The Afternoon Advisor

The 2026 Kitces Marketing Survey just dropped, and we read all 123 pages so you don't have to. In this episode, Nate reads Nick some of the wildest stats from the study — live, unfiltered reactions included.

We cover:

Why advisors rate their own marketing a 4.5/10 (and why that hasn't changed)

The average advisor uses 4-5 marketing tactics — is that too many, or not enough?

Marketing costs firms just 7% of revenue... which is way too low
98% of advisor social media use is on LinkedIn, but it has one of the lowest success rates

Video has the highest success rate of any content tactic (59% landed a client vs. 26% for newsletters)

Practice size doesn't matter — small, authentic firms beat big "corporate" ones

Long-form vs. short-form video: a near-negligible performance gap
The number that broke us: video's client acquisition cost is $37,170 — compared to $830 for referrals

Revenue Acquisition Cost (RAC): high-growth firms spend $1.36 to earn $1 in revenue from video; everyone else spends $5.47

Social media is the worst-performing tactic in the entire study — 82% of advisors got zero clients from it in 12 months

TikTok has the highest success rate of any platform (67%), and less than 3% of advisors are even on it

If you're an advisor trying to figure out where your marketing dollars and time actually belong, this one's worth the full watch.

🎙️ Hosted by Nate Hoskin, CFP® and Nick Meyer, creators of Sage — the video marketing platform built for financial advisors.

👉 Subscribe for weekly breakdowns on growth, marketing, and building an advisory firm that scales.

Most financial advisors think the YouTube title is what gets the click. It's not — it's the thumbnail. In this episode, Nate Hoskin and Nick Meyer break down exactly how titles, thumbnails, and hooks work together, and rewrite four real submitted titles live to show what separates a good one from a forgettable one.

In this episode, you'll learn:

✅ Why the thumbnail (not the title) opens the curiosity gap — and what the title's real job is

✅ The BVP vs. MVP framework — why your "big video promise" might actually just be a micro-promise

✅ The "DIY trap": why explainer content attracts lurkers instead of future clients

✅ How to reframe technical topics (like long-term care planning) around emotion and stakes, not jargon

✅ Why "inflammatory, not incendiary" is the right way to take a stance in your titles

✅ How to build an "authority line" that actually earns trust — with real examples

✅ The descending hierarchy of what actually matters: video idea to title to thumbnail to hook to body to CTA

Whether you're planning your next video or trying to figure out why your last ten didn't get traction, this episode gives you a practical, repeatable framework for titles and hooks that actually convert viewers into clients.

🔗 Learn more about Sage: https://app.sagecontent.ai/signup/

#YouTubeForAdvisors #FinancialAdvisorMarketing #ContentMarketing #VideoMarketing #AdvisorGrowth

There are really only three content formats working on YouTube right now for financial advisors — and once you see them, you'll notice them everywhere. In this episode, Nate Hoskin and Nick break down all three, with real examples pulled straight from the Sage Trends tab.

In this episode, you'll learn

✅ "Financial voyeurism" — why people can't stop watching strangers talk about money (and why Dave Ramsey, Caleb Hammer, and Ramit Sethi have built empires on it)

✅ The inspirational/aspirational/educational framework for picking content that converts

✅ How Ben Brandt got 77,000 views in 6 days with a talking head video — and the exact hook formula he used

✅ Why "talking head" is the easiest format to start with, and how to avoid looking like every other advisor on YouTube

✅ The two-person talk show format, and how it builds a loyal, repeat audience over time

✅ Why views and subscribers are vanity metrics past a certain point — and what actually matters for lead generation

✅ Which format fits your personality, your team, and your compliance constraints

Whether you're just starting your YouTube channel or trying to figure out why your videos aren't getting traction, this episode gives you a practical framework for choosing (and executing) the right content format for your practice.

🔗 Learn more about Sage: https://app.sagecontent.ai/signup/

Every advisor says the same thing. Here's how to stop.

Emily Armstrong is the founder of Wonder Lab Strategy and one of the sharpest brand strategists in financial services. She's spent seven years watching advisors try to differentiate themselves — and failing — because they're starting with the wrong question. In this episode, she walks through her full identity architecture framework and explains why the advisors who win are the ones who start at the one-yard line, not the 50.

