As a financial advisor, you may be familiar with the struggle of spending a lot of money on marketing without seeing the ROI you were expecting. Many advisors have expressed this concern to Brandon Stukey, who has looked at numerous plans and numbers in the industry to uncover the root of the problem.

Stukey’s analysis reveals that most vendors in the financial industry are mass market vendors. These vendors work with hundreds, if not thousands, of advisors to be profitable. However, the mass market model is not conducive to customized solutions. To maximize ROI in any marketing campaign, advisors need someone who can come alongside them and pay attention to the campaign, providing feedback and making adjustments as needed.

For example, consider a direct mail campaign. Instead of sending the same 10,000 invitations every month, advisors should work with a mail house that can review the mailer with them, write custom copy, work on graphics, and send multiple variations of the mailer with every campaign. Sending 10 variations of a mailer to 1,000 people each is far more likely to yield a clear winner than sending 10,000 identical mailers.

While it’s not fair to vilify mass market vendors for their business model, advisors need to ensure they receive the customized solutions they require to maximize ROI. Advisors can either drive their vendors to deliver extra services or work with someone who can do it on their behalf, such as a fractional CMO.

This principle applies to all marketing efforts, whether it’s running a radio show or hosting a seminar. To improve the effectiveness of these campaigns, advisors should listen to and analyze the results, getting feedback on how to improve and making the necessary changes.

In conclusion, mass market vendors are not equipped to provide the customized solutions financial advisors need to maximize ROI in their marketing efforts. To see better results, advisors need to work with vendors who can provide customized solutions or work with someone who can do it on their behalf. By making these adjustments, advisors can increase the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns and achieve the ROI they’re looking for.