You're listening to “Financial Advisor Marketing”—the best show on the planet for financial advisors who want to get more clients, without all the stress. You're about to get the real scoop on everything from lead generation to closing the deal.
James is the founder of TheAdvisorCoach.com, where you can find an entire suite of products designed to help financial advisors grow their businesses more rapidly than ever before. Now, here is your host, James Pollard.
James: There's a big fat problem with niche marketing that keeps a lot of financial advisors frustrated and stuck. Here it is. It takes a lot of time and effort to become a trusted figure in a niche market. Getting people to proactively reach out to you because you're “the” financial advice person in a space does not happen overnight. [00:50.1]
Some of you are living in this pipe dream, where you think that a community of aerospace engineers will flood your calendar, simply because you claim that is your focus, it won't happen. You actually have to do stuff. You have to build trust. I don't know if you realize this or not, but the financial advice industry is one of the least-trusted professional industries.
The CFA Institute put out a report titled, “Earning Investors’ Trust,” which found that financial advisors were trusted about as much as mechanics. You can look this up for yourself. I'm not just making this up. Financial advisors are not trusted. Another is Edelman Trust Barometer, which found that only half the population or, roughly, it's 52% in one year and 54%—don't quote me on that, you can look it up, but it's about half—half of the population trusts financial advisors. I don't want to get off on a tangent here, but I want to explain something to you. This lack of trust is one reason why many marketing and sales books don't work as well for financial advisors, because I've lost count of how many financial advisors have told me they've implemented some bestselling book’s advice only to have it fall flat. [01:56.4]
The reason this is such a common occurrence is because many sales and marketing book authors assume you begin with trust, and for most businesses, some level of trust already exists. I mean, think about how crazy this is. We will gladly walk into a restaurant for the first time and order from the menu while trusting that the server won't spike our drinks. We trust that the chef knows what he or she is doing and we trust that the kitchen staff is keeping the place clean. For all we know, it could be a pigsty back there. The chef could take your sandwich and rub it all under his armpits before giving it to you and you would have no idea. You would have no clue.
That is a crazy level of trust, and it still does not happen in the financial advice industry. Unlike walking into a restaurant, they don't just hand over their investments, or most people don't. They don't just do it based on a good feeling or a well-written menu. Financial advice requires a much deeper level of trust. I love niche marketing and I tell financial advisors to choose a niche all the time, but I don't want you to think I'm some niche-marketing zealot at all costs, because I'm not. [03:03.1]
So, while all the other marketing zealots pump you up about the idea of riches in the niches and you can be super successful in whatever hyper niche you define, they conveniently leave out this massive roadblock, actually becoming the trusted advisor those markets will gravitate toward.
You can't just slap “specializing in firefighters’ finances” on your website and expect calls to start pouring in from firefighters. Those firefighters have to first believe you and they have to believe that you understand their unique situations and their opportunities better than some generalist option. That takes consistency over months, if not years, of doing stuff that is tailored specifically to their problems and goals.
If you're serious about doing this, the best way to do it is to make yourself a ubiquitous, familiar presence in their communities, whether that's optimizing your website for search terms they use, getting featured on podcasts they tune into, running ads directly to them, whatever it is, you name it. Building that level of authority and credibility as the go-to niche expert is a grind. It is not an overnight success like some people claim. [04:10.5]
So, while finding a specialty can help financial advisors differentiate themselves, it's certainly no cheat code for bypassing all the hard work of methodically earning trust from that audience over time. Get ready to put in the reps consistently to show your expertise before that dream niche even knows you exist, let alone views you as their trusted advisor.
All this niche stuff fails to acknowledge the massive hurdle of the work involved. Maybe that's why so many of you get stuck wallowing in frustration after picking an appealing niche. You simply weren't prepared for the reality of what it actually takes to rise above the inherent lack of trust and become an authority figure those prospects will buy into. It is hard. [04:54.7]
Now, you might be thinking, James, but you tell us all the time that niche marketing makes things easier. It does. It makes marketing a lot easier, but that doesn't mean it is easy. Easier does not mean easy. If I take something that has a Level-10 difficulty and take it down to a Level-8 difficulty, it's still difficult. It's still hard. It doesn't make it easy. It just makes it easier. Still it does not mean you will be an overnight success simply because it is easier. You go from Level 10 to Level 8.
Niche marketing doesn't remove the hustle. It optimizes the hustle so you're not wasting reps on irrelevant audiences. But you're still putting in those reps over months, if not years, before those people recognize you as their trusted advisor.
