Retirement Planning Marketing Strategies

As a retirement planner, you're already something of an influencer to your clients—they look to you for expert knowledge to set them up for long-term financial success. Bring that advice on to your social accounts to build a following and build trust with current and prospective clients.

Retirement planning is a high-touch business that requires lots of trust building. That doesn't happen overnight—but getting new positive reviews can! Ask your clients to post a rating/review on your search engine profile or other listing sites. If your current ratings need work, you may want to work with an expert partner to clean things up.

Asking clients to spread the word about your retirement planning business is still a critical tactic. But it gets a digital spin: use automated emails to reach out to clients at key times and ask them for referrals.

Retirement planning is a competitive space—even when you remove all the big national players from the space. To get the most from your marketing spend, it's important to have a good handle on the competitive landscape. But seeing how your competitors stack up isn't always easy, so work with a professional who can peel back the layers and reveal key insights. You'll be better positioned to beat out the competition.

To compete in today's online world, your tax planning firm not only needs digital tools for your clients (account access, dashboards, etc.) but also a strong online presence as a first impression for new prospects. This includes business profiles on search engines and other listings sites; strong reviews and ratings; a strong SEO strategy; and paid digital advertising. The right mix will help you increase visibility and encourage prospects to choose your business.

Online educational content and tools are not only valuable ways to boost SEO; they also will help position your tax planning firm as an expert in your area. This goes a long way to convince new prospects that you're right for the job, and strengthens your relationship with current clients to ensure they stick around. Promote content via paid search and social as a way to generate leads.

Similar to word of mouth, branding efforts are a key way to build credibility in your local community. If prospective clients have heard your name, you already have a head start on the competition within the consideration set. Connected TV, radio and digital OOH are great ways to boost your brand while still targeting the right audiences (at the right time).

As mentioned, the retirement planning business is still largely fueled by word of mouth. Leverage that in the digital world by asking your clients for online reviews (via emails or SMS). These reviews can boost SEO and also be used to bolster the message in your ad campaigns.