“
Think about it this way: barbeque chicken and apple cinnamon donuts are both delicious, but if you smelled barbeque chicken when going for the cinnamon donuts, you’re not buying that donut! Focusing on the figurative “scent” of your business refers to putting intention into the construction of a congruent, consistent feeling a customer gets when working with all aspects of your business, whether it’s the design of your office, the type of paper you use, the smile that greats them, the process for onboarding or the tone of language used on your websites and documents. Otherwise, with an incongruent feeling, they may not trust what they see. At the end of the day, it’s important that you ask yourself exactly how your clients and prospects perceive your brand. Try asking some of your longest-standing clients what their first-ever experience was like with you, with a member of your team, or with your brand and company overall. At the same time, consider the latest prospect you met with and think through and observe the customer journey from their perspective to get a sense of how your first impressions are doing. Will Rogers said it best: “You never get a second chance to make a good first impression.” At the end of the day, it’s important that you ask yourself exactly how your clients and prospects perceive your brand.
with you after the event to talk about their personal financial future. Sight In the recently published WealthManagement. com article, “Do You Truly Understand Your User?” Kirby Mack, vice president of digital media at Lone Beacon, says that people don’t always read, they skim, only taking 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website,
determining whether they’ll stay or leave. If you haven’t already done one, I’d recommend performing a website audit with this in mind. Make sure you focus on short, eye-catching headlines that highlight your unique value propositions. Also, have a mix of imagery and videos that tap into the emotional side of marketing to help elicit positive first impression consumer responses. Sound Traditionally speaking, audible forms of marketing and advertising in our world are centered around radio and podcasts. But have you ever heard someone use the phrase “falling on deaf ears?” Don’t let your brand messaging fall on those deaf ears. There have been many studies performed indicating people will hear an inner voice when reading something. If you’re posing a call-to-action, then make sure it’s clear and concise, and that the prospect knows exactly what’s in it for them. Smell Consumers can always “smell something fishy.” If something feels off even though you can’t put your finger on it, your prospect will already be out the door. You might find this silly, but something as simple as making sure you’re covering the basics with a candle or plug-in air freshener in your office so prospects can associate pleasantness with your firm when they first walk through your door. But then, think about the different types of messaging and imagery you’re using across your marketing. You need to make it authentic, be true to your brand and highlight your unique value in ways that are congruent with each other.
Mike Schaffman joined Lone Beacon in 2015 where he pioneered their core marketing Mike Schaffman Vice President of Sales & Marketing Lone Beacon
platform, creating content and connecting media and broadcast components with a turnkey digital solution. After strategically extracting, analyzing, and applying first party data across the core marketing platform, Mike helped transform Lone Beacon’s platform into one of the premier financial advisor marketing solutions today. His passion for helping clients across the country grow their business extends throughout the entire industry, as Mike’s been published and referenced in major financial outlets such as WealthManagement.com, FA-Mag.com, Advisor Perspectives, Nasdaq.com and Financial-Planning.com .
17
Powered by FlippingBook