The Importance of Integrated Marketing in the Brokerage (or Any) Business

Whether you’re a fan of the Kardashian family or not, you’ve gotta give one thing to them – they know how to market, and how to turn their name into a brand with a consistent integrated effect.

Not everyone knows how to do that intuitively, but there are actually many things you can do – some quite easy – to make your brokerage recognizable to your prospect base.

First, and foremost, make sure that everything you are doing that has to do with any form of firm communication has a SIMILAR LOOK AND FEEL. So let’s start with some basics and go from there.

1. FIRM LOGO – Do you have one? If not, you can create one yourself or have one custom made for under $100, if you’re not already working with an agency or graphic designer. Simply do a web search of “LOGO DESIGN” and from there, you can get underway. I’ve personally used Vistaprint’s logo design module for several firm logos I’ve created, and been quite pleased with the results, but you can also find a number of websites that have designers who create logos for you on bid, and you simply pay for the one you choose. If you already have a firm logo, but it was designed twenty years ago, you should consider doing a redesign to freshen it up and keep it current, as trends change.
2. USE THE LOGO – everywhere you can. Make sure that all your firm emails are sent with a signature that includes your name, title, logo, firm web address with link, phone, email, and any social media handles, again, with links. Also use the logo on all billing invoices, envelopes, websites, blogs, press submissions – anything and everything that customers or prospects see from you.
3. WEBSITE – In Ginger Szala’s piece from last summer “Two-minute primer on leveraging your brand”, she talks of the importance of having a website. If you don’t already have one, and have a small budget, go to GoDaddy (my personal favorite) or one of the other web companies that offers formatted pre-designed templates, and you can put up even a simple one page website in short order. More complicated sites do take more time, but you need to have a website to be taken seriously. If you’re industrious, you can create the site yourself (or have a tech savvy teen do it for you!), but if you aren’t or do not have a marketing team or consultant on retainer, you can of course always hire a designer – either from the website company you are serving through (such as GoDaddy) or a personal or professional contact. Ditto for blogs, or check out Guru.com – there’s lots of very qualified contractors available to help you out at a reasonable cost.
4. PHOTOS & BIOS – It never ceases to surprise me how many people post incredibly unprofessional photos on their LinkedIn profiles and elsewhere. One former trader I know posted a picture of himself with a machine gun on LinkedIn, another with a group of guys standing in a circle drinking beer in baseball caps, and one woman I know used a cropped head shot with an arm around her neck. Without a decent photo, any picture of yourself that you post could actually cost you business. So spend a few bucks and go get a professional photo taken of yourself and your team to use on your website, your LinkedIn profiles and anywhere you have team member bios listed. And speaking of bios, you need a 1-2 paragraph bio of yourself as well. If you’re a small shop, take the time to write it out and get it edited by a friend or spouse, or even better, have it professionally written.
5. LINKEDIN – There are a lot of ways you can promote your brand, but you absolutely have to be on LinkedIn at this point, or you will not be taken seriously. Take some time to post your background, include a professional photo and firm logo (see above), and you’ll be in good shape, and then start linking in with colleagues and prospects, and use this tool to gain new clients. You can also use LinkedIn to post articles you’ve written and published elsewhere, and you can post these to both your personal contacts and industry groups you’ve joined on the site, which again, are a great way to expand your industry visibility. Make sure that all your firm members have LINKEDIN profiles with a consistent look and feel, and a firm Linkedin profile as well.
6. TWITTER & FACEBOOK – If you are so inclined, both Twitter and Stocktwits are a great way to build your firm’s awareness and interact with other folks in the business, but they do require a commitment to post tweets consistently throughout the day. Social media requires immediacy, so if you take this step, do it right and post consistently, or have your marketing team manage it, or don’t do it at all. Likewise, Facebook is being used more frequently for B2B communications as well. Again, if you post, make sure that you are doing so in a way that is compliant with your other communications, and of course, do NOT post returns or the guarantee of returns anywhere.
7. PR & PRESS SUBMISSIONS – These are two different animals – separate but equal. PR Releases typically evolve around announcements of major firm events – new clients, new personnel, new affiliations, etc. Press submissions are industry-specific articles written by a firm member (or ghost writer) and submitted to press for publication. You may be interested to know that the editor of FUTURES Magazine – Dan Collins- receives over 500 emails each day, so simply writing an article and then emailing it to a magazine or website editor guarantees nothing. Make sure you are cultivating relationships with industry journalists if you want your submissions to be seen, considered, and then more importantly, published.
8. WHITE PAPERS, RESESARCH, SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS & WEBINARS/PODCASTS – Each of these items take your firm to the next level, but do require a different level of marketing expertise and time commitment. If you move forward with any programs of this nature, you will likely require outside professional marketing assistance, since marketing and brokerage are really two different skill sets. But consider each of these options if you are ready to move your firm forward in a more high profile way.
9. ADVERTISE – And finally, my personal favorite(!), advertise! I started in the media business 30 years ago, and my, how things have changed since then. I am proud to work with FUTURES magazine, which will be rebranded as MODERN TRADER beginning in June 2015, and we still believe strongly in the power of print media. We also publish several websites and daily newsletters. Advertising in an industry leader such as FUTURES is one important way to consistently get a CONTROLLED brand message out to the public, and CONTROLLING your messaging is important. Other channels include keyword search, sponsored facebook posts and tweets, etc, which FUTURES is now also offering as part of our advertising mix to clients.

In summary, the brokerage business is just like any other business – the more high visibility you are, the more potential customers will see you and be drawn to work with you.