Why do most marketing campaigns not work for financial advisors? The most common mistake we see is advisors turning on lead generation before they have anything in place to follow up. They put the cart in front of the horse, and they pay for it.
The mistake we see again and again
Advisors already have lead generation turned on, but they have no nurtures. No content. No videos, webinars, emails, follow-up, automation, or sequences. They have nothing in place.
They run six months of lead generation before they realize they should probably invest in all of their post-lead follow-up. By that point they are usually deflated. They feel like they spent all of this money and barely got any ROI.
The cart before the horse
The problem is always the same: you put the cart in front of the horse. The spend goes out the door before anything exists to capture and convert the interest it creates.
If this advisor had those six months back and said, before I turn on lead generation I am going to invest in my infrastructure to stay top of mind with all of these folks, and then turned on lead generation, they would have a much higher ROI, sometimes three to five times higher.
Build the infrastructure first
This is the difference, but these are only the lessons you learn once you go through the lead gen gauntlet.
So if you are watching this and thinking about turning lead generation on, I beg you: first build out all of your infrastructure and architecture for your post-lead follow-up before turning on your leads.
Frequently asked questions
- Why do most marketing campaigns fail for financial advisors?
- They turn on lead generation before building any nurture or follow-up. With no content, emails, or automation in place, the leads they pay for go cold and the ROI collapses.
- What should advisors build before turning on lead generation?
- The full post-lead infrastructure: nurture sequences, content, videos, webinars, email follow-up, and automation that keeps you top of mind with every lead you generate.
- How much more ROI does building infrastructure first deliver?
- Advisors who invest in their follow-up architecture before turning on leads often see ROI three to five times higher than those who turn on lead generation first.
- What does putting the cart before the horse mean in advisor marketing?
- It means spending on lead generation before you have anything to nurture and convert those leads. The interest you pay to create has nowhere to go, so the money is wasted.