‘Relatable, memorable, and referable’: Using personality to attract clients

Speaking with ifa, Lisa Greensill, marketing adviser and co-creator of Brandover, explained how marketing, when done well, uses an advisers’ authentic personality to help them form deeper connections and reach their ideal clients.

Public understanding of what a financial adviser is and what they can do is an ongoing issue. Greensill explained that part of her job is helping advisers better articulate their value to the clients they want to work with.

“There’s a lot of misconception and misunderstanding around what financial planners do. A lot of people feel like it’s completely out of their reach and only for the very, very, very wealthy, which we all know is untrue,” she said.

“If I can help more advisers communicate what they do clearly, then they can help more people.”

Calling on almost 20 years of experience as a marketing adviser in the financial advice industry, Greensill explained that good marketing allows prospective clients to feel more connected to the adviser and humanise them so they seem more approachable.

“What I want to help advisers do is show up as their true selves and be more relatable so then they can make what they do seem more accessible to the people they want to help,” she said.

Greensill believes advisers are better able to reach their target clients if they can “tap into their personality” in their marketing and online presence, “tap into what sets them apart” and “own a clear place in the minds of the people they want to help”.

“What I do as a marketing adviser is really help them with the strategy and then I also have the ability, in partnership with a graphic designer, to help them get their brand and message foundation in place,” she said.

“My goal is to help them be relatable, memorable, and referable.”

She explained that marketing shares similarities with advising “in that there are lots of moving pieces, and it’s like a marathon in that you can’t get everything in one go”. As a marketing adviser, she said it’s her job to know “what we need to prioritise first” and steer her clients in the right direction.

While some may question the value of a marketing adviser, particularly with the rise of AI, she said: “I guess it’s like, for them, why people would pay them for advice. It’s getting an outside perspective.”

Her role is to be “someone that can help them identify where they’re actually wanting to go with their business and what marketing moves they need to make to get there”.

“It’s about working out where are the best places for them to invest their time and their dollars so they don’t just do random acts of marketing that get them no results,” Greensill said.