But do you know what you can do? You can appear to be a generalist while attempting to carve out a niche in the background. That way, you can appeal to more clients today while building your niche-specific stuff to serve you tomorrow. [05:52.8]
Now, fair warning, this is much harder, specifically because none of your client-facing marketing materials will talk about your niche market and you'll have to state your case that you serve people like them whenever you meet with them. However, this is the marketing equivalent of training to bench-press 315 pounds for reps when you only need to bench the bar. By the time you switch to nothing but your niche, you will feel like you're operating your business on easy mode, because you've been doing the super hard stuff for so long and then you target a niche. Your marketing materials talk about that niche, and it would just be so darn easy.
The big downside of this is that none of your client-facing marketing can overtly mention your intended niche at first. Your website, social platforms, email marketing, whatever it is, it all has to seem generalized to avoid prematurely pigeonholing yourself before establishing authority with your niche. [06:50.5]
For example, let's get silly here. Let's say that you want to eventually transition into being the premier advisor for professional poker players and sports gamblers. You're in the casino niche. You're playing with players here. This might not be the smartest niche to choose, but, hey, those degenerates make unpredictable incomes and they can benefit from some smart tax planning. A few moves from a good financial advisor could easily recoup the fee for some of these people. I actually used to work in a casino back in the day and some of the gamblers were really nice people. I like to think that they socked away some money for their eventual retirement.
On the surface, when you do this, your marketing would avoid any hint of that gambling niche at all, at least in the first place. You could keep things pretty generic. You could talk about managing volatile income streams and mitigating excessive IRS burdens, wealth protection strategies, diversification. Just general stuff, right? You're a generalist. Nothing too overt that airs out your eventual poker player/sports gambler niche too soon before you've built credibility with them specifically. You're playing the long game. You want to plant seeds gradually over time. [08:01.2]
Behind the scenes, though, that's where you start laying the foundation for that niche. You could do things like launching a podcast. Maybe you title it “The Winning Hand” and you cover finance tips for these people. You could build a semi-private Facebook group for these people. You could share different tips and tricks and strategies, and just network with people and have them help each other. They could help each other with their games. It could be really cool.
You could network with influencers on social media. You could contribute in that way. You could get featured on podcasts and publications. You don't have to share it on your generic website and your generic social media profile, but you have those assets when you are ready to deploy them.
Now, would you really choose this niche? I hope not. But I'm giving you a silly example to get the gears turning in your head. That is the entertainment stuff I keep talking about that makes marketing work so well. I'm trying to entertain you here. [08:52.3]
Hey, financial advisors. If you'd like even more help building your business, I invite you to subscribe to James' monthly paper-and-ink newsletter, “The James Pollard Inner Circle”. When you join today, you'll get more than $1,000 worth of bonuses, including exclusive interviews that aren't available anywhere else. Head on over to TheAdvisorCoach.com/coaching to learn more.
But I am serious when I say that you will be making purposeful moves to earn that credibility, authority and awareness within that niches ecosystem, but you would do it quietly, just quiet enough to fly under the radar while maintaining a generalist front is if anybody else sees your marketing materials, they say, “Huh, this is just a generic financial advisor. I need a financial advisor. Let me at least talk to this guy or girl, or big man or big woman,” whatever, right?
Over time, the niche-specific efforts compound, until one day, you can drop that facade entirely. Potential clients will now have this existing awareness of you as “the” advisor for their specific situation. Seeds were planted. Some value was provided and now you will reap the rewards of that patience and that foresight. Because you did the work in the dark, now you can reap the rewards in the light, baby. Let me hear you. [10:10.4]
This is more of a covert strategic path to being a niche market versus the gung-ho approach of just brazing it early on. You just say, “Hey, I work with firefighters,” “I work with sports gamblers and poker players,” “I work with aerospace engineers,” and you literally have nothing, right? You have absolutely nothing to back that up. So, you're building the stuff to back it up slowly and surely, and then when you want to just fully deploy it, you can.
For the advisors with the patience and sheer determination to put in those extra reps behind the scenes, this is a brilliant way to make it work. Again, it is much harder than starting with a niche and being niche-specific the entire time. However, I understand it takes a lot of time for both of these strategies, actually. Just starting from day one and then doing this takes a lot of time. But this strategy is specifically for financial advisors who know they don't have enough money to last them until that metaphorical parachute opens. [11:04.3]
Now, you might have a few questions like, “How do I identify the right niche for me that is viable long term?” I actually have an entire video training about this called “Deep Dive Into Niche Marketing,” which you can find over TheAdvisorCoach.com/niche, that digs in a lot deeper than I can in a single podcast episode.
There is no perfect science for selecting a viable niche, but you want to balance a potential opportunity with your own interests and experience. You should also assess the demographics and psychographics of the niche to see if it's something you truly want. Take your time with this because there is no rush to choose a niche. You can always niche down later.
