does it sound too good to be true? If you know your business numbers, you can find your marketing opportunities.

The “great wealth transfer” will take place over the next 20 to 25 years and involve multiple generations. The dollar amount that will transfer between generations has been reported as high as $68 Trillion. With an aging advisor and client base, there are easy ways to help minimize the wealth transfer impact on your business while maximizing your marketing efforts and benefiting your clients.

Several tools can provide insight into your business numbers. Two that we find helpful at Financial Advocates are Client Segmentation and Truelytics™ TruePerformance. The challenge: Once you have the numbers, how do you translate them into a viable marketing plan?

Three areas come into focus when using the Truelytics and Client Segmentation tools, which help discover your marketing opportunities:

• The best households to market to are those that will have the most significant impact on your business based on your clients’ age, following generation information, and assets under management.
• Insight into commonalities between the households: hobbies and interests, employer, product gaps, and recent interactions with the families.
• The ability to identify and promote the benefits you offer to current and future generations. Why should they stay with you as compared to finding their own advisor?

Best Households Who Advocate for You

Your segmentation numbers can help you recognize those who advocate for you to their family and friends and point to marketing ideas unique to that group. Additionally, the information provides insight into advocates who still need to introduce you to their spouse, partner, kids, and grandkids. If you do not show enough love to your advocates and their kids and grandkids, your marketing plan may be null and void for the next generation within the wealth transfer.

Niche Markets

While many advisors have a tough time identifying their niche markets, your business numbers provide marketing insight into the client you serve and the products and services they use. Knowing which companies your clients work for, their hobbies and interests, and their family dynamics can help you build amazing client events, marketing campaigns, and face-to-face interactions. The marketing insights derived from your client segmentation can help develop a sustainable marketing plan you can use for years.

Understanding Your Differentiator

The best thing you can do for your client’s family is to keep them from having to make tough financial decisions when dealing with the death of a loved one; one of the most challenging times in their life. And yet, that may be the first time an advisor has met their client’s family.

Having insight into your client and their family allows you to understand what is important to them and what products and services fit their needs. And it gives you marketing insights to differentiate yourself from the other 263,030 advisors in the United States¹.

Ask yourself questions that may help family members and other prospects determine what makes you unique:

1. Why did you become an advisor?

Many advisors have compelling stories that can help differentiate them. Relaying your story allows clients and prospects to know that you understand their specific situation and that you may be able to help.

2. What prior experience could help your clients?

For those advisors who pursue their financial career later in life, their previous field of work and experience gained can be a differentiator. You understand those who work in your previous world, their struggles, and their frustrations. That can be your built-in differentiator!

3. What areas of the business do you have a deep understanding of?

Are you adept at helping families transition after a loved one passes away? If so, your client and their family members need to know that. Can you provide a strong understanding of insurance for families with small children and how it may help minimize risk for them and their families? Providing relatable information that helps solve problems can be your differentiator.

Your marketing plan crystal ball truly is at your fingertips. Use the right tools to understand your business numbers and how they can positively affect your clients. That insight will give you just what you need to build your unique marketing plan and manage “the great wealth transfer.”

[1]“Occupational Employment and Wages,” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2021, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes132052.htm