Many advisers marketing with a narrower focus

Several financial advisory firms around the country are using un-orthodox and innovative strategies to get their name on the map.

Many focus their branding through a certain niche, age group, religion or region.

When searching for marketing opportunities, advisers need to figure out if the audience to which they are marketing matches the types of clients around which they want to build their firm, said Peter Vessenes, chief executive at Vestment Advisors Inc., a Shorewood, Minn.-based consulting and training firm.

He said that firms should concoct a marketing strategy focused on targeting a type of client at a specific location.

For example, as part of an effort to attract young clients and plant a seed in their mind that planning goes hand in hand with tying the knot, Financial Symmetry Inc. decided to set up a booth at wedding shows in the region.

The 70-year-old Raleigh, N.C., advisory firm, which became fee-only last year, plans to invite potential clients to seminars that will cover budgeting, implementing a structured budget, investing in 401(k) plans, and the importance of paying off debt.

“We hope that the seminars generate more interest on the client side and generate a relationship down the road,” said Chad Smith, a certified financial planner at Symmetry, which manages $85 million. “This marketing approach is focused on the long term, even though it may be several years before a potential client approaches us in search of a financial plan.”

“It is a long-term vision but one that could prove fruitful with the right strategy in place,” Mr. Smith said.

Tired of commuting 65 miles from Marshalls Creek, Pa., to the Fairfield, N.J., office of the Boston-based New England Life Insurance Co., Erin Baehr decided to start her own firm from scratch.

The four-month-old firm in Shawnee-on-Delaware, Pa., Baehr Family Financial LLC, sponsors a message board on poconocommuter.com, a website that provides opportunities for marketing to residents of the area.

Ms. Baehr used her first post on the board to explain holistic financial planning to those in the community.

The message board, she said, attracted her first client; she now works with six.

Ms. Baehr is also writing a weekly column for a mailer publication and also writes for Pocono Women, a weekly newsletter.

She also plans to reach out and teach women in nearby churches about financial planning in accordance with Christian principles.

John Henry McDonald, founder and president of Austin (Texas) Asset Management Co., has built a marketing budget into his practice with a focus on improving its community relations.

Some of his efforts to raise the profile of the firm, which manages $385 million, have included taking positions on the boards of community associations, getting airtime on television and opening up his home to potential clients.

In the past few years, Mr. McDonald has joined the boards of the Austin Lyric Opera, The Texas Life Accident Health and Hospital Service Insurance Guaranty Association, and the Austin Classical Guitar Society, all based in that city.

He also appears on a regular three-minute spot every Monday on News 8 Austin television — part of what his firm’s website, austinassetmanagement.com, calls “an effort to attract young clients.” Appearing on the 24-hour news channel, the only station aired at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, means that Mr. McDonald gets a captive audience when the airport is experiencing delays.

“When the weather is bad, I get [viewed] often,” he said.When it comes to entertaining clients, Mr. McDonald opens up his spacious home for events and charitable organizations.

Now that he has turned over the everyday operation of the firm to W. Eric Hehman, who became chief executive last year, Mr. McDonald has time to take lawyers and certified public accountants out to lunch in an effort to recruit clients through referrals.

“I think it is marvelous that people are using these marketing strategies and take the time to establish a brand for their practice,” Mr. Vessenes said.

Aaron Siegel can be reached at [email protected].