Want to reach new prospects but don’t have space in your calendar to brainstorm marketing ideas?
Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
86% of financial advisors lack time to focus on marketing, leading them to the same old methods that have been used for decades – which never quite deliver the results their practice deserves.
This article helps you buck that trend and approach marketing differently this year. With a range of tactics to improve client service, generate new prospects and turn more leads into customers, we’ve leveraged our collective experience in helping financial advisors thrive to include only the tactics that will truly deliver ROI.
Expect to learn:
Just 23% of financial advisors have a defined marketing strategy, leaving the majority unable to consistently generate new leads or turn them into clients. But it doesn’t have to be so complicated: your basic marketing strategy is relatively simple to identify.
Here are three common and highly effective strategies:
The Strategy: Focus your efforts on encouraging existing clients and centers of influence (COIs) to refer new clients to your practice.
Why it Works: Referral marketing leverages your existing relationships and essentially outsources the work of finding new clients. You focus on connecting with COIs (such as CPAs and real estate agents) to deliver best-in-class client service – the rest takes care of itself.
The Strategy: Develop high-quality digital content that prospects find so valuable they reach out to connect with you.
Why it Works: Demand for financial advice online is massive, with people looking for everything from investment advice to tax support. In many cases, these are people who don’t even realize they need an advisor – but they may eventually decide it's worthwhile if your content provides enough value.
Why it Works: Social media has become a vital source of financial information for many Americans:
As a result, advisors who are highly visible on these platforms attract a lot of interest. While not all of this turns into business for your practice, it is valuable because it improves your reputation. Plus, 37% of advisors have obtained a prospect who became a client through social media.
These trends will only continue in 2025 – and advisors that leverage platforms like LinkedIn effectively will see a large influx of new leads. But how exactly should they turn their strategy into concrete action?
There is no “correct” marketing strategy for financial advisors; they all can work if you action them with the right tactics. The problem is most advisors don’t have time to spend hours planning ways to nurture leads or drive referrals and end up mimicking every other advisor.
We’ve put together a list of ways of more unique (but still reliable) ways you can achieve your marketing goals in 2025:
Most advisors take a scattershot approach to audience building: post whatever you can think of and hope someone likes it. But you could produce better results with less effort by pinpointing a specific tactic and putting it into action consistently over a short period of time:
1. Create “Explainer” VideosVideo content is far more popular than written content, which makes it the perfect way to appeal to a wider audience. Plenty of people search for information about savings, pensions, taxes or compliance issues – only to be overwhelmed with walls of dense text.
Identify the topics your ideal audience needs help understanding and create short, clear explainer videos for YouTube shorts, Facebook and LinkedIn. Maximize how far they spread by:
This will give them the best chance of landing in strangers’ feeds – which is the real key to building your audience.
2. Comment on Popular LinkedIn postsAdvisors often assume they need to post lots of original content to build an audience on LinkedIn. But it's often easier to reach your target audience by posting on pre-existing, highly visible posts from other accounts:
This is a great way to build confidence on the platform, as well as drive new followers.
3. Debunk Popular Financial AdviceThe internet is awash with controversial (and often inaccurate) financial advice. Many people are desperate for an authoritative figure to help them sort through that noise and avoid being led astray by gurus and snake oil salesmen. You can provide that service – and develop a loyal following in the process.
This not only helps redirect traffic to your business – it ensures ordinary people are less likely to be misled.
Most advisors would love to have new clients come to them – and simply decide who to work with. But how do you create content people will actually seek out?
Here are three ways to stand out from other advisors and attract a reliable flow of new leads:
1. Create a “Financial Health” QuizMany people feel anxious about their finances and want to benchmark their current wealth or financial habits against their peers. Create a short “quiz” on your website that allows people to share a few key details and get an automatic analysis of their situation – then ask them to share their email to access the results.
This is just one example of “gated content:” a form of content that prospects deem so valuable they will give you their contact details in exchange for it. More common examples include:
Advisors often spend a lot of time and money taking clients golfing or hosting community events – both of which produce decent results. But you can generate more inbound leads by running virtual personal finance classes that showcase your expertise and help you build a strong relationship with prospects.
There are a few ways to maximize your returns:
More financial advisors are waking up to the power of SEO. Appearing at the top of key searches related to financial advice is guaranteed to generate traffic and land you lots of leads. But there are a finite number of keywords your audience searches – and a finite number of spaces at the top of a Google search results page.
Shift your focus to local SEO, emphasizing terms related to your location so that when someone searches “Financial advisor in [Your Location],” your website appears. There are several easy wins here:
These small steps give you a massive advantage over 90% of advisors who still think they’re about to crack the top ten for “Financial advisor for married couples.”
Lead nurture is essential to earn prospects’ trust, but many advisors are unsure how to engage with their leads. There are two aspects to this challenge:
There are proven methods for each – starting with the kind of content you focus on:
1. Create a NewsletterSend your entire email database a regular newsletter, ideally at a regular cadence (we recommend monthly!). Include high-value information and insights that are relevant to your specialism – and showcase your expertise.
We’ve observed a few important factors that distinguish the most successful advisor newsletters:
Now let’s look at how you send your newsletters:
2. Automate Email WorkflowsMost advisors now understand the value of emails, but many still don’t make full use of the channel - because it just takes too much work. That’s why we include automating your emails as a specific tactic: it enables advisors to expand their use of emails and increase the consistency of their email campaigns
This is a simple process that has a wildly disproportionate effect: we’ve seen advisors transform their marketing funnels while spending less time on marketing through this simple method.
Referrals are a huge part of most advisors’ marketing strategy, but many overlook one very simple tactic that has a massive impact on referrals – and a lot more besides:
1. Request FeedbackThe simplest way to encourage clients to make referrals is simply to ask them for feedback. Research shows that asking clients if they are happy with your service – and what exactly they liked – increases the likelihood they will make a referral. There are two potential explanations for this:
Asking for feedback also provides you with a larger set of testimonials to share on your website and social media – building your reputation and perceived trustworthiness.
ProperExpression is a full-stack digital marketing agency that helps financial advisors finally make marketing work for them. From CRM optimization to content production, we identify the best tactical approach to reach your ideal clients – and implement those tactics with precision expertise.
Book a meeting to explore how we could help increase your AUM this year – or send us a quick message, and we’ll give you three free pieces of tactical advice based on your specific market niche and growth goals.