How to Get New 401k Leads Into Your Pipeline
Want more 401k leads? Not sure the most effective methods or where to start?
One of the best places to begin, is by asking other 401k advisors who are having success in generating new 401k leads, what methods they’re using.
The Marketing Effectiveness Survey
Every few years I post a 401k Marketing Effectiveness Survey for 401k advisors to complete, then I compile and share the results. The last one was at the end of 2019 with the results being released in 2020. The results don’t seen to vary much from year to year for what makes the most effective methods list. It seems that there are some tried and true methods that most advisors have success with year after year, regardless of new technologies coming on board.
I have recently opened the 2022 Marketing Effectiveness Survey here if you’d be willing to participate, since the last two years have brought some new challenges for advisors that I’d love to learn more about.
The Most Effective Methods for Getting New 401k Leads
Looking at the most recent survey results, the survey asks, “Out of the following 26 different marketing or prospecting methods, which have you found to be the most effective?”
And the prospecting method that comes in number one, every time – without fail – is networking. Chamber of Commerce, your local human resource organization – whatever it is – networking is always number one.
47% of advisors surveyed cited networking as the most effective prospecting method.
This was followed by social meetings or luncheons at 38%.
Third was CPA relationships at 35%.
Then educational seminars or speaking engagements – that got a 32% of the vote.
Writing articles came in at 24%.
Wholesaler relationships – 24%. If you don’t regularly talk to wholesalers, you should add that as an item on your list.
Local advertisements at 21%.
And to round out the top eight, social media had a 21%.
Getting 401k Leads (Contact Information) Through Your Efforts
So just a couple of side notes about some of these marketing methods. When it comes to educational seminars or articles or social media or local advertisements, be sure that you have a way to collect your prospect’s contact information – most often by sending them to an opt-in form.
You could also tell them to email you their contact information (so you have it) and you can email them back the information (a free report, a summary of this live event, a checklist that goes over everything covered at this seminar, etc.) – although collecting an actual business card, or having them fill out their email and contact information online is a much better way to capture a new lead’s contact information.
Here are a few examples:
- You deliver an educational seminar or webinar. At the end you offer to send a free book, or summary of the event, or a sample report pertaining to the topic, etc. if folks want to give you their business card, or they can go on your website and complete a simple form where they could download it after submitting their contact information.
- Or you post an article on your website, and in the article you talk about the importance of having an Investment Policy Statement. In the article you also write that a sample IPS is available and you’d be happy to give that to them if they (email you their contact info or – even better – click a link that takes them to a page asking for their name and email, and when they hit submit it gives them the sample IPS on the thank you page – now you have a lead (who you know needs an IPS) and they have something of value that helps to position you in their eyes). (See this article for a great examples of this in action.)
- Or when using social media, be sure your profile “about me” information has information on how they can access something of value – free report, checklist, whitepaper, etc. with a link to an opt-in form (the page that they enter their contact information to get the item of value). (See my twitter profile’s header image for an example.)
- Or when creating an ad to put in the local business journal or Chamber newsletter, it should to have a call to action for the reader to go to a website to download your free value item (so you can collect their contact info as you give them value).
What 401k Lead Gen Method Should You Choose?
One of the survey questions reads, “Describe why you think the methods you selected were the most successful marketing methods?”
And the very first answer read, “Because I liked them.” – That is the best reason.
Because if you don’t have a marketing method that you find easy, enjoyable, and effortless, you’re not going to be passionate about it, and you’re not going to wake up and want to do it consistently. So you have to find something that you like.
Specific 401k Lead Generation Tactics
I also asked in this survey, “What specific tactics or strategies have you used that were successful?” Meat and potatoes. Details please 😉 .
Here are some of the answers, just to give you a few more ideas on how to get 401k leads on your list.
- Besides CPAs and attorneys, working with commercial officers in banks
- Placing an ad in a Masonic lodge newsletter (2 high quality leads)
- Chamber of Commerce event sponsorship (3 new plans in 6 months)
- Blog content
- Speaking at various events
- Leading seminars for plan sponsors with other consultants in the area (4 new plans from just 2 events)
- I started attending networking meetings
- Chamber morning events
- Being involved with the local business journal
- I hired Hero7 and used their plan governance index software to win new clients (7 plans – $130 million in new assets)
So, those are just some specific strategies or tactics that you might think about as you’re picking a prospecting method that you find easy, enjoyable, and effortless.
Your help is needed…
I’d love for you to participate in the 2022 401k Marketing Effectiveness Survey – I would be very grateful if you would do that. Here’s the link: https://www.401kbestpractices.com/survey. (And thank you in advance!)
In the next article, we’ll talk about what to do with the new contact information you have – how you start to build a prospect process to build a relationship with your new 401k lead and hopefully convert them from a prospect to a new client.
Listen to the Podcast episode of this topic here.
Or watch the video on YouTube here (coming soon).