The foreword to The Professional’s Guide to Financial Services Marketing states that this guide is not a “how-to” book on financial services marketing but rather a guide designed to provoke your thinking about how to create innovative marketing strategies in a crowded marketplace.

I would agree on both counts.

Aimed at anyone in our industry with a desire to increase revenue and profits through more effective marketing, this book presents a compendium of ideas, ranging from tried-and-true to futuristic, to assist in that endeavour. The book doesn’t dive deeply into any topic, yet it skips across all the important ones in a way that frequently caused me to put the book down so my mind could wander, wonder and conceive ideas for implementation. In that regard, the book met its intended objective.

In fact, there are more than 50 mini-chapters — each one addressing a matter that deserves at least some consideration in a well-crafted, comprehensive marketing plan. Clearly, all of them will not work in every organization because of individual current market position, vision, products, management bias, customer preferences, and so on; however, there are more than enough ideas for anyone with marketing responsibility.

Somewhat surprising, despite the title, the book uses more examples of both good and bad marketing from the consumer-goods industry than from the financial services industry. Although author Jay Nagdeman explains this away, I would have preferred more relevant case studies. With that in mind, here are a few of what I think are key messages that can be translated readily into the world of a financial advisor:

> Develop A Client-Centric Strategic Focus. Identify what your target market needs and wants from a firm such as yours. Your marketing plan should be focused on communicating how you can meet those requirements.

> Research Your Marketplace. Evaluate the economic, regulatory, competitive and consumer environment in which you operate to tailor your marketing. A good example of misguided marketing might be continuing reliance on a “buy and hold” message in the midst of the recent market meltdown that shook investors’ confidence.

> Constantly Re-Evaluate Your Marketing Strategies. Products and services fall out of favour for a variety of reasons. When sales of a particular offering decline, you must decide if it is worthwhile to try to reinvigorate it through a marketing campaign or if it’s better to let it die in the natural course.

> Create A Strong Brand. In a crowded marketplace, a strong brand is shorthand for recognition and distinction.

> Your Name Is Important. The right name for your business is the springboard for an effective branding strategy. Bob & Mary’s Financial Planning Services may describe what you do and who you are, but it leaves little room for creative differentiation in the marketplace.

> Practise Your “Elevator Speech. ” Develop the ability to tell your story concisely and with enough intrigue to cause people to ask for more. Everyone in your organization should be able to describe what you do and why it would benefit people in a short, consistent and compelling message.

> Segment Your Marketplace. Prioritize potential markets and focus resources on those with the greatest potential. Use different strategies for different segments, and create messages that are meaningful to each segment.

> Don’t Forget Existing Clients. A significant portion of your future revenue will come from sales to current clients.

> Advertising Works. Use advertising to announce a unique product opportunity or for event marketing (such as seminars) or to build your brand profile. It is easier both to give and receive referrals if there is brand recognition in the community.

> Gather Competitive Intelligence. Look at what your competitors are doing. Take lessons from both the successful and the less than successful practices.

> Use Technology. An effective, interactive website, coupled with electronic communication, is becoming an expectation rather than a competitive advantage. Keep up with online marketing trends.

This book is an easy read that can, as its subtitle suggests, be consumed in bite-sized pieces. You can simply start at the beginning and proceed through to the end at your own pace, or use the one-line description of each mini-chapter in the table of contents to zero in on topics of interest. Either way, I encourage you to stop at the end of each section and reflect on how it might apply in your practice. IE