9 Marketing Tips for Retirement Plan Advisors and TPAs
May 4, 2012 1:37 PM
9 Marketing Tips for Retirement Plan Advisors and TPAs<br><br>
When it comes to the retirement plan industry, some financial advisors and third-party administration firms are too concentrated on running their business to concern themselves with marketing. And this can keep them from putting their best marketing foot forward.
Here are nine marketing tips for advisors courting retirement plan sponsors.
Source: Ary Rosenbaum, the Rosenbaum Law Firm.
Here are nine marketing tips for advisors courting retirement plan sponsors.
Source: Ary Rosenbaum, the Rosenbaum Law Firm.
1. Know Your Message and Your Audience<br><br>
When it comes to marketing your retirement business, playing your game is getting your message to your audience. Your message: why should plan sponsors hire you? What is your value proposition? Why are you the best thing since sliced bread?
Your audience is the type of plans you want to work on and the goal is trying to find that audience whether thats through networking, sponsoring events, or crafting applicable marketing materials. As you know, there are a wide variety of plan types and sizes, so it is impossible to handle all of them.
Find your niche and find your market in this industry.
Your audience is the type of plans you want to work on and the goal is trying to find that audience whether thats through networking, sponsoring events, or crafting applicable marketing materials. As you know, there are a wide variety of plan types and sizes, so it is impossible to handle all of them.
Find your niche and find your market in this industry.
2. Its All About Presentation<br><br>
Its obvious but crucial. Your marketing materials should look professional and easy to read because that quality of presen¬tation implies quality of content. So the marketing materials of a TPA that look like a ransom note do little in convincing a potential client of the competency of that TPA. While we always say that looks dont matter, they do.
3. Keep It Crisp and Keep It Clear<br><br>
While some in the retirement plan industry draft poor looking marketing materials, there are others that get addicted to desktop publishing software and think their materials are works of art. They are not works of art and should be drafted in a way that it is easy to read and not as busy as a Jackson Pollock painting. Leonard da Vinci said it best when he said that simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
You want people to read your materials and having a busy design is only going to distract them.
You want people to read your materials and having a busy design is only going to distract them.
4. Write In English, Avoid Jargon<br><br>
Financial advisors and TPA need to make sure that their marketing materials are written in a way where potential clients can actually read them. Avoid jargon-laden text and use straightforward terms that everyone understands.
5. Brevity Is Next to Godliness<br><br>
Retirement plan concepts can be mundane and the last thing you should do is bore them with every detail you know about this great business. Keep it succinct and the fewer pages your materials are, the more likely a potential client may actually read it.
6. Dont Sound Angry<br><br>
When it comes to trying to get business from existing plans, it means obtaining business from competing service providers. While politics shows that it is easy to go negative, its something you should avoid.
Disparaging the work of a competing provider even if they are the most incompetent plan provider has the ability of turning potential clients off and making you look bad.
Avoiding going negative doesnt preclude you from showcasing your value proposition, why you services are better than what the potential client is currently getting.
Disparaging the work of a competing provider even if they are the most incompetent plan provider has the ability of turning potential clients off and making you look bad.
Avoiding going negative doesnt preclude you from showcasing your value proposition, why you services are better than what the potential client is currently getting.
7. Media Creates Credibility, But Thats All<br><br>
Getting appearances in print or other forms of media doesnt get you clients, it only builds credibility. So its a building block and not as integral as some of your other marketing campaigns.
Thats why it might make more sense to avoid hiring a public relations firm and do it yourself.
Thats why it might make more sense to avoid hiring a public relations firm and do it yourself.
8. Social Media Is About Providing Information, Not Shilling<br><br>
Social media is something that every plan provider (if allowed by compliance) should partake in because it is a cost effective means of communication and a subtle form of advertising.
Social media is about the exchange of ideas and information, so articles and blog posts show your expertise and build your credibility. Social media should never be considered as blatant advertising and those that do that get treated like spam e-mail.
Social media is a subtle form of advertising because the information you provide builds your credibility that plan sponsors or potential business partners can use in their decision to reach out to you.
Social media is about the exchange of ideas and information, so articles and blog posts show your expertise and build your credibility. Social media should never be considered as blatant advertising and those that do that get treated like spam e-mail.
Social media is a subtle form of advertising because the information you provide builds your credibility that plan sponsors or potential business partners can use in their decision to reach out to you.
9. Be Patient<br><br>
The fact is that no matter how you implement a marketing plan, results will take time. Consider marketing like growing a garden. You plant seeds and you wait until it grows by nurturing it.
That is what any forms of marketing is, a long process with continued work. While it will take time, if you do it right, you will succeed.
That is what any forms of marketing is, a long process with continued work. While it will take time, if you do it right, you will succeed.
