Surveys show that only about 17% of Americans use financial advisors. With such a small portion of the population seeking help with their finances, you may be willing to take any client that walks through the door. While offering general services may seem like the best way to grow your clientele, this is usually not the case.
Most clients want to work with a financial advisor that is specialized and experienced in a specific field of expertise. For this reason, they often search for advisors who work with target markets or niches.
If you aren’t already catering to a target market, you should start soon. Although it may seem frightening to limit yourself to a niche, it will help you stand out from many advisors who offer services to a wide range of clients. You will likely experience higher growth and profits as a result.
Here are the seven top financial advisor target markets to give you an idea of how to specialize your financial advising services.
1. Companies or Employees in Specific Industries
If you decide to work with companies or employees in a particular sector, it is essential to choose one with a large presence in your area. One way to do so is by making a list of the largest employers nearby. It may be the healthcare industry, educational institutes, or even government offices.
Once you decide which industry to work with, you will need to familiarize yourself with their health care, benefits, and retirement plans. Find out if there is an employee newsletter and read it thoroughly. Doing so will help you better to understand the mindset and circumstances of your average client.
Then, make yourself known to the individuals in that sector. At the start, you could offer free counseling to people retiring in the next few years and then book appointments.
When you speak with potential customers, ask about their wants and needs. By taking an interest in them, you will be able to figure out how to better market to these individuals.
Of course, you should use this information to market to those in the field and follow through by providing useful and knowledgeable solutions. When you do so, you will find that your clients will tell others about the services specialized for employees in their field that you provide.
2. Couples With Double Income
Couples without children usually have significantly fewer expenses than families. That means they have more money to indulge in their hobbies. However, many couples realize that they are overspending and look for solutions.
Often, the best time for couples to save is before they have children, health problems with age, or other unexpected responsibilities.
Couples who want to have children should primarily focus on saving since it will be more challenging to save money later on. As a financial advisor, you can help these couples create savings for their children or retirement while still having the circumstances.
Likely, these couples will continue to use your services even after their circumstances change. Since most of these couples are young, that can mean recurring clients for years to come.
3. Families With Kids
Once couples have children, they quickly realize that they have less money to save. Ironically, it is probably one of the most crucial times for couples to start saving if they haven’t already. Raising a child can be expensive, with the current estimate being about $233,610, not including college tuition.
With good reason, new parents start thinking about childcare and health care costs, life insurance, emergency savings, and college tuition. It can be overwhelming for them to do this alone, so your job is to make this process easier so your clients can focus on their growing family.
It’s also a significant target market because your satisfied clients are bound to recommend you to family members, friends, or any other parents they meet.
4. Single, Professional Women
Let’s face it. Single, professional women have different interests and goals than those with families. Also, they usually face some significant disadvantages that single men don’t.
One such disadvantage is that women usually earn less than men. Meanwhile, they live longer. That means that, on average, single women have fewer funds to retire on than single men.
Additionally, girls in many cultures do not learn financial literacy as well as boys. They might need to educate themselves about finance and investments.
For these reasons, single women are more likely to seek help with their finances when presented with solutions to their specific challenges. By learning how to cater to these problems, you can help them to achieve their financial goals.
5. Small Business Owners
Running a business is demanding. Often, small business owners have limited time to spend on financial matters, and they neglect these issues as a result.
Small business owners’ lack of time is an opportunity for financial advisors. They can add a lot of value to the business by providing advice and intelligence on financial matters.
If you are willing to develop a comprehensive understanding of your clients’ businesses and their goals, you will benefit greatly. These clients often have to secure their businesses against loss or unfortunate circumstances, manage their assets, and plan their exit strategy and retirement. Generally, small business owners rely on financial advisors to set up and manage these plans.
6. Money in Motion
There are times when clients receive money in a windfall, such as selling a business or receiving an inheritance. Since they usually don’t have this amount of money to manage, they feel overwhelmed and unsure what to do with it.
Many times, individuals who come into a large sum of money react impulsively and spend it elaborately. As a financial advisor, it is your job to advise people on intelligently using this money. You can help them weigh their options, which may include buying a home, opening a business, or paying off loans.
Once you help these clients make smart decisions, they will likely keep coming back to you for advice and rely on your intelligence. That makes it an excellent market for obtaining a steady flow of long-term clients.
7. Other Life Transitions
There are plenty of other target market examples that you can focus on, such as those related to life transitions.
Divorce
One of these is divorce, a time when finances can get messy. Financial advisors can help couples in a divorce to resolve issues faster and come to an agreement. Also, financial advisors can help those who have gone through a divorce to create a new economic plan for their lives, for which they are not prepared.
New Job
When individuals change jobs, they may have some critical questions to ask, and it is your job to answer them. They may wish to know if they should take their old employer’s retirement plan with them, which benefit options to choose, and how their new job will impact their financial situation.
Retirement
Another life transition that may require a financial advisor is retirement. That’s because these individuals need help to figure out the best strategy for withdrawing money from their retirement accounts. You can help them to enjoy their money for a more extended time.
Death of Spouse
When an individual loses their spouse in death, they may not be able to make clear decisions independently. They need the advice only financial advisors can provide. When speaking with a widowed client, it is essential to focus on their new situation and help them make sound decisions.
All of these life transitions make for stressful moments in your clients’ lives. Even if they have never been through a similar situation, they will be put at ease knowing that you have the experience needed to guide their decisions.
Why Do Financial Advisors Need Target Markets?
If you still aren’t convinced, here are even more reasons that focusing on a target market will improve your chances of success.
Get More Clients
When you work in a niche, you can build a stronger connection with your clients. For example, if you only work with small business owners, your clients would much rather have your unique expertise over a generalist who works with everybody. This strategy will help you to convert more prospects into clients.
Get More Referrals
When you specialize, word of mouth recommendations will spread faster, and you’ll get more referrals. You will gain a reputation in the industry, and your clients won’t hesitate to recommend you to their friends and acquaintances.
Have Less Competition
Once you build a solid reputation and experience in your field, generalist financial advisors can’t compete. You will narrow your competition down to the limited few who work in your financial advisor niches. That will make it easier to keep a close eye on the competition and market accordingly.
Be More Efficient
Once you are familiar with your clients’ issues, you will be more prepared to offer them solutions. You’ll find that when you work within a target market, you will be able to anticipate your clients’ concerns and issues and efficiently offer them solutions. In contrast, generalist financial advisors would take a longer time to find these same solutions.
Get Help Choosing Your Target Markets
As you can see, many benefits come from working with a target market or niche. These can help you grow your business and offer better quality services to your clients.
Are you struggling to choose your niche from the best target markets? If so, we can help you decide and learn how to acquire more clients. Book your consultation now online!
