Seminars are a time-tested method for financial advisors to increase brand recognition in their communities and secure new clients. While the purpose of a seminar is to market your services, you actually have to market the seminar first to make sure that you have an audience to sell to! Direct mail postcard invitations are the most commonly used marketing tactic for seminars, and for good reason; campaigns can be targeted to reach the right demographics, mailers have plenty of room for descriptive and persuasive content, and recipients can hang onto their postcard until they decide they want to register. If you aren’t using direct mail, these financial seminar direct mail ideas should start you off on the right foot. If you already are, they will help you improve your campaigns and get better attendance at your next event:

Shoot for a high-end look and feel

You want your mailers to come off as high-end… classy, professional, and formal are all words that should describe your invitation. Use high-quality materials that feel luxurious and stand out when someone is flipping through their mail. Keep your design simple and avoid anything too flashy. Some financial advisors even use letters in envelopes instead of self-mailing postcards because they come off as more formal and important, but with the right design touches, a postcard can be just as proper.

Target and personalize

Maybe your services work best for a niche audience, or maybe you could be of service to just about anyone; either way, marketing doesn’t work if it feels like it was made for anyone and everyone. Target a specific audience and make sure the design and content of your mailer appeals to their sensibilities. You should also personalize if possible. VDP (variable data printing) allows you to include recipient’s name on the mailer for a personal touch. You can also segment your audience into groups and adjust your content to appeal to each group. For example, you can hold a seminar that appeals to all retirees but have one set of mailers that appeal specifically to women and another for men.

Highlight pain-points, sell benefits

Most financial seminar direct mail postcards utilize a bullet-point list to help readers scan and easily understand what the seminar will cover. Too often these bullet-points are boring, non-specific, and evoke no emotional response. Your bullet-points should highlight the pains of your target audience: if they are concerned about how new tax laws will affect their retirement, include a bullet like “Find out if new tax laws negatively or positively impact your retirement”. That speaks to a real issue that your audience is concerned about. You should also remember to sell the benefits of your seminar, not just the features. For example, rather than including “investing tips for retirees” go for something more emotional, like “How to invest for a comfortable and secure retirement”. That helps them picture what they’ll actually get out of it if they go to your seminar.

Try digital integration

Don’t get me wrong… mail-back response cards and 1-800 numbers are perfectly capable of getting responses. But, digital integration has been proven time and time again to increase conversions by making the registration process more convenient for your prospects. Along with your phone number or reply card, include a link to an online landing page that goes into more detail about the event and includes a registration form where people can easily sign up. When people have this option, you have a much greater chance at capturing them.

Test, measure, adjust

Financial seminar marketing and direct mail marketing both rely on time and consistency. You should run constant A/B testing to find out what works on mailers. Vigilantly track your results and adjust your mailing list, content, and design to better match what your results are telling you about your audience. DON’T GIVE UP. It’s not an overnight process. It takes time and repeat mailings for people to start to recognize your name and consider attending one of your events. But, if you stay consistent and optimize as you go, you’ll start seeing significant responses from your direct mail campaigns and significant returns from your seminars.

Thanks for reading, we hope this article was useful and informative. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter for more updates and marketing tips! If you ever have a marketing-related question or want a comprehensive analysis of your business’ marketing strategy, feel free to give us a call at 1-800-992-9663. You can also find more information about our services on our website. Get in touch with us and find out how we can help you grow your business.