The next question you might be wondering is “What are the channels or platforms I should use to build credibility with my niche?” and the answer to that is it depends. It depends on where your niche is hanging out. But online, it could be niche-specific forums. It could be Facebook groups, YouTube channels, industry publications. It could be anywhere they're hanging out. Offline might be local trade associations, clubs, community groups, and so on. The key is observing your niche’s natural habitat and going to that. [12:12.2]
Another question might be “How can I continue attracting my general clients while discretely specializing behind the scenes?” aka the very difficult, super-hard strategy that works well for financial advisors who don't have enough cash to last long enough until that. Again, that metaphorical parachute opens when they start building traction with a niche.
You could do exactly what it sounds like. That would be structuring your client-facing marketing assets to speak more generally about your services in your target market. You don't have to overtly mention your niche in the beginning, but behind the scenes, you can quietly build that niche expertise. You are building these assets quietly and in the background, and then one day, you will just go full force, deploy everything. Hopefully, by then, you’ll have a handful of clients in that niche and you are just ready to go. You're just shortening the amount of time it takes to grow a successful niche-specific business. [13:08.4]
Instead of starting on day one, it might take a year for you to fully get some traction. You could build quietly for six months and get some clients, and get some money and get some cash flow, and then on day one of month six, go full-bore, and then it only takes you a couple more months to just completely blow your business out of the water, and that is kind of the idea here.
You might also be wondering, “What is a reasonable timeframe for starting to see traction and leads from my new niche focus?” and, again, that depends. Reasonable timeframes, they can vary drastically based on the niche, based on your commitment levels, based on your existing familiarity with the niche and their familiarity with you. But, in general, you should expect about a six- to 12-month ramp up before gaining any traction as a recognized voice and advisor of value to that niche. [13:59.2]
You've had the harsh truth laid out for you today. But I'm not telling you any of this to discourage niche marketing as a strategy. Quite the opposite actually. I want you to go into this with eyes wide open on the realities of what it actually takes to become a respected go-to advisor for that niche over time. It takes time.
Too many financial advisors get sold on this picture-perfect fantasy of immediately dominating this niche or whatever niche they choose, only to flounder because they didn't properly prepare for the uphill grind required. They failed to account for the lack of trust this industry faces the financial advice industry and the intentional efforts needed to overcome that credibility gap with their niche audience, because, quite frankly, they don't trust them and they don't have any credibility, because if you just say, “Hey, I serve aerospace engineers,” and someone gets to your website and are like, Have you done anything with aerospace engineers? Have you been featured anywhere with aerospace engineers? You're like, Oh, no, but I specialize in them. You have no credibility. [14:57.0]
So, are you determined to actively inject yourself into your niche’s community spheres until you become an inescapable authority figure? Are you prepared to put in the work? If the answer is heck yes, and you have the patience and work ethic, then amazing. Stick to your niche and I have no doubt you'll break through eventually by embracing that grind authentically. You're just slowly building this.
But if any shred of doubt lingers about you doing the real work required, then it's better to reevaluate if niching down is currently right for your business, because chances are, it's not. There is no shame in being a generalist for now, because you're just going to take some time to determine the optimal path.
Baking a premature niche, aka slapping something like aerospace engineers, it's not the right move, because you'll probably abandon that niche and that is far worse than just operating broadly in the beginning until you forge some niche expertise over time. This industry already has enough bad reputations to overcome for prospective clients. It doesn't need another one. Please, please don't do it. [15:59.0]
At the end of the day, niche marketing is one of the most powerful marketing strategies available for financial advisors looking to differentiate and scale, but it's not some effortless light switch to riches that so many gurus irresponsibly peddle. It's a massively underrated grind to earn trust to become the obvious authority within a niche. The financial advisors who are willing to embrace that reality and have the right mindset about it, and the ability to follow through, those are the advisors who are going to reap the rewards for years to come.
Everyone else chasing shiny niche objects unprepared will just end up stuck in the same generalist tar pit as before. They will become commoditized. They will struggle to attract quality prospects, and they will just have to eat some scraps, whatever they get, right? Whatever comes to them. They won't have control. They won't have sovereignty.
The difference in outcomes comes down to being honest with yourself on what you're capable of committing to consistently. What are you actually willing to do? If you choose a niche on day one, are you actually willing to follow through for that for up to 12 months or more? What are you willing to commit to? [17:10.0]
I hope I provided enough clarity on the true requirements of niche excellence today for you to make that judgment call. Whether you choose a niche or not, hard work has to be the core for any advisor who wants to stand out in this industry. There are no shortcuts. There's only the willingness to put in the reps the right way over the long haul.
I hope this helps you, and thank you so much for listening. I know this has been a little bit of a weird episode, kind of heady, like, hmm, the big fat problem with niche marketing is like, oh, actually doing the work. But, honestly, so many financial advisors just tried to slap something together, and this is like a public service announcement, don't do that. With that said, I will catch you next week. [17:52.6]
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