The first half of 2026 is behind you. If your marketing kept pace, great. If it didn’t, that’s okay too – there’s still enough runway to finish the year with real momentum.
Samantha Russell and Susan Theder recently hosted an advisor workshop with one question at the center: if you only had time to do two marketing things per month, what should they be? We mapped out the answer for every month from July through December. Below is the full breakdown, with the specific actions, the reasoning behind each one, and what to do if you’re starting from scratch.
July – Host an Event Worth Talking About
Plan Something People Actually Want to Attend
Events work because they do something no email or social post can do: they put you in the room with clients, prospects, and the people those clients know. The advisors seeing the best results from events right now are making them memorable enough to generate word-of-mouth.
A private box at a minor league game. A monthly summer hike. A dog park meetup with branded dog treats. These aren’t gimmicks – they’re conversation starters. When a client brings a neighbor to your event and that neighbor tells their spouse, your marketing did something a newsletter never will.
If in-person feels like too much right now, a webinar on a timely topic works just as well. With Trump accounts going live in July, there’s a ready-made subject that clients have questions about and prospects are searching for. Write your invitation around the specific problem attendees will walk away having solved, not just the event topic.
Repurpose Every Event You Host
One event should fuel multiple channels. Photos from a client appreciation night become social posts. A webinar becomes short video clips, email content, and a blog post that continues driving traffic long after the event ends. Advisors should for repurposing across their marketing before the event happens, not after.
August – Optimize Your Website for Two Different Audiences
Speak to Your Ideal Client Profile, Not a Generic Audience
Most advisor websites describe who they serve. The ones getting found – by both people and AI – describe the problems they solve. That’s a meaningful difference.
Your ideal client profile isn’t a demographic bucket like “retirees” or “business owners.” It’s the triggering moment that brought your best clients to you: a liquidity event, a business sale, a parent who needed care, a child starting college. When your website speaks directly to those moments, the right person reads it and thinks, “This advisor gets my situation.”
Start with two to three of those trigger points. Build your homepage messaging around them. That specificity gets you found.
Build Your Website for Humans and AI Search
There are two audiences landing on your website: the person evaluating whether you’re the right fit, and the AI deciding whether to recommend you.
For AI, structured content wins. FAQ sections with schema markup signal that your site answers real questions clearly. A dedicated media page that lists podcast appearances, YouTube features, and conference talks gives AI something to connect back to your firm. Without it, those mentions may not register as yours at all.
AEO and SEO tools are built directly into the FMG website platform so this kind of optimization happens without requiring a developer. If your current website isn’t set up for answer engine optimization, now is the time to address it.
September – Build Your Social Proof
Start with Case Studies While You Wait on Compliance
Fewer than 10% of financial advisors have any public written reviews or testimonials (Wealthtender). That’s not just a missed advisor marketing opportunity – it’s a visibility problem. Research shows that AI tools weight testimonials heavily when deciding who to recommend. Firms with none rarely get surfaced, no matter how strong the rest of their website is.
If you’re still waiting on compliance approval to collect testimonials, start with client success stories and case studies on your website. They don’t need to name a specific client. Write about the types of situations you handle well (complex estate plans, business exits, sudden inheritance, etc.) and show your expertise through those examples.
Use a Compliant Tool to Collect and Display Reviews
When you’re cleared to collect testimonials, the process doesn’t have to be complicated. FMG’s Testimonials tool sends a client survey, routes responses through a compliance workflow, and lets you publish approved reviews directly to your website with a single click.
You don’t have to have an FMG website for it to work – it functions as an embeddable widget that works on any site. And if you want to push reviews to Google, there’s an optional step that lets clients do that themselves after they submit. The tool was built in direct collaboration with the SEC, which means the compliance trail is built in from the start.
October – Tighten Your Client Communication System
Build a Welcome Sequence for New Clients
Most advisors underestimate how much new clients want to hear from them early in the relationship. A six-email welcome sequence, spread out over the first several months, sets the tone and keeps clients from wondering what comes next.
One of the most effective emails in the sequence is the simplest one: a message that says you were thinking about them, with no agenda attached. That single touchpoint consistently generates more responses and goodwill than any market update. FMG’s content marketing tool includes a pre-built welcome sequence advisors can customize, then automate so it runs on its own once a client is added.
