In this discussion, Michael Kitces, the Chief Financial Planning Nerd at Kitces.com, reveals key insights from his recent marketing study for financial advisors. He shares how advisors can reduce client acquisition costs from up to $10,000 and avoid the 'anti-scale' trap that threatens profitability. Kitces emphasizes the 'Transfer of Trust' technique to expedite client onboarding and highlights proven marketing strategies backed by data. Valuable tips on leveraging personal strengths and the importance of storytelling in client relationships round out this must-listen conversation.
53:33
forum Ask episode
web_stories AI Snips
view_agenda Chapters
auto_awesome Transcript
info_circle Episode notes
insights INSIGHT
Hidden Marketing Costs
Most advisors underestimate their marketing costs, often mistaking advisor compensation for marketing spend.
True marketing costs, including advisor time, often reach $3,000-$10,000 per client acquisition.
insights INSIGHT
Anti-Scaling Marketing
Traditional advisor marketing anti-scales; client acquisition costs increase with firm growth due to rising advisor compensation.
This leads to increasing minimums, creating a cycle where higher minimums necessitate more expensive client acquisition.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Two-Track Marketing
Employ a two-track approach to marketing: fast-acting strategies (cold calling, networking) for immediate revenue, and slow-growth, cost-effective strategies (SEO, newsletters) for long-term growth.
Prioritize long-term marketing if runway allows; balance with short-term tactics based on revenue needs.
Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode
Today’s guest, Michael Kitces, recently released an 108-page study called, “How Financial Planners Actually Market Their Services.”
Michael and his team have done all the hard work for you to prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, how to actually get clients from your marketing.
I don’t say this lightly, but this might be the best podcast episode ever for financial advisor marketing.
Not only will you realize what’s working (and more importantly, what’s not working), but you’ll leave this episode with a plan to dominate 2025 and beyond.
Listen now for an absolute gold mine of financial advisor marketing backed up and proven by hard data.
Show highlights include:
This 108-page financial space marketing report will show you with crystal clear certainty how to actually get clients from your marketing (0:33)
Why financial advisors are sometimes spending up to $10,000 per client (and how to get this cost lower while landing more clients) (5:11)
The insidious “anti-scale” trap most advisory firms find themselves in that slowly bankrupts their firm (6:19)
How building a faster, sales-based approach to business development gets you up and running but also plants the seeds of destruction in your firm (and the two-track approach to use instead) (13:20)
The success rates of the most successful marketing strategies for financial advisors backed by hard data (14:58)
The sneaky “Transfer of Trust” secret that fast tracks your sales pipeline and can result in several new clients each month (27:17)
Who wins in a battle of generating more clients: Podcasts or video marketing? (31:13)
3 things every piece of your marketing must do or it will fall on deaf ears (34:13)
Why you only need 50 great clients to run a wildly successful advisory firm that rivals even corporate behemoths like Merrill or Morgan (47:05)
The single most important marketing lesson every advisor needs to hear based on hundreds of hours of hard data and research (50:14)
Since you listen to this podcast, I want to give you a gift:
If you subscribe to the Inner Circle Newsletter, I’ll send you a collection of seven “objection busting” and copyright free emails, personally written by me, that you can use right away to begin getting more clients. Sign up here: https://TheAdvisorCoach.com/Coaching. Then, let me know you subscribed, and I will reply back with a link where you can download them for free.
Financial Advisor Marketing Podcast