2. 22 Practice Management Solutions | November/December 2012 www.FPAnet.org/PracticeManagement
MARKETING
A
cquiring a new client doesn’t
happen by magic. Before a
client ever sits down in your
office to engage your services, he goes
through a series of progressive steps to
reach the decision to hire you.
First, he has to become aware of
your firm. Maybe it is through word of
mouth from a colleague, or maybe it is
from a seminar invitation you mailed.
Next, he has to engage with you
or your company to get on your radar.
Perhaps he is introduced by one of
your existing clients or registers for a
workshop.
After that, he may not be quite
ready to engage your services, but you
continue to stay top-of-mind by sending
monthly newsletters and inviting him to
educational lunch-and-learn meetings
in your office.
Finally, one day he calls to make
an appointment to discuss his personal
financial situation. At the end of the
appointment, he decides to hire your
firm and transfer his assets.
We call this progression through
the different levels of engagement the
marketing funnel. The funnel has four
major stages:
• Create awareness
• Generate leads
• Nurture and educate prospects
• Convert to client
At each step, there is a more
intimate level of engagement between
you and the prospect until ultimately
he becomes a client. As the marketer
of your firm, it is your job to lead the
prospect down this funnel until a
conversion occurs.
It is important to keep this progres-
sion of events in mind when creating
a marketing plan. As you develop your
strategy, choose campaigns that address
each stage of the funnel and that
naturally lead a prospect from one stage
to the next. To help you choose which
campaigns are appropriate, here is a list
of possible campaigns for each stage in
the marketing funnel.
Create Awareness
The “create awareness” stage of the fun-
nel is meant for the campaigns that will
result in getting your company name in
front of a potential client who has never
heard of you. Campaigns that fall in this
stage include, but are not limited to:
• Direct mail
• Press releases
• Sponsorships
• Radio shows
• TV appearances
• Podcasts
• Videos
• Print and online advertisements
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Social media
• Speaking engagements
• Contests and awards
• Public relations
• Websites
• Blogs
• Magazine, newspaper and trade
journal articles
• Word of mouth
Rarely will a single instance of any
of these campaigns lead a prospect
Use the Funnel to Create a Strategic
Marketing Plan
by Kristen Luke

3. www.FPAnet.org/PracticeManagement November/December 2012 | Practice Management Solutions 23
MARKETING
to take action. Instead, the repetitive
nature of these campaigns will cre-
ate awareness and eventually lead a
potential client to take action that will
make you aware of his existence.
Generate Leads
The next stage of the funnel, “generate
leads,” is when you receive the name of a
prospect. This is your first introduction
to a prospective client who may have
known about your firm. The marketing
campaigns under this stage of the funnel
are focused on gathering names of
prospects. These can include:
• Client referrals
• Center of Influence (COI) referrals
• Seminars
• Networking
• Webinars
• Calls to action (e.g., download an
e-book or white paper, schedule a
complimentary consultation, sign
up for our newsletter, receive a free
book)
• Landing page with calls to action
(for more on landing pages, see the
September/October 2012 article
“Capture More Online Leads With
Landing Pages.”)
After you have a name and other
personal information, start customizing
your marketing and communication
around the prospect’s specific needs. At
this point, you move the prospect down
the funnel to the next stage, “nurture
and educate prospects.”
Nurture and Educate Prospects
During this stage, you develop and
deepen the relationship. The campaigns
that fall under this category help you
educate prospects about your firm’s solu-
tions and stay top-of-mind when your
prospect has a need. These campaigns
include:
• Email marketing
• Educational events (e.g., lunch and
learns)
• Hospitality events (e.g., wine
tastings, tickets to events)
• Brochures
• Pitchbooks
• Marketing collateral
• Promotional products
• Article reprints
After some point in the “nurture and
educate prospects” stage, the prospect
will ultimately schedule that appoint-
ment and convert to a client.
Convert to Client
Although no marketing campaigns are
associated with the “convert to client”
stage, your work in the marketing fun-
nel with this client is not over. You must
continue to nurture the relationship to
both retain the client and help generate
leads in the future.
Nurture Clients and COIs
In the financial services industry, a
significant percentage of leads comes
from client and center of influence
referrals. For this reason, it is important
to create ancillary campaigns outside of
the standard funnel that are specific to
nurturing these relationships. Cam-
paigns centered on nurturing clients
and COIs focus on deepening relation-
ships, building credibility and increasing
understanding of your services. These
campaigns may include:
Nurture clients:
• Client appreciation events
• Educational events
• Newsletters
• Email marketing
• One-on-one meetings
• Surveys
• Client advisory boards
• Client focus groups
Nurture COIs:
• Continuing education courses
• Hospitality events
• Email marketing
• One-on-one meetings
A quick way to develop a strategic
marketing plan is to draw your own
funnel with the four stages plus the two
additional “nurture COIs” and “nurture
clients” stages shown in the diagram.
Under each stage, write out the different
campaigns you will implement that
will achieve that stage’s goal. Make sure
the campaigns flow together from one
stage to the next in a logical order. After
completing this exercise, you will find
that you have a comprehensive plan to
reach your prospects at every level of
engagement.
Kristen Luke is president and CEO of Wealth Manage-
ment Marketing Inc. (www.wealthmanagement
marketing.net), a firm dedicated to providing marketing
strategies and support for independent advisers.
Learn More
Download a free template to de-
velop your marketing funnel at
blog.wealthmanagementmarketing.net/free-
download-the-marketing-funnel-worksheet.
“After you
have a name and
other personal
information, start
customizing your
marketing and
communication
around the
prospect’s specific
needs.
”