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Marie Swift, President and CEO of Impact Communications, has worked with financial advisory firms and allied institutions for over twenty years. A thought leader for thought leaders, she is known for bringing some of the industry’s best and brightest voices together for dialog and debate. Her key areas of expertise include social media, PR and all forms of advisor marketing and professional communications. Marie’s work can be found on her blog, contributions to a wide variety of industry publications, speeches, podcasts, and her popular Thought Leader Round Table series.

Takeaway quote:

“If we’re seen as a credible source, people want to talk about us.”

Show Timeline:

1:23 Changes in practice marketing with social media
Importance of having a strong online presence
2:46 Other important components of digital footprint
Video, visuals, content
3:57 How to get started in building online presence
Website first, satellites (social media) pointing back to site
5:49 Infusing personality into online profile
Impact of strategically giving glimpse into personal side of firm
7:10 What kind of content to share online
Canned, Curated, Custom, Credibility
10:02 How to determine the nature of the content
Marketing basics: Market, Message, Methods
12:07 What makes someone a thought leader
Asking controversial questions, having meaningful answers
13:11 How to sustain the sharing of content
Leverage the ‘in-between’ time and online tools, ensure the content is shareable
16:45 Translating online presence to referrals
PESO framework: Paid, Earned, Shared, Owned
18:48 Importance of having a structure marketing plan
Work within your budget, reduce wasted time
20:02 Creating a platform
Being seen as an expert, person of character, thought leader
21:04 Focus on character
Case study of an advisor building credibility by showing his character
22:26 Referrals as a distinct part of marketing plan
One of three funnels: referral marketing, event marketing, credibility marketing
24:11 Things to get people talking about you
The law of reciprocity – talk about others and they’ll talk about you

Links:

Website: www.impactcommunications.org
Blog: http://www.marieswift.com/
Thought Leader Round Table series: http://www.advisorsthinktank.com/
Twitter: www.twitter.com/marieswift
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/marieswift
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/impactcommunicationskc
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+MarieSwift

Want more?

Stephen Wershing: www.TheClientDrivenPractice.com/checklistblog
Julie Littlechild: www.absoluteengagement.com/blog

Episode Transcript:

[Audio Length: 00:27:08]

Steve Wershing:

Welcome to another episode of Becoming Referable, the podcast that helps you be the kind of advisor that people can’t stop talking about. I’m Steve Wershing of The Client Driven Practice.

Julie Littlechild:

And I’m Julie Littlechild of AbsoluteEngagement.com. Now, it’s probably fair to say that our guest today is everywhere in this industry, and today I’m just glad she’s with us. Marie Swift is the CEO and president of Impact Communications, which you can find at ImpactCommunications.org. They’re a full-service marketing communications firm with two business lines. One for highly successful independent advisors and one for the institutions that support them. You could describe Marie as a thought leader for thought leaders. In addition to her day job, she routinely brings thought leaders together to explore the future of this industry.

Steve Wershing:

Some of the things you’ll learn in today’s episode are how social media has changed marketing financial planning practices. You’ll learn the four Cs of content management, and you’ll learn the value of asking a controversial question.

Julie Littlechild:

With that, let’s turn to the conversation with Marie. Marie, welcome. Thanks so much for taking the time to talk today.

Marie Swift:

My pleasure, Julie.

Julie Littlechild:

We have a lot to talk to you about. You’ve got so much expertise. I want to get through a lot with you today, but let me just start and ask you this question. How would you say that social media has changed how advisors are marketing their practices?

Marie Swift:

One of the things that’s changed is the way we get information about our service providers and even the products that we want to purchase. We’re seeing people go online to do their primary research. If you look at some of the statistics that we’re getting from firms like Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers, they are saying that people are more and more apt to go online to check out anyone that’s been referred to them. What we want to do as service providers and advisors particularly want to have a really good strong online presence. Social media is the component of that online presence, and having a really good digital footprint is important in an age where people are sleeping with their cell phones. If they’ve got something that crosses their mind, they can look it up right then and there on their tablet or their mobile device. With the Internet almost becoming like electricity in our lives, we need to be prepared to really work on that online presence, and part of that is social, where it can become almost like a viral aspect to the sharing of that information, not just how discoverable you are.

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