In my last blog, I discussed the fact that it can take three years of a focused niche marketing strategy before an advisor will reach the level of exponential growth. In year one, you talk to everyone you know in your niche and establish credibility through content marketing. In year two, you continue those efforts and layer on additional ones:

1. Develop an Ebook or Other Lead Capture Resource 

After you consistently blog for a year, you’ll find you are generating more traffic to your website. Since not all those visitors will be ready to do business with you, you’ll want a way to capture their names and email addresses so you can nurture that relationship until they are ready.

The simplest way to do this is through a PDF resource like an ebook or checklist. You can also consider an on-demand webinar. The important thing is that the resource is something that your niche will value and that you offer it in exchange for their email address.

2. Expand Your Content

Once you are in the habit of consistently creating blogs, you want to expand your content. If you like to write, you can continue writing blogs but add longer, more in-depth content. If that is not an option, increase the number of blogs you write each month (say from two to four).

This is also the time to consider developing videos to enhance your blogs or as a standalone. You can also consider hosting a podcast and inviting people associated with your niche community to be guests. Or you can start designing interesting infographics for your niche.

Only expand your content if you can consistently execute it. If blogging is already enough for you, stick to that one thing.

3. Guest Everywhere

In both years one and two, it is important to get in front of your niche as much as possible. This means looking for opportunities to be a guest speaker at live or virtual events, be a guest on podcasts, and contribute guest articles to websites or publications.

When you have an opportunity to leverage someone else’s network, you take it, no matter how insignificant. These opportunities not only build your credibility but also lead to additional opportunities.

4. Optimize Content for Search Engines

If you consistently write blogs in year one, your website will probably start to rank for some keywords your niche is searching for. In year two, you can make a more deliberate effort to optimize your content and overall website to drive more search traffic.

Search engine optimization is a pretty technical concept, so I would recommend you hire a company like Advisor Rankings to help you with your SEO efforts.

5. Utilize Ads

Year two is when you may want to use ads to expand the reach of your content. For example, you might promote your lead capture resource or the content you are already posting on social media to a wider audience using paid advertisements, usually called “promoted” or “boosted” posts.

You may want to advertise in highly targeted niche publications and websites. And if enough people are searching for your service on Google (e.g., financial advisor for dentists), you might consider using Google search ads.

Ads can complement your SEO efforts. The key to success is that your ads must be highly targeted to your market with a message that resonates with your niche.

6. Build Your Center of Influence (COI) Network

In your first year, you talk to anyone you can think of associated with your niche. In year two, it’s time to implement a deliberate and systemized effort to meet new centers of influence and nurture those relationships for referrals. It can take years of relationship-building to gain the trust required for COIs to provide a referral. Starting these efforts in year two will pay dividends in future years.     

Final Thoughts

If the first year lays the foundation for a successful niche marketing strategy, the second year builds the framing. In year two, your efforts get more sophisticated as you expand your reach through a lead capture resource, new content formats, guest opportunities, search engine optimization, ads, and COI networking.

Your diligence may already be paying off as you gain traction with your niche market, which increasingly looks to you for guidance on their financial problems.

About Kristen Luke

Kristen Luke is the President of Kaleido Creative Studio, a marketing agency that helps transform Registered Investment Advisors and their employees into experts in a niche, making it easier for them to stand out from the competition and attract ideal clients. Over the past 16 years, Kristen has consulted with hundreds of financial advisory firms and shared her marketing expertise via industry conferences and publications nationwide.