Great firms need great clients. But to find the right clients, they first need to be able to consistently find viable prospects – which means marketing. Modern-day marketing has nearly endless options – podcasts, webinars, social media, SEO – and firms can attempt nearly all of these tactics to see what sticks. However, the result is often a fragmented plan that attempts to appease everyone, lacks strategic alignment, and is quickly abandoned when early results disappoint. Over time, firms conclude that marketing itself doesn't work, when in fact the failure lies in how marketing decisions are made.
In this article, Kristen Luke, founder of Kaleido Creative Studio, discusses how firms can establish a marketing committee to develop an annual marketing strategy that resonates with its long-term strategy while balancing the firm's constraints of budget and time – ensuring that the firm gets the highest return for its investments.
Marketing decisions can be evaluated through six key filters: client journey stage, implementation capacity, time horizon, quality versus quantity, team preferences, and budget. This framework is designed to align marketing efforts with the advisor team's personalities, who they serve, and what outcomes they're trying to achieve. By defining upfront what the firm will – and won't – do over the next year, leadership can avoid second-guessing or being distracted by new ideas midyear!
From there, a marketing plan can be mapped to the different stages of the prospecting journey: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision. A balanced plan typically emphasizes Awareness to generate new interest, Consideration strategies to nurture prospects, and Decision-stage tactics to help close business. Next, the firm can assess implementation logistics – whether activities are scalable, delegable, or advisor-driven – and determine the appropriate mix based on available time and resources. Among the components to consider are the desired balance between short- and long-term impact, as well as quality (e.g., deep relationship-building) versus quantity (broader reach with more lead filtering). And perhaps most crucially, the team's strengths and interests must align with the selected marketing activities. After all, if marketing strategies align with the team's inclinations and strengths, it is much easier to sustain them in the long term!
Once all these components have been written out, the marketing planning process becomes one of subtraction rather than addition – eliminating entire categories or specific tactics that don't align with the firm's audience, culture, goals, or constraints. Starting with a comprehensive marketing matrix, firms can cross out what doesn't fit and gradually highlight what does, eventually narrowing the list down to a realistic, well-aligned set of activities. Strategic decisions can then be documented in a one-page summary outlining the firm's target audience, marketing goals, and selected tactics, providing a clear reference point throughout the year.
Ultimately, a well-crafted annual marketing strategy serves as a powerful filter, helping firms say yes to the right opportunities and no to distractions. It simplifies planning, improves execution, and creates confidence that marketing is being done with purpose, not guesswork. By shifting from a reactive to an intentional approach, firms can build marketing programs that are not only more effective but also more sustainable – leading to better business development outcomes and a stronger alignment between marketing efforts and firm goals!
