Find someone that works in marketing, and ask them to describe their process for building a new marketing campaign.
Their answer will tell you a lot about their level of skill and experience.
A beginner will dive into asking about the product or service — its features, benefits, and what makes it unique in the marketplace.A seasoned marketer will start somewhere else…understanding the audience: Who is this campaign for? What is important to them? Why should they care about your solution?
By clearly defining the types of investors your RIA wants to work with, your firm has a much better chance of creating marketing that is rooted in relevance. And at the end of the day, providing relevant, valuable communications to your audience is what separates good marketing from more “noise” in an already noisy landscape.
This article covers what exactly investor personas are, how to build them for your RIA, and how growth-minded RIAs are using them now.
Investor Personas 101
Investor personas are a set of written profiles that define the different kinds of clients your firm wants to attract. Rather than relying on broad demographic categories, these personas get into the details: career, family life, asset levels, financial goals, behavioral traits, and key challenges.
How to Build Investor Personas for Your RIA
Building investor personas begins with gathering data. Analyzing your current book of business is the starting place when determining your best clients. Who are the best clients in your book of business and what key traits do those clients share? Leveraging CRM data allows you to organize existing clients into persona groups and identify key trends across age, wealth levels, investment goals, and financial concerns.
How to Use Investor Personas to Drive Organic Growth
Bad marketing is irrelevant to our lives; good marketing is highly relevant. Investor personas are an internal tool that inform external marketing efforts. They should guide and inform the creation of website content, email marketing, social media strategy, and client communications.
Investor personas ensure that more of your firm's marketing is relevant, actionable, and provides value to prospects. By leveraging investor personas, firms can personalize outreach, develop targeted campaigns, and improve lead conversion by addressing clients’ specific goals and challenges…all of which contribute to higher marketing ROI.
Beyond marketing, investor personas enhance client experience by refining service offerings, tailoring onboarding and communication, and strengthening advisor-client relationships. Understanding client motivations enables advisors to better meet their expectations and provide a more personalized service.
Closing Thoughts
Investor personas are essential for an RIA’s marketing success. They ensure that marketing efforts are strategic, client-focused, and effective.
As your firm grows — whether organically or through M&A activity — it’s important to revisit and refine your investor personas regularly. A well-maintained set of investor personas will continue to guide your marketing and sales strategies, helping you attract and serve your ideal clients effectively.
Contact us to learn how we can help you package and articulate your services, and communicate your firm’s value to clients and prospects.
Craig Hall is founder and president of Marketing Wiz, a financial marketing firm specializing in the independent wealth management space.
