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Looking for An Effective Marketing Technique?
Tried-and-True Advertising Can Pay Off Handsomely

There’s a tried-and-true marketing technique that can help financial advisors grow their client base and boost revenues - advertising.

"Advertising is a proven marketing tool that all advisors should consider using in their marketing plans," says Martin R. Baird, president of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Advisor Marketing and author of The 7 Deadly Sins of Advisor Marketing.

Baird offers the following seven tips that will help financial advisors use advertising effectively. 

Tip Number 1 - When you’re buying advertising, don’t be swayed by the large number of people that will see or hear your message.  How many of them are your target market?  Focus on hitting your target, not the world.

Tip Number 2 - Send reprints of your ads to clients and prospects.  "They may not have seen the ad in the first place," Baird says.  "If they did, this technique gives them a second chance to learn about you and the services you provide."

Tip Number 3 - Don’t forget about your marketing packets and presentations.  Ad reprints should be included in them, too. 

Tip Number 4 - Don’t overlook classified ads.  "Classified ads can be a great way to get your message out to a very targeted group for little money," Baird notes.  "What response might you get if you ran a classified for a free report on seven things to know about the importance of financial planning?"

Tip Number 5 - Repetition in marketing works.  Once is never enough!  "Advertising experts say that your prospect needs to see your message eight times before they  remember seeing it once," Baird explains.  "Think about how you can create that many impressions without breaking the bank."

Tip Number 6 - Buttons are great "silent salespeople."  They’re a simple way to help people learn about a solution that you can provide.  The button’s message can be as simple as "Ask me about..."  Or it can be fun looking.  "The key is that it gets the person’s attention and they ask about it," Baird says.  "Buttons are an often overlooked, inexpensive gem."

Tip Number 7 - Be honest in your advertising - 100 percent honest!  "You are helping people with their money and that is too important to be less than honest," Baird points out.  "Stress the benefits.  Show how your services make life easier for your clients."

Advisormarketing.com is the premiere Internet-based source for free marketing advice, information and tools for self-driven, success-oriented financial advisors who are demanding information that helps them market their practice, meet the needs of their clients and increase sales.  It offers such services as a free weekly electronic newsletter, free reports on how to conduct different kinds of marketing and evaluation of advisors’ marketing materials that is provided at no charge when the critique is posted online for all advisors to read. 

Advisormarketing.com also offers an electronic forum where advisors can learn from each other by discussing common problems, sharing ideas and gaining new insights from their peers.  Advisor Marketing may be reached at 480-991-6421.