Journal of Financial Planning: July 2024
Kalli Fedusenko is a digital marketing director, speaker, coach, and author. Founder and director of Kalli Collective (https://kallicollective.com), Kalli combines her expertise in financial planning and digital marketing to help financial industry professionals give their brands a powerful voice. She enjoys gardening and adventuring with her husband, Mic, and pup, Clementine.
You’ve heard phrases like “riches in the niches” and “niche down” from just about every marketing expert out there, but, let’s be honest—financial planning is a big subject (you’ve got everything from money management basics to tax planning and insurance). So why do so many financial advisers hone in on retirement planning as their big “This is what we do”? Simple. Retirement is something that generates strong emotions for most people. Will I be able to retire? How do I keep my future safe, no matter what happens with the economy, my health, or other life-altering scenarios? On top of that, people who have enough in their retirement accounts to warrant seeking professional advice tend to have a higher net worth and provide more value as a client.
While this strategy is a good start for helping you attract and retain high-net-worth clients, it’s a bit like trying to reel in the whole ocean. Anyone who hires a financial adviser is planning to retire, which means every adviser who focuses on retirement planning is a good fit for their needs. And if you want your firm to stand out from the crowd, it’s not enough to make “Not like other advisers” your tagline. Aside from feeling a little too much like that time in college when you swore what made you unique was how much you loved late-night coffee, successfully differentiating your practice has to start with actually being different.
What’s the Big Deal?
You’ve probably heard the sales funnel compared to a romantic relationship; in the lead conversion process, you establish a connection, build trust, and continue to invest. Without a niche, it’s a bit like meeting someone for a first date and saying, “Speaking of wedding rings, I see you have hands. I also have hands. Let’s tie the knot!” What makes them want to choose you over their other options? Retirement planning can’t function as a niche because just about everyone you (and every other adviser) come across will fit into that niche. They can get the same services anywhere else. As Coco Chanel said: “In order to be irreplaceable, one must always be different.” Think of your niche as your insurance policy. It’s the demographic you understand and cater to so undeniably well that your clients wouldn’t dream of jumping ship—because who else could possibly understand their needs to the same extent? So, let’s figure out how you can provide an irreplaceable service.
How to Choose the Right Niche
The same principles that helped you build genuine friends in middle school apply to choosing a niche, which isn’t too surprising when you consider how important it is to establish an authentic adviser–client relationship. Be yourself. Not just because everyone else is already taken, but because providing a service that you aren’t passionate or educated about isn’t a great business model. You can still use retirement planning as a starting point for finding your niche, but you have to get more specific. Think about why you got into financial planning, what gets you excited to go to work, and who your favorite clients are. Is there a common denominator? Maybe you love helping women understand and plan for their retirement needs because you watched your mom or grandmother struggle with a lack of financial literacy. Maybe you love puzzling through executive compensation packages or working with minority groups. You should also think about available opportunities. Does your geographic location provide a shoo-in for a niche? Have you noticed a need that often goes unmet? Start with what you love and what makes sense for you and your practice, and go from there.
Niche Down . . . a Little More . . . More . . .
Once you have a rough idea of what your niche could be, it’s time to zero in on the bullseye. If you’re still stumped and can’t get past a passion for helping people retire, think about how you can break it down into one of what Stephen Wershing, CFP®, and president of The Client Driven Practice lists as the six different types of niches.1 An affinity niche is built on a common social sphere, like local business owners or maybe individuals who share a common background or career. Educational niches are just what they sound like—built on educational platforms, like helping millennials plan for retirement. Experiential niches focus less on standing out by what they provide, and more on how they provide it (think home visits or dog-friendly offices). A shared value niche relies on a common credo, like environmentally conscious investment options or placing a high value on charitable giving, a psychosocial niche is centered around emotional needs, like recent widows or families with children who have disabilities, and, lastly, a technical niche prioritizes an ultra-specific type of knowledge that the adviser brings to the table that only a select clientele will have need of.
Starting with a niche leaves advisers with a nice little choose-your-own adventure. Once you find a category that resonates with you, it’s time to get specific. You can specialize in retirement planning for individuals with dual citizenship, widowed women, military members, the LGBTQIA+ community, high-level business executives, teachers, and ESG investors . . . the list is virtually endless. The more specific you get, the more you can set yourself up as a one-of-a-kind expert who has a much better shot at attracting and retaining the kind of clients you can build your practice with.
Lead with Your Niche
Choosing a niche for your advisory firm is crucial, but you’ll be dead in the water if you don’t build your marketing strategy with your niche in mind. So you’re an expert at helping moms and dads plan for retirement while solo parenting and running a family business. How are those poor, burnt-out, super parents going to find you and know that you’re the financial planning cheerleader they’ve been wishing existed? There are a few ways to make sure your niche hears your message loud and clear.
- Don’t be shy with your brand identity. Every piece of your firm that clients and prospects come into contact with should reaffirm your niche, from your logo and tagline to the way you sign your emails. When they see one of your posts on social media, they shouldn’t have to look at who posted it to know it’s from you.
- Are you showing up where your niche is? Advertising is the best way to make sure your people see your content, even if they aren’t your people yet. But don’t just throw ad dollars at your content. Take time to research where your niche is showing up online, who they’re hanging out with, and what their other interests are. Depending on the platform, you can create ultra-specific ad parameters to make sure you’re casting your content in the right pool.
- Be generous with information. Share timely, valuable, accurate information on social media, your website, and your newsletters. Make it specific to your niche. In other words, don’t host a webinar on retirement concerns, host a webinar on retirement challenges and solutions for military families. Show your niche expertise, and the right prospects will be attracted to your content and, in turn, to your firm.
- Engage with your niche IRL. Host events, meetups, lunch-and-learns, volunteer days—you name it. Don’t wait for an opportunity to meet your niche; create one, and open it up not just to clients, but to their friends and your community in general. If there’s a way to time your event to coincide with your niche needs, take advantage of it, like planting trees for Earth Day if your niche is environmentally conscious investors.
- Be intentional about the tech you choose. The best fintech is pointless if your clients don’t use it. Are there options that cater to your niche, like making it easy to understand investing or creating a budget for newbies? Choose software and solutions that are customized to the needs, lifestyles, and learning styles of your niche.
Don’t Settle for Just Any Client
At the end of the day, choosing a niche that goes beyond retirement planning is as much about you as it is about helping your advisory firm grow and flourish. After all, your practice isn’t just an office. It starts with you. Not only does honing in on a niche help you grow more effectively from an AUM perspective, but it also helps you attract and maintain employees who are just as excited about this specific type of client as you are. It makes it easier to develop a brand and vision that’s detailed enough to be recognizable and, someday, sellable or transferable. It’s the pinpoint at the other end of the 60,000-foot view that you don’t want to miss—definitely not because you’re too busy helping the whole country with retirement planning.