If you’re a financial advisor looking to grow your firm, your branding is essential. In fact, 77% of marketing leaders say branding is critical to growth.
“Your brand serves as the face and personality of your company. It’s the first impression and visual representation of your company’s values and ethos,” explains Symmetry Partners Graphic Designer Michael Zuraw.
Your brand helps you stand apart from other financial advisors and remain top of mind with investors seeking your services—which is vital because 82% of investors say name recognition is essential in guiding investment decisions.
Sometimes people use the terms branding and marketing interchangeably, but they are more like two distinct pieces of a puzzle that need to fit together to create a complete picture. While branding centers on your business identity and vision, marketing focuses on how you communicate that vision.
Brand Building
Not only does your branding provide structure for your marketing, but it also helps expand your business reach and serves as a valuable way to differentiate you from your competition.
The differentiation piece is critical. Why? Because when surveyed, 63% of investors noted that all financial advisors make the same promises, making it challenging to distinguish between them.
So, how do you build a durable, resonant brand and stand apart? By including the following elements in your branding efforts:
-
Brand Strategy
-
Brand Mark
-
Brand Architecture
-
Brand Messaging and Marketing
Even if you have a long-established brand, it’s a good idea to go through this exercise every few years to tune up your brand and make sure it is still working well for you.
Brand Strategy
Your brand strategy forms the foundation for your brand and its delivery. Most successful brands have an explicit or implicit promise and personality.
Your brand’s promise is what your clients can expect; its personality is how you deliver on that promise.
Understanding who your clients are is key. It helps you determine their pain points and tailor your messaging to address their needs. Does it resonate with the clients you’re trying to reach?
Your brand’s promise and personality come through in everything from your logo to your mission statement.
As an advisor, your brand strategy may be something like:
Promise: Full-service financial planning
Personality: Intelligent and trustworthy
Brand Mark
Your brand mark (also known as your logo) provides a visual symbol of your brand promise and personality. Does yours stand out? Is it bold? Is it memorable? Is it visually appealing? If you’ve been in business for a while, is it time for a rebrand?
When done well, having a solid brand mark helps individuals understand who you are and what you value. A successful brand mark should even encourage potential clients to reach out to you.
“Your brand mark is a reflection of who you are. It’s often the first impression a potential client gets,” notes Zuraw. “Your brand mark is like a spokesperson for your firm. Advisors can use their brand mark to their advantage, helping them make impactful first impressions.”
Brand Architecture
How do clients experience your practice and its services? This is where your brand architecture comes into play.
When you think about your brand architecture, think of the words that describe what you do. Do they communicate all of that in a client-friendly way? Think about the types of different services you offer and the different types of people you work with—are they business owners? Individuals? Families?
Your architecture isn’t just a laundry list of the products and services you offer. It explains how you actually help people—without any jargon. It includes your value proposition. And it showcases your mission and vision.
Brand Messaging and Marketing
Together, your brand messaging and marketing provide a consistent and integrated verbal and visual presentation of your brand promise.
In terms of messaging, are you saying the right thing? Are you conveying the messages you intend?
While branding centers on how you identify your business, marketing focuses on how you communicate that vision.
The following elements can help shape the messaging and marketing behind your brand:
Consistency.
Brands that lack consistency and sound different on different platforms may confuse your audience. For example, your website’s look, feel, and messaging should be aligned with what you’re sharing on LinkedIn or Facebook.
Credibility.
One of the easiest ways to develop credibility is by identifying with your audience. How? By showing you recognize their values and goals, and you understand their challenges—and you can solve them.
Authenticity.
Personally relevant content positively influences 87% of consumers’ feelings about a brand. Use authentic storytelling to share about your life experiences and what makes you special—successes, learnings about how you “failed forward,” why you do what you do, and community engagement.
Differentiation.
Keep in mind, thousands of advisors are vying for attention. They all claim to offer the best solution and services to meet clients’ needs. Your brand helps clients distinguish between you and the competition.
Using Brand Building Basics to Create Your Brand
These branding basics are the scaffolding for your overall brand. When used effectively, they help:
- Support your long-term marketing efforts
- Keep your business top-of-mind
- Share your values
- Connect with your audience
- Build trust
- Demonstrate who you are and why you do what you do
Now that you have a solid understanding of what goes into a brand, you can use these basics to get started—or reach out to Symmetry Marketing for a 30-minute consultation.
Symmetry Partners, LLC, provides this communication on this site as a matter of general information. Information contained herein, including data or statistics quoted, is from sources believed to be reliable but cannot be guaranteed or warranted. Due to various factors, including changing market conditions and/or applicable laws, the content may not be reflective of current opinions or positions. All content on this site is for educational purposes and should not be considered investment advice, recommendation or offer of any security for sale. Symmetry Partners does not provide tax or legal advice and nothing either stated or implied in this material should be inferred as providing such advice. Symmetry Partners does not approve or endorse any third-party communications on this site and will not be liable for any such posts.
Symmetry Partners, LLC is an investment advisory firm registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm only transacts business in states where it is properly registered or excluded or exempt from registration requirements. Registration of an investment adviser does not imply any specific level of skill or training and does not constitute an endorsement of the firm by the Commission.