Case Study: Targeted Messaging Results in Higher Sales Conversions: Independent Wealth Management Firm

Author: Michael Scorcia Category: Marketing Case Studies Date: November 16, 2018

Company Overview

An independent wealth management firm (Firm XYZ) located in northern New Jersey had enjoyed several years of steady, successful growth – mostly through referrals and word of mouth – before finally reaching a plateau in early 2017. Although the referrals did not stop completely, a large percentage of the inbound leads were the wrong fit for Firm XYZ and therefore were not converting into new business.

The Challenge

Firm XYZ hired Paradigm to support and improve their ongoing marketing efforts and ultimately drive business growth. They tasked us with:

• Re-establishing their brand
• Identifying their ideal target audience and adjusting their message strategy to ensure they are positioning themselves in such a way that will resonate with their audience
• Collaborating on and leading their marketing strategy to ultimately hit their goal of managing one billion dollars in assets over the next five years

Taking Action: Clarifying the Message

We began by speaking with the firm’s leadership team and key stakeholders to gain a solid understanding of their target audience. After identifying Firm XYZ’s top customers, we outlined their target audience DNA by demographic – geography, economic status, age, sex, family circumstances, profession, knowledge of finances, etc. – and did a deep dive into the financial and emotional blueprint of their clients at the time each one identified a need for their services.

We then spoke with the firm’s existing ideal clients and asked a series of clarifying behavior questions, such as:

• Why did they choose Firm XYZ?
• What were their pain points?
• What problems or issues drove them to seek a provider and/or leave their old one?
• What was their research process like in selecting a wealth management firm?

Through this process, we discovered that Firm XYZ’s messaging and point of entry were inconsistent with the needs of their ideal audience. In short, their messaging failed to communicate the appropriate solutions to their clients’ perceived pain – it was too sophisticated for their ideal audience – which meant they were attracting clients who, ultimately, were the wrong fit for the firm. To remedy this, we revised the firm’s messaging and then established a plan to communicate their thought leadership in a way their audience could understand.

Next, we:

• Implemented the new messaging across all platforms, including:
1. Marketing materials and collateral
2. Thought leadership pieces
3. Blogs
4. Outbound marketing strategies
• Created an authoritative social media presence for the firm
• Re-branded all of their client-facing materials to accurately represent the new messaging
• Helped the firm reestablish client-facing events that were likely to drive referrals

Results

Firm XYZ has seen a major improvement in its efficiency converting leads into sales over the past year. During that timeframe, almost all of the leads that have come in have been the “right fit” for the firm. Rather than chasing a large volume of the wrong types of clients, the team is now creating a greater impact on the advancement of the firm by spending their time converting better quality leads into well-fitting customers.

By applying the revised messaging strategy across multiple media channels, the firm has also started to experience increased traffic on its website, as well as greater social media engagement, because the right message is now reaching the right audience.