You'll learn:

- Why "great relationships" and "holistic planning" are killing your marketing — and what actually differentiates
- The start-with-who framework: how to find your niche at the intersection of passion, expertise, and relational credibility
- How to write a pain portrait that stops the scroll in milliseconds
- Why your mission statement should be the last thing you write, not the first
- The three types of content engagement — and how leading with pain unlocks all three
- Real examples of advisors who transformed their copy from forgettable to magnetic

_ _
🔗 Listen to Beyond Referrals with Emily Armstrong → https://www.wonderlabstrategy.com/podcast
🔗 Learn more about Wonder Lab Strategy → wonderlabstrategy.com
🔗 Connect with Emily → https://www.wonderlabstrategy.com/

This advisor is spending $650,000 a month on paid ads. He knows exactly what he'll make back.

Aaron Cirksena is the CEO and founder of MDRN Capital — one of the fastest-growing fully virtual RIAs in the country. His entire strategy is built around doing the opposite of what the industry tells you to do: extending the sales process instead of shortening it, offering a performance pledge no other firm will touch, and going fully virtual when everyone else was opening offices. In this episode, he pulls back the curtain on the data, the hiring, and the mindset behind it all.

You'll learn:

• The KPI framework that makes spending $650K/month on ads not just possible — but profitable
• Why Aaron extended his prospect meeting process to four meetings instead of cutting it down
• The performance pledge — what it is, how it passed compliance, and why it closes deals
• How Google reviews, client testimonial videos, and PR work together to lower your cost per booked meeting
• Why going fully virtual was the unlock for national scale — and why multi-location expansion can't compete
• The hiring philosophy that changed everything: buy your time back or don't make the hire

_ _

🔗 Learn more about MDRN Capital → https://mdrncapital.com/

🔗 Connect with Aaron → https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-cirksena/

What does it look like to grow an RIA from $600M to $1B without losing what made it work in the first place?

Sahil Gupta handles organic growth and marketing for Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a 14-person RIA serving tech employees - built over 10 years by two UC Berkeley founders who started by cold-calling Apple and Facebook employees about their RSUs. In this episode, recorded live at Future Proof in Miami, Sahil breaks down how they're layering content and digital marketing on top of a referral-driven firm, why radical honesty about who you serve is becoming the most powerful marketing tool, and how the best firms are approaching the shift from SEO to AEO.

What You'll Learn

- How to introduce new marketing to a firm that's already working — the mindset shift that lets traditional firms stay nimble without abandoning what got them here
- The 70/30/5 rule for trying new things — why most tactics won't work, and why that's completely fine
- Why radical honesty is the new competitive advantage — being blunt about who you're for (and who you're not) as a marketing strategy
- The perfect solution vs. the perfect answer — how AI is raising the bar for how specifically advisors need to speak to their ideal client
- Why video should be anti-AI — and how raw, authentic content builds the trust that polished production can't
- The formula most advisors have backwards — why SEO and AEO are the result of doing everything else right, not a strategy on their own
- The Exxon employee playbook — how one advisor built an entire referral network by creating hyper-specific content for a single employer's workforce
- Why prospects who watch two to three videos before booking are already 50-60% sold — and what that means for how you think about content

Guest
Sahil Gupta - Growth and marketing lead at Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors, a $600M RIA specializing in financial planning for tech employees. Based in California, serving clients nationwide.

🔗 Learn more about Twin Peaks → https://twinpwa.com/
🔗 Connect with Sahil → https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahilgupta20/

Most financial advisors are looking for a silver bullet. There isn't one... but there are a lot of golden BBs.

Mike Barrasso grew his family's RIA from $150M to $400M from the business development seat. Now as co-founder and CEO of WealthReach, he's building the systems that make that kind of growth repeatable for any firm. Recorded live at Future Proof in Miami, this episode covers the three problems holding most advisory firms back, why your website is your most overlooked growth asset, and what the full organic growth funnel looks like when it's actually built end to end.

You'll learn:

- The three glaring problems killing most firms' growth — and why the silver bullet mindset is the biggest one
- Why your website is a billboard when it should be a growth engine — and how to fix it
- How to show up in both traditional search and AI-driven discovery (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude)
- When to hire a human vs. deploy a system — Mike's framework for building a firm from zero
- Why advisors shouldn't be vibe coding — and what they should be doing instead
- Where agentic AI is headed for advisor growth in the next few months

_ _
🔗 Learn more about WealthReach → wealthreach.ai
🔗 Connect with Mike → https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbarrasso/

Guest

Mike Barrasso — Co-founder and CEO of WealthReach. Previously grew his family's RIA from $150M to $400M from the business development seat. Background in software sales, where he managed growth teams before bringing that same system-building approach to the financial advisory industry.

