Your Ideal Clients Should Not Be This Hard to Find
We recently spoke with an advisor who had invested a lot of money in a LinkedIn and Facebook strategy.
She had a content calendar. Polished posts. Regular activity. Videos. She was doing all the things she had been told she “should” be doing. And she was getting likes.
But inquiries? Meetings? New prospective clients?
Nothing. Crickets.
So we asked: What exactly are you getting for all the time and money you’re putting into this?
Her answer: “Exposure.”
Okay. Exposure is nice. But exposure isn’t the goal.
The goal is great conversations with right-fit prospective clients.
Marketing has become a very long checklist for advisors. Post on LinkedIn. Make videos. Write a blog. Host events. Build your following.
Then someone tells you, “You really should be on TikTok.” And down another rabbit hole you go. There is always another shiny object.
Some advisors spend $1,500 a month or more on social media marketing. Others are doing it themselves and are exhausted. Some are so overwhelmed by conflicting advice that they’ve basically stopped because they don’t know what to do.
The problem isn’t a lack of effort.
No one ever gave them a simple strategy for deciding what’s actually worth doing.
What are you actually trying to accomplish?
Likes feel good. Views are nice. Followers sound impressive.
But we’d rather hear that an advisor had five great conversations with exactly the right people than that 5,000 people saw her latest post because five great conversations can change your business.
And let’s be realistic:
Your ideal clients probably aren’t scrolling LinkedIn every day looking for their next financial advisor.
They’re far more likely to meet you through someone they trust, hear you speak, or attend something you’ve created. So instead of asking, How do I get more people to see me? ask:
How do I get in front of more of the right people? This changes everything.
Your best clients may already hold the answer
Think about the clients you absolutely love working with, the ones you would happily clone.
Now look at their world.
Who do they know? Where do they spend their time? What organizations are they part of? Which attorneys, accountants, and other professionals do they trust?
Most importantly, who else in their world looks a lot like them? That’s your natural market.
One advisor we worked with stopped trying to reach more people and focused on spending more time with the right people.
She hosted focus groups, a women’s tea, and eventually a retreat.
Those conversations led to real relationships, and ultimately three new high-net-worth clients who were exactly the kind of right-fit clients she wanted more of.
Start with the strategy, not the tactic
LinkedIn isn’t the strategy.
A podcast isn’t the strategy.
An event isn’t the strategy.
They’re tactics.
Until you know who you want to reach, where they are, what they need to hear, and how you are best suited to reach them, how can you know which tactic to choose?
Maybe social media is part of the answer. Maybe it’s speaking. Maybe it’s a focus group, a COI conversation, or a small gathering of the right people.
You don’t have to do all of them.
You just have to know which ones make sense for you and the clients you want.
Before you spend more time…or money
If you’re paying someone to manage your social media, make sure you know what you want that investment to produce.
And if you’re doing it yourself, remember: your time is more valuable than your money.
Before you spend another dollar, or another Sunday night creating content, ask yourself:
Who are the clients I’d love ten more of? Where do people like them already exist in my world? What do they need to hear from me? What’s the most natural way for me to get in front of them?
Then choose the marketing that supports that strategy. Not the other way around.
Because the goal isn’t more posts, more followers, or more exposure.
It’s to be in the right places, with the right message, with the right people.
What would change if you stopped guessing and had a clear, organic strategy that created a straight line from you to your ideal clients?
That’s the work Holly and I love doing with advisors: eliminating the noise, figuring out what fits you, and focusing your time and money on the things most likely to lead to the clients you want.
Just a much clearer path from you to your ideal clients.
Your ideal clients shouldn’t be this hard to find.
Before You Go…
🧠 This Month’s Coaching Prompt
Make this a habit going forward: Before you commit your time, money, or both to anything related to marketing or business development, ask yourself:
Will this help me get in front of more of my ideal, right-fit clients? And what proof do I have that it will?
🎤 Shared from the Field
“Remember the attorney we discussed, and you said I need to clearly articulate who I work with and why? Well. She referred us to a $300mm female client this week who is soon to be divorced. The attorney said, “I thought of you right away after our last conversation about who you help best.” Oh. My. Goodness. I’m going out of my mind with excitement at this opportunity!!!” ~ Jaime
🎧 Something We’re Loving
I wanted to write about Janie’s Cookies, but I haven’t tried them yet. The owner has recovered from addiction and homelessness. Janie goes above and beyond in giving back to her community - providing second-chance employment, teaching baking classes to underprivileged youth in East Harlem, and donating time and cookies to local community centers and homeless shelters. Does anyone else have anything they are loving??