[00:00:00] Doug Heikkinen: This is PowerAdvice's Power Your Advice Podcast, and I'm Doug Heikkinen. We have Samantha Russell with us today, the Chief Evangelist at FMG Suite. And today we're going to unpack FMG's 2025 Marketing Guide to explore how financial advisors can turn this year's challenges into opportunities. From optimizing your website to growing your network, we're going to share strategies to elevate your marketing game.
Welcome, Samantha. . .
[00:00:25] Samantha Russell: Hi there. Thank you so much for having me.
[00:00:28] Doug Heikkinen: So let's start at the top. What are some of the biggest marketing opportunities you envision for 2025 for advisors?
[00:00:36] Samantha Russell: Yeah, so obviously, you know, everyone hates the answer that it depends on who you're trying to target and what you're trying to do.
But if I had to pick one or two that would apply to everyone, I would say video, especially short form video. If you are making a podcast or you are doing longer form video, you can shorten them into clips that you share. And then the second one would be events. So, it's interesting the rise of AI and the proliferation of kind of, I don't want to say cheap content, but content that anyone can write with a prompt through an AI bot has made it so that people are really, really drawn more to authentic conversations and experiences. And we're seeing such a rise in events and people wanting to attend events, both online and offline.
But we're seeing a really, really good ROI from events for the advisors we work with.
[00:01:27] Doug Heikkinen: That's really interesting. Let's talk about the FMG 2025 marketing guide. What is it and how are advisors using it?
[00:01:35] Samantha Russell: Yeah. So back in the summer last summer, 2024, our team was doing an offsite and we were thinking, we were talking about all the different ways that we help advisors.
So we help them with social media, with events, with ongoing email and text communications that you drip on, you know, warm leads or your current clients. Your website. There's so many different things we help with and that really make up that marketing funnel. From the top of the funnel, just becoming aware of your firm down to converting. And people get overwhelmed, right?
If you're a financial advisor, marketing your business is a huge part of growing, yet it's not what you became an advisor for. And so we wanted to take all of our advice, our most practical, tangible tips that we really know move the needle when it comes to producing results and put them in one place and make it so that whether you're just starting out and you need some of those foundational elements or you've been doing this a while and you just want to sort of level up, there'd be something in there that you could walk away from and implement in 2025.
So that is the genesis of the guide. We just released it, about a month ago, and it is broken into those sections, as I mentioned. And with each section, you have, again, your foundational things that everybody needs to take care of. And then as you get those under your belt, there are links to both videos and online tutorials and other further reading that you can really level up and go even deeper.
And then each section ends with a quick short form video from me, giving you really easy to implement, walk away from the guide and do it right then and there tip.
[00:03:06] Doug Heikkinen: Let's cover some of those areas that are in the guide and start with the website. How can advisors optimize their website so it communicates their unique value proposition effectively, which is something that very few do.
[00:03:20] Samantha Russell: Yes. I would say if you're listening to this and there's one thing you should go do right now, go pull up your website, and look at it and say, does it pass the five second test? So when someone lands on your homepage within five seconds, can they tell who you are, what you do and who you do it for and why it matters.
So everybody's looking at any content with the, what's in it for me mindset, right? Nobody really cares what you can do. They care what you can do for them. So that is why we always hear, you should have a niche. Really, it just comes down to the language and messaging. If you even go back and look at how many times are you saying we or I or our. So our team has this many years of experience.
We do this. We do that. I do this. Versus, you have this problem and here's a solution we provide. You're worried about this. We can help take care of it. Your family needs this. And we are here to help. When you change your messaging to you based messaging, you will be astounded at the difference of the response you get from the people reading your website.
[00:04:22] Doug Heikkinen: And that's audience focused messaging? Is that what you're talking about?
[00:04:25] Samantha Russell: Yeah, exactly. So, you know, if I'm a single mom, and I have three little kids, and I'm working full time, but I'm also worried about, I don't want to pay too much in taxes, and saving for my kids' colleges and all those things.
Somebody who specializes in working with women. Women, unfortunately my husband passed away, so if they're a widower if I land on their website and it's speaking to me directly, I'm going to be much more likely to want to work with that advisor rather than just what we see all the time, which is our team's been in business for 30 years and we help individuals, families, and businesses.
Well, that's everyone. And, I always tell people with messaging, think of a magnet. In order for a magnet to work, it has to repel in order to attract. If your message doesn't repel anyone, it won't attract anyone either.
[00:05:12] Doug Heikkinen: Can behavioral science techniques fit into a website?
[00:05:16] Samantha Russell: That's right. They do.
[00:05:18] Doug Heikkinen: Amazing. So let's move on to social media. So social media is changing and you've grown your LinkedIn network to more than 42,000 people. How did you do it? And what tips can you share to advisors who want to grow their network?