7 Rules for Building a Personal Brand as a Financial Advisor
(Without Feeling Like a Wannabe Influencer)
Most financial advisors already have a strong personal brand. Clients trust you. They refer you. They value your advice because they know you.
But online, that presence often disappears. Instead of showing up with clarity and personality, many advisors default to corporate language or canned content. There’s no world in which we can detach your best marketing asset (relationships and personal connection) from your strategy and expect to win.
The most effective marketing for financial advisors is personal. People need to feel like they know you before they ever schedule a call. These seven rules are the ones we use to guide our clients’ personal brands, and they will help you build that kind of presence with clarity and consistency.
Looking for a master class? We recently hosted Thomas Kopelman on how he’s used a personal brand on social media to reach $1M+ in revenue in his first 3 years. Check it out here.
1. Put Your Face and Name on Your Content
You are the brand. If people can’t see your face or hear your voice, you’re easy to forget.
Try this:
Get a couple good headshots for your profile and content. Look the part.
Find your comfort zone, but we’re big on video and photos to reinforce that you are, in fact, a real advisor and not a ChatGPT content outlet.
If you’re not big on making your own videos, you might love our virtual interview approach. Here’s an example from LinkedIn.
2. Your Bio Does Matter for Credibility: Don’t Be Shy
Your bio is the first credibility check. People skim it to decide if you’re worth following.
Checklist:
Who you help
What problems you solve
Proof you’ve done it
What they’ll get if they follow your content
Example: I help tech execs exit with fewer tax surprises and more clarity. Ex-Morgan Stanley. Sharing what my clients are learning and doing to improve their financial lives.
3. Filter Your Content Through Real Life Scenarios
Don’t post what you care about. Post what your audience is already thinking about.
Try this:
What questions came up in client meetings this week
What financial headlines are your clients asking about
What overlooked decisions are costing people money
4. Use Stories That Show Your Value in Action
Facts are forgettable. Stories stick. They create context and build trust. They’re also pivotal for making sure your ideal client sees themselves in your content, not just you as an advisor.
We like to coach our advisors with a basic template:
What problem was brought to you?
What questions did you ask to get clarity?
What was the decision your client made?
How does it reposition them to get what they want?
It’s simple, but we always want to be tracing the customer journey for our ideal client.
5. Don’t Post Just to Stay Active
A few things are true about marketing, though they seem contradictory. For the optimist, yes–consistency is better than perfection and time in market is better than timing the market. That said, if you want to kill your marketing, treat it as a calendar to fill and lose focus of value as the chief priority.
If you’re filling a content calendar with fluff, it shows. One meaningful post will always outperform five generic ones.
Ask this before posting:
Would someone save this for future reference
Would someone send this to a friend facing a similar situation
If not, don’t hit publish. Don’t wait for perfect content, but don’t put out fluff.
6. Stop Writing Like A Brochure
It’s uncanny how quickly great communicators switch to brochure language when you ask them to write marketing. Ditch the stiff language. You’re not primarily writing for compliance. You’re talking to real people.
If you don’t think you’re a “great writer” (most aren’t), use ChatGPT to help you loosen up on phrasing. Come equipped with a handful of good writers to reference their style. A personal favorite of mine: “Rewrite this in the style of Morgan Housel.” Tone is easy to figure out. Just don’t sound like a brochure.
7. Document What You’re Already Doing
Our clients know one key phrase we repeat like a broken record: brands that “do” beat brands that just “talk”. Plus, content burnout is real. You don’t need more ideas. You need to capture what’s already happening in your week.
Easy ways to start:
Record a 30 second video after a great client call
Share a behind-the-scenes photo with quick context
Post a quick reflection after a team or industry event
Your best content usually comes from your day-to-day work. Just hit record.
Final Thought
You don’t need a script or a fancy brand to market yourself well. You need clarity, consistency, and a voice your clients recognize. Your best relationships have always been personal. That doesn’t change online.
Personal brands are one of the most under-utilized assets in advisor marketing, and we’re seeing far more results from personal brands than company pages in advisor marketing.
If the idea of personal branding feels foreign, we’re building a model for advisors who have excellent reputations and have not capitalized on them in the digital world.
How we work with advisors:
Virtual Interviews: We upgrade your video, audio, and lighting. Then, we create a month of content from one 30 minute interview per month.
Lead Campaigns: Create high-value marketing assets and distribute them to build your warm prospect list.
Advertising Campaigns: Accelerate your brand awareness with targeted advertising campaigns.