Segment Your List and Send Content That Feels Targeted
If you’ve built out an ideal client profile, put it to work here. Group your clients by the situations that brought them to you, then send content relevant to that group only. An email about business succession planning sent to your exit-planning clients hits differently than the same email sent to your entire list.
That kind of segmentation takes minutes to set up in a CRM with groups. The payoff is clients who feel like you understand their specific situation – because they do.
November – Show Clients You’re Thinking of Them
Send One Personalized Check-In Per Client
A personalized check-in – a short email or text that simply asks how things are going, with no agenda – does more for client retention than almost anything else on this list. It opens a door. Clients who feel comfortable reaching out are clients who stay.
The practical version: automate a short, personal-feeling message to go out once a year per client. FMG’s texting tool MyRepChat supports compliant texting at scale, so you can send a message that reads like a one-on-one note even when you’re sending it to a segment.
Host a November Appreciation Event
November works for client events for a simple reason: it’s before the holiday chaos. A wrapping day, a cookie decorating event, a wine tasting, a pie drop-off – the format matters less than the intention behind it. The goal is to get in front of clients in a context that isn’t about their portfolio.
If you set a goal for yourself to reach every client at least once a year with something personal, a November event is one of the most efficient ways to cover a lot of ground.
December – Position Yourself as the Advisor Who Sees the Full Picture
Publish a Year-End or Year-Ahead Piece
A year-in-review or forward-looking piece gives you a reason to communicate at year-end without sending another generic holiday card. It can be an email, a blog post, a short video, or all three. The format that performs best is the one you’ll actually produce.
Plan for it in November so it’s ready to go in December. The advisors using this marketing activity well make the piece specific – referencing real events, real themes, real changes from the year – rather than a list of financial planning reminders.
Host a Family Meeting
Fidelity research found that households where the next generation is engaged generate 160% of the revenue and 270% of the profits of households without family engagement. That’s a significant gap, and most advisors aren’t closing it.
The family meeting is straightforward: invite your clients to bring family members to a conversation about the estate plan, the financial picture, and what the future looks like.
You meet the next generation. Your clients feel taken care of. The relationship deepens.
The Two Things Most Advisors Skip in Their Marketing Plan (and Shouldn’t)
Looking across all six months, two themes show up repeatedly: consistency and repurposing. Most advisors do marketing in bursts – a push before a slow quarter, a social post when something newsworthy happens – and then go quiet. The advisors who grow steadily are showing up every month, even in small ways.
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BOOK A CONSULTFrequently Asked Questions
How many marketing activities should I be doing each month as a financial advisor?
Two high-impact actions per month is a realistic and effective target for most advisors. Trying to do too much leads to inconsistency. Focus on the two moves that match where you are right now – events, website, testimonials, client communication – and do them well.
What kind of events work best for financial advisors?
Events with a unique hook outperform standard client dinners because they give clients something worth talking about. Dog park meetups, private sports boxes, seasonal hikes, and themed appreciation events all generate conversation and referrals. Webinars on timely financial topics work just as well if in-person isn’t feasible.
How do I get my financial advisor website to show up in AI search results?
AI tools prioritize websites with structured, question-and-answer content (FAQ sections with schema markup), clear descriptions of the problems you solve for clients, and consolidated media mentions. A dedicated page listing your podcast appearances, videos, and speaking engagements helps AI connect those mentions back to your firm.
Is the marketing payoff from financial advisor testimonials worth the compliance hassle?
Yes. Research shows that AI tools weight public reviews and testimonials heavily when deciding who to recommend. Firms with none are rarely surfaced by AI, regardless of how strong their website is. Tools like FMG Testimonials handle the compliance workflow so collection and display are manageable even under broker-dealer oversight.
How often should financial advisors email their clients?
Research consistently shows that most clients want to hear from their advisor far more often than advisors actually reach out. FMG has found that emailing clients and prospects at least twice a month works best. Emails don’t need to be long or complex – relevant, personalized content about topics connected to your clients’ actual situations goes much further than a generic market summary.
