For many retirement plan advisors, the summer months are generally slow. But that doesn’t mean your marketing campaigns should take a vacation. Instead, automate them! Use this downtime to strengthen your regional authority as a retirement plan expert.
In this post, we’ll share three ways to automate your marketing, so you can still enjoy the beach while your marketing is hard at work.
1. Preschedule Your Email Campaigns
Most professional advisory offices send their clients, prospects and centers of influence a weekly email with hot topics and trends happening in the retirement plan industry. The information ranges from fiduciary plan governance best practices, regulatory updates, to the latest explainer videos on measuring plan success. The takeaway is weekly emails.
Why not automate the email sequence? If there are eight weeks during the summer, set up eight email templates in your bulk email provider and preschedule them for every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. Once that’s set up, you’re done – all of your emails are prepped and ready for the summer months. It’s time to pack the sunscreen!
2. Stay Top of Mind
It’s not just advisors who enjoy the summer break – your prospects do too! However, we don’t want you to be out of sight, out of mind. Instead, you can implement retargeting. It works like this: A curious prospect visits your website, and their browser is “cookied.” The next time that person visits a website that allows digital ads, your display ad will appear.
Read more commentary by Rebecca Hourihan here.
Here’s an example. Have you ever shopped for shoes online? Then the next time you open a web page, you see a picture of those shoes? That’s retargeting. It’s a little reminder to purchase those shoes. Or to contact you and set up a meeting to discuss their company’s retirement plan.
Retargeting will keep your company top-of-mind and continuously in front of prospects. At the same time, you’re hands-free because it’s automatic and digital. Are you ready to set up the beach umbrella?
3. Take Up Desk Space
Take a look around your desk. What do you see? Is anything there a reminder – something you know you should/need to do in the future? Whether it’s a hand-written note, card, brochure, flyer, postcard, business card, envelope or letter, it’s something – and a constant daily reminder that you need to do it.
Why not put a reminder on your prospect’s desk space? Remind them that they’re due for a retirement plan check-up.
What do all the things on your desk have in common? They are paper, right? Send your prospects a piece of direct mail, something colorful that stands out (like a postcard). Include your contact information and a strong call to action that encourages them to contact you.
If you really want a coordinated strategy, then in one of your prescheduled emails, include a picture of the postcard with a message that says, “Keep an eye out for [insert image]. Schedule your meeting now for September.” This does four things. It’s a physical touchpoint; it creates a desk reminder; your email with the postcard image produces strong visual recognition; and September feels far enough away that the ask is nonthreatening. At the same time, it helps to fill your fall pipeline and still you gives eight full weeks to enjoy with your friends and family.
Make the most of the summer months. While some advisors put their marketing efforts on hold, do the smart thing and put your marketing on auto-pilot. Implement quality campaigns that will get you noticed continuously. You work hard all year and deserve a vacation. After setting up automation, you can confidently enjoy some fun in the sun, while your marketing is still keeping you top of mind and strengthening your authority as a retirement plan expert.
Thanks for reading and Happy Marketing!
Rebecca Hourihan, AIF, PPC, is the founder and CMO of 401(k) Marketing.
