I recently enjoyed a webinar from Stan Mann, a top coach to financial advisors, who posed the same question I ask advisors in a new and inspiring way. “What one urgent problem do you solve for a specific niche?” The answer to that question is the heart of your marketing strategy. Have you taken the time to articulate your answer?

Having a one sentence explanation of the urgent and specific problem you solve for a unique set of clients is critical for your marketing for three reasons:

1. 1. First, we need your existing clients to be able to answer that question so they can introduce you to folks who need your help.
   2. Second, we need referrals to understand your answer so they believe that you’re uniquely suited to help them.
   3. Third, we need to communicate your answer to prospects through your marketing to attract your ideal clients.

Do You Have an Answer?

The problem is that very few advisors have taken the time to answer this important question. Have you? Maybe you aren’t comfortable limiting your scope. Of course you do more than solve one problem for a specific group of people. But for your marketing efforts, it pays to be specific.

In my case, I help specialist advisors target their ideal prospects with content marketing. Of course I do other things, like teach advisors how to use LinkedIn and run search engine optimization for their websites, but the core of my work is content marketing for advisors with a true specialty.

I find that most advisors either draw a blank or give way too much information when asked what they do and who they serve. What about you? Here are a few good examples from advisors I know:

• • We help LGBT executives retire on time.
  • I help anesthesiologists prepare their practices for a buyout and retire.
  • We help business owners remove assets from their business so they can find true wealth.

How to Create Your Answer

I find that it helps to picture your top clients mentioning your firm to their friends. What would you like them to say? How would you like them to position your expertise? Oftentimes, clients aren’t sure how to introduce you to people in their network who need your help. They may say, “We really trust him,” or “He’s helped us with our financial plan,” but that doesn’t convey your expertise or explain why you’re the best person to help the referral.

To make an impact, we need them to position you as the go-to expert in your unique niche. It’s important to train them with a simple statement that explains exactly what you do and how you help. Through your marketing, you should repeat this idea over and over until everyone you know understands and can communicate your unique specialty.

If you don’t have a clear, one sentence answer to the question “What one urgent problem do you solve for a specific niche?” take ten minutes today to come up with one! Use the below worksheet to brainstorm characteristics of your top clients to see what they have in common. At the bottom of the second page, answer the big question. If you’re comfortable, share your answer with me, I love to learn more about advisors like you!

This worksheet is part of The LinkedIn Course for Financial Advisors. To learn everything top advisors are doing to generate new business on LinkedIn, enroll in the course today here and save 20%. For more marketing tips each and every week, be sure you sign up for my newsletter!

About Claire

Claire Akin runs Indigo Marketing Agency a marketing firm serving top independent financial advisors. Claire is a former Investment Advisor Representative who holds her MBA in Marketing from the Rady School of Management at UC San Diego as well as a BA in Economics from UC Davis. It’s her goal to help specialist advisors target their ideal prospects with content marketing.