Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
Imagine I’m presenting you with two buckets – one is riddled with holes; the other is completely intact.
You don’t need an advanced degree in physics to tell which bucket is better at holding water.
There are a lot of things advisors do (or don’t do) with their marketing that are the same as using a leaky bucket:
- Emailing prospects too infrequently;
- Running online ads that drive traffic to their main homepage (warning: avoid this);
- Sending the same messaging across the board to prospects and clients;
- Publishing content that doesn’t include a call-to-action;
- Only publishing curated articles;
- Not launching campaigns fast enough;
- Waiting months to get a rebrand done before marketing;
- Publishing stale content with the same stock photography everyone ignores;
- Choosing a single channel, instead of an omni-channel approach;
- Publishing marketing that only “educates” without persuading;
- Running ads without a well-defined strategy or marketing sequence;
- Launching subsequent campaigns that don’t build on each other; or
- Using the BCC field to email groups of clients or prospects.
The list could go on.
Do you see yourself in one of those items? It happens.
If you’re leaking business, what would it mean for your firm’s growth if you patched up just one area? Or two? Three?
Despite what you may think, small missteps are often more dangerous than blatantly obvious mistakes because they get ignored long enough to do measurable, long-term damage.
In the same sense that one small hole can sink a giant ship, one poor business decision can lead an organization down the wrong path.
Thankfully, the opposite is also true: One small tweak in the right direction – a hole you choose to patch rather than ignore – can have widespread benefits.
Unlike a bucket, you can’t patch all your holes in one fell swoop – you’ll spread yourself so thin that you miss the mark for each item.
How do you prioritize which holes to patch first?
Let’s run through a prioritization exercise to narrow our focus.
1. Write down 10 leaks you want to fix.
2. From the 10, which can have the highest impact? Which ones might be cost/time prohibitive? What is your level of confidence that once executed, each fix will have the impact? (This is called ICE ranking, and there's a helpful resource here to help you get started).
3. Now that you've got it all on a document, spreadsheet, or piece of paper, choose your top three items. Think about what the end goal of your organization is and make selections based on that.
4. Once you’ve narrowed your list down to three, choose one new idea to apply and create an actionable plan to address it.
After you’ve chosen your top priority, answer the following questions:
- How will you apply it?
- Who should take this off your plate?
- What has to be true in order for you to consider this done?
- How will you measure this going forward?
Small updates like adding call-to-action buttons to all of your blogs can be a one-day project you throw at an intern, while others require a well-thought-out strategy.
Modifying advertising campaigns to more accurately reflect the audiences you’re serving and building landing pages that convert are not overnight tasks. These take time and multiple iterations to get right.
Taking each component independently forces you to make conscious decisions and adapt accordingly.
If you’re thinking the ROI won’t be worth it, remember the compounding power of small changes over time. Slight adjustments in course will eventually completely change the destination.
Not only that, but by not making these minor changes, I can guarantee that you’re leaving money on the table.
A small change in the right direction today can yield big, better long-term results for your firm.
Now you may be saying, “Angel, those stats are from a broad collection of different industries, and every industry has its own unique ROI hurdles.”
You’re absolutely right. For instance, a single click on a Facebook ad for the finance industry typically costs about eight times as much as a click on an apparel ad. I’m not trying to say you'll get the same results, but I guarantee you will see results – and you’ll never know what yours will look like until you try.
What seemingly small hole could you tackle in your business that would make a difference?
Angel Gonzalez is chief marketing officer for Snappy Kraken.
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
