Ask a financial advisor if marketing matters, and the answer is almost always, yes.
Ask them what’s actually working, and the answer usually gets vague.
That disconnect isn’t because advisors or their marketing managers don’t care about results... it’s because traditional advisor marketing makes results hard to see.
Most firms are juggling 1-1 emails, social posts, events, and follow-ups across disconnected tools, often executed manually. When consistency breaks down and data lives in silos, measuring real ROI becomes nearly impossible.
Marketing ROI in an advisory firm goes far beyond surface-level metrics like clicks or likes.
For advisors, ROI isn’t just about clicks or impressions—it shows up as stronger client engagement and measurable growth in pipeline and client AUM, making it critical to establish this connection early as you evaluate what’s truly driving results. Over time, it also includes brand trust, the kind that keeps clients loyal and confident through market cycles.
The challenge isn’t defining ROI. It’s tracking it in a way that connects marketing activity to business outcomes.
For financial advisors, ROI includes:
ROI in an advisory firm certainly includes signals like stronger client engagement, improved retention, and more efficient prospect-to-client journeys. But at the end of the day, what advisors really want to know is simple: is my marketing investment driving measurable growth?
To answer that question, we built the AUM Pipeline Dashboard to close the ROI visibility gap. Instead of surface-level metrics, the dashboard shows the value of your pipeline in predicted AUM, where prospects are pooling across stages to highlight the biggest opportunities for movement, and how client AUM is growing over time.
This gives advisors a clear view of what’s working, what isn’t, and where to focus their time, messaging, or niche to drive real revenue impact.
Modern advisor marketing can’t be measured by a single metric. Performance needs to be viewed in layers—starting with early engagement signals and ultimately tying back to real business outcomes.
Top-of-funnel indicators like opens, clicks, and engagement show whether your message is resonating. Mid-funnel behaviors reveal intent as prospects continue to interact with your content and brand. But the most valuable insight comes at the bottom of the funnel: how marketing activity translates into real opportunities and asset growth.
In other words, ROI isn’t just about attention—it’s about momentum through the pipeline.
Metrics to Review Across the Funnel:
Viewed in isolation, these metrics tell an incomplete story. Without a centralized system, advisors may feel progress but can’t clearly connect activity to outcomes. When metrics are unified, advisors can see where prospects are pooling, which efforts are driving movement through the pipeline, and where future AUM growth is most likely to come from.
That clarity is what enables smarter decisions doubling down on what works and reallocating budget away from what doesn’t.
“I can see where people connected with me. Whether it was a webinar, an event, or content and then tailor communication from there. Providing personalization to my clients is key. I want to be a resource for them and it allows me to build brand credibility and trust.”
Antonio (Tony) Lugo, CFP®, MBA Case Study
Marketing automation changes the equation by turning disconnected activity into a measurable feedback loop.
When marketing is automated:
This is why automation sits at the core of modern advisor marketing strategies. It creates the connective tissue between marketing activity and business outcomes, making pipeline value and asset growth visible, not assumed.
This is why marketing automation sits at the core of modern advisor marketing strategies. (If you’re new to automation, check out our blog on why advisors need marketing automation in 2026.)
Advisors don’t need perfect attribution models. They need directional clarity.
Automation provides that clarity by standardizing execution, capturing data consistently, and reducing marketing blind spots.