LifeHealth.com
Your brand: your most valuable marketing tool
by Howard B. Cowan, CLU, ChFC
Howard B. Cowan, CLU, ChFC, is President and CEO of Cowan Financial Group, New York, N.Y. He can be reached at 212-536-6100 or hcowan@cowanfinancial.com.
In the world of sales, perception is everything. This is true regardless of what you are selling, but it is especially true for those of us who are selling intangible products. Financial services cannot be seen or touched, poked or prodded, test-driven or tried on. So, in reality, we are selling ourselves, selling our expertise and trustworthiness along with a set of financial solutions.
As a result, how your prospects and clients see you is your most powerful selling tool and is, in essence, your own personal "brand." How committed you are to promoting your brand will ultimately determine the levels of success you are able to reach.
What is a Brand?
Advertising guru Donny Deutsch has long focused on the importance of branding. For larger companies, branding is the act of creating a recognizable differentiator. As an example, Nike"s "Just Do It" campaign clearly and successfully created an image of who they were… and they ran with it, so to speak. Nike put the money and effort behind this one concept and grew it into a brand that is today known worldwide.
The mistake most financial sales professionals make is that they view themselves as part of a larger organization and rely on that company"s brand to define who they are and what they do. However, with so many people in the marketplace touting their services under the financial advisor umbrella, it"s more important than ever for salespeople to create their own individual brands and market their specific capabilities appropriately.
Creating a personal brand is not much different from what Nike and other large corporations do. In relation to financial services, it involves carving out a niche and then doing everything it takes to become recognized as an expert in that particular field.
That said; there is nothing wrong with capitalizing on the larger organization"s brand as well – whether that"s an agency or home office. In fact, it"s quite smart. Think of it this way: Ford, Lincoln and Mercury are all individual brands yet they all also fall under the larger brand of the Ford Motor Company. Each make and model has its own specific marketing strategy, but are also able to take advantage of the history and strength of the corporate brand.
Either way, branding yourself requires a great deal of commitment in terms of both time and money.
Cornering a Niche Market
Establishing a niche is really nothing more than defining a target audience. More specifically, a niche is a group of people or businesses that communicate with one another and have common needs and interests. Niche markets can be made up of virtually any collection of people, ranging from professional and civic organizations, to a specific industry, to individuals with similar backgrounds and interests such as school affiliations.
By taking this kind of focused approach you can quickly build credibility among your target audience. That said, there is no real reason why you can"t create more than one niche. In fact, it"s preferable to always have a secondary market to fall back on. However, for the purposes of building your brand, it is best to focus your efforts and dollars on one primary market.
Investing Wisely to Build Your Brand
Once you"ve determined your niche, the trick is to set about building your brand by positioning yourself as the "go to" person for financial services within this group. Many of us rely heavily on word of mouth to achieve this, and although it is certainly a critical tactic, it will only take you so far. If you are serious about building your business, you will need to make a substantial investment in promoting your brand. The old adage, "You have to spend money to make money," is absolutely true.
The mistake most financial sales professionals make is that they view themselves as part of a larger organization and rely on that company"s brand to define who they are and what they do.
As a starting point, I recommend hiring a professional writer to help you compose a series of industry-specific articles. A good writer with knowledge of the financial services industry can help you build a stable of articles you can submit to a wide array of publications and media. In the same vein, I also believe that a public relations specialist is a must. A seasoned PR pro will not only help you get your articles placed, he or she can identify opportunities you may not have considered or have access to on your own. This includes not only traditional media, like trade publications and journals, but also speaking engagements as well as spots on local TV and radio programs.
I also encourage my agents to place ads in key trade publications, national magazines and newspapers such as Time, The Wall Street Journal, Business Week and others. These can be expensive, certainly, and I"m not suggesting that they will bring in leads on their own. The benefit lies in your ability to use the reprints of your ad strategically, which are branded with the publication"s name. As a marketing tool, reprints can be a very powerful as a leave behind or centerpiece to a mailing campaign, and go a long way in establishing your credibility. Many publications also sell space for advertorials, a combination of an ad for your services and an editorial piece on a specific subject. Advertorial reprints, especially, can create the impression that your article was "published" in Inc. Magazine, for instance.
Another very critical element in your branding effort is a well thought-out, professionally designed Web site. In today"s world, many people simply will not do business with a firm or company that does not have a Web presence. Hire a designer, developer and writer with specific Web experience to help you analyze competitor sites and create a Web site for your business that differentiates you from the rest.
Go to the Professionals
There is no need for you to hire costly marketing agencies for your needs. While an agency will certainly give you access to a wide range of services, they come with overhead and higher prices. Especially when you are starting out, look to freelance journalists, copywriters, graphic designers, Web developers and PR professionals, self-employed starters who are just like you. And if you"re still struggling with the idea of hiring outside experts, consider this: you encourage your prospects to hire you for your knowledge and experience. You should do the same. In the long run, you"ll get more exposure and create a stronger brand than if you tried to do it all yourself.
Don"t Stop Doing What Works
One thing that Nike did was to keep their "Just Do It" campaign going. Far too often I see salespeople in my organization stop doing something when it works. I know it sounds a bit ridiculous, but the truth is that many times when something is really working. We tend to feel as we"ve accomplished what we set out to. However, maintaining an image takes just as much commitment as creating it in the first place. So continue building on what you"ve already achieved. If you have just one TV spot under your belt, for instance, your PR person can shop it around to other stations to get you access to an even larger audience. Or if you find you have a collection of articles, consider writing a book even if you publish it through a small vanity press.
Think about it this way: what would happen if Coca Cola decided not to advertise for the month of February? Well, they"d probably save millions of dollars, most likely without losing much market share, if any. But Coca Cola would never do that. They set a budget and marketing strategy at the beginning of each year, and they stick to it. It"s part of their successful branding effort. You should do the same because the bottom line is that you are always competing against someone, even if you don"t know it.
It"s difficult for many in this industry to embrace the idea of investing their own money in themselves, especially those connected to an agency with a good deal of home office support. They don"t understand why they should have to spend their own money when the company provides advertising and marketing materials. The problem is, of course, that these materials are generic and not targeted toward your specific market, and will really do nothing to highlight the personal attributes that create your brand.
Investing in yourself is a risk, but if done wisely, it is a risk that will pay off tenfold.