Crank Up Your Marketing As the Economy Spirals to the Bottom
By Martin R. Baird

People who know me understand that I’m an optimist. I see opportunities everywhere, and my glass is always at least half full.
 
That being said, I am going to rant a little about the economy and it won’t be pretty. Bear with me because there are marketing lessons to be learned.
 
The economy is going down, down, down. In response, some people are flapping their arms in a variety of ways and claiming that it will somehow keep the economy from crashing – from tax incentives to tax cuts, from “shovel-ready” construction projects to pure legislative pork plays. But the simple reality is that the American consumer is the engine that powers our economy. I read the other day that more than 70 percent of our gross domestic product is related to consumer spending.
 
Here is the news flash: people are not spending! Those who still have jobs are worried about the future. So instead of spending like drunken sailors, they are being fiscally conservative. For them, indulgence is a thing of the past. Those who have lost their jobs are just trying to keep their homes warm and food on the table.
 
I know news analysts will continue to debate economic plans or stimulus packages that are approved to revive the economy, but that is just lots of talk that will have little real impact. The economy’s bottom will come no matter how much of our money the government spends. The only real question is how hard we will hit bottom. I don’t believe it will be a soft landing. It will be a crash that some people will not walk away from.
 
So what does this have to do with marketing? All this economic turmoil means that now is the time to do more marketing than ever and really stand out.
 
Financial professionals who continue to do marketing – perhaps even increase it – will see the fastest improvement in their business once we do reach the bottom and start to turn upward. It is critical to invest in marketing today for the sake of future growth.
 
Please note that your marketing may not work as well as it once did. After all, people who lose their jobs will not make a beeline to your office to give you money. View the marketing you do now as long-term investing. It will most likely have little or no quantifiable short-term impact. That makes it very hard to do. It’s difficult to do marketing that does not generate an immediate return. But you must do it!
 
Here’s a marketing project you can start on today. Become the voice of information and reason to help your clients and their friends survive what is coming. These people need you now more than ever.
 
Again, this is no easy task. If they aren’t already, your clients are going to become very frustrated and angry because their investments tanked. If a person had $2 million in retirement funds and planned to retire in a few years but their assets fell to just over $1 million, that could make them more than a little upset. Add to that the real possibility that they have also lost their source of income. Now they are spending down their retirement nest egg just to make it to the next month. People are dealing with this kind of situation on a regular basis.
 
You and your team need to be the champions that work with them to make it through. They need to know that you are there for them no matter what. You were their guiding light when they made big investments. Now you must hold their hand as they struggle to make sense of what is happening to them.
 
Here’s another marketing project that’s part of being the voice of reason. Work with your local news media. Reporters and editors are pretty much consumed with covering the story on the economy and they want a local angle. You can give them that angle and get your name in front of your clients and prospects at the same time.
 
Our economic malaise is the perfect opportunity for you to write byline columns for your local newspaper or be interviewed on radio and television. You can easily send out information daily regarding what is happening with the financial sector and why. This could be positive or negative information. It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you are seen and heard.
 
One bright spot in all this mess is that some of the people and companies currently in the financial services arena will not be there much longer. I watched a program the other day that talked about people going from delivering pizzas to selling mortgages because there was a lot of money to be made in the financial sector. I realize that the financial services industry is not that easy to get into, but I know many people did because of the allure of easy money.
 
Now a lot of these folks will get flushed out. They will move on to other opportunities. This is a bright spot because professionals who are committed to helping people shape their financial future will be easier to find. From a marketing perspective, it will be easier for advisors to get their message out because the field is less cluttered.
 
I could be completely wrong about the economic bottom still being out there in the future somewhere. Perhaps it arrived last month and I missed it. Regardless, marketing your practice now is the best thing you can do. Doing it NOW is far better than doing it later. Waiting a day is too long. People need your help and now is the time to make that happen.
 
I invite you to drop me an e-mail and let me know if I’m right or wrong about the bottom. Let me know how your marketing is working, too. A little correspondence during tough times might be fun. And I think we all could use some amusement these days.

Martin R. Baird is chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a consulting company that helps financial professionals measure and manage the quality of client service and improvements to their internal operations to enhance business performance and increase revenues. He is a highly regarded speaker in the areas of marketing and client retention and development. Baird is author of “The 7 Deadly Sins of Advisor Marketing,” a book that offers easy-to-implement marketing ideas for financial professionals. He may be reached at 206-774-8856 or mbaird@raresults.com.