98% of your clients are willing to refer you. So why is your organic growth rate sitting at 1-3%?

Dan Allison has spent 22 years studying the behavioral psychology of referrals - and he's coached financial advisors at Vanguard, Dimensional Funds, and some of the largest wealth firms in the world. In this episode, he breaks down exactly why the referral gap exists, the five characteristics every client advocate needs, and the simple framework that turns your existing book of business into a referral engine - without a single awkward sales conversation.

You'll learn:

Why 81% of clients are referring the wrong way... and the one conversation that fixes it immediately

The five characteristics every client needs to become an effective advocate (and why missing even one kills the referral)

Why telling clients you're "crazy busy" is quietly destroying your referral rate
The 80% knowledge gap - why clients can only name a fraction of your services and what that costs you

Why your newest clients are your most powerful referral source... and why most advisors wait years too long

How referrals and content marketing work together to create a flywheel that runs itself

--
Connect with Dan! -- https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-allison-ogrev/

#personalfinance #financialadvisor #RIA #organicgrowth #financialmarketing

Most financial advisors didn't sign up to be marketers. But the ones who reframe why they're growing... those are the ones who can't be stopped.

David DeCelle has helped over 200 multi-billion-dollar RIAs grow organically. In this episode, he shares the step-by-step system he'd use to build an RIA from zero, why the referral gap in most books of business is bigger than advisors think, and the mindset shift that doesn't just grow your firm — it improves your marriage, your health, and the rest of your life.

You'll learn:

The "feedback marketing" methodology that unlocks referrals you're already owed — before you spend a dollar on ads

How to build an RIA from zero: content, a bifurcated sales and service team, and off-site intent data

Why your website needs an SEO and AEO strategy — and what most firms are getting wrong

The tech audit cadence that keeps you from playing business instead of building it

How David went from anti-AI to 50-60 client meetings a week — tripling his capacity in two years

_ _
🔗 Learn more about WealthReach → https://www.wealthreach.ai/
🔗 Learn more about Model FA → https://www.modelfa.com/
🔗 Connect with David Decelle→ https://www.linkedin.com/in/daviddecelle/

Jump just raised $80 million. Not because they built a better note taker — but because they're sitting on one of the most valuable data sets in wealth management.

Liam Hanlon is the Head of Insights at Jump, where a team of PhDs and behavioral scientists from UPenn and UC Berkeley are analyzing hundreds of thousands of advisor-client conversations to figure out what actually drives success. In this episode, Liam shares what that data is revealing — about how advisors win and lose clients, why the best advisors make the worst coaches, and what the advisory profession is really going to look like in ten years.

What You'll Learn

• What $80 million is actually for — Jump's mission is shifting from saving time to optimizing the time they've already saved. Here's what that looks like in practice.
• The conversion rate opportunity most firms are ignoring — Moving your prospect-to-client close rate from 30% to 40% is just as powerful as generating five to ten more leads per month.
• What advisors are really doing with their saved time — 90% say they're using it for organic growth. Here's the breakdown.
• The coaching misconception that's holding firms back — The best advisors think they know why they're good. The data says they're usually wrong — and it's costing their trainees.
• Three things that increased prospect conversion by 15% — A real enterprise case study from a top-20 RIA with eight outbound sales reps and a thousand calls analyzed.
• What "idiolect" means and why it matters for AI personalization — The unique linguistic fingerprint every advisor leaves on language, and why most AI tools are failing to capture it.
• How conversational data predicts client behavior — From medical diagnoses to macroeconomic events, here's how firms are using meeting signals to get ahead of client uncertainty.
• The Altruist moment and what it revealed — When those four broker-dealer stocks dropped 6% in a day, what did it actually tell us about the future of advice?
• The Vanguard Advisor Alpha study — The one thing advisors do that actually generates alpha. Spoiler: it's not the financial plan.
• Why financial coaches are the industry's new talent pipeline — And what it means for the CFP curriculum if behavioral coaching becomes the primary skill.

Guest

Liam Hanlon — Head of Insights at Jump, which recently raised $80 million and serves 28,000 advisors. Liam leads Jump's research practice, working with PhDs and behavioral scientists to turn advisor-client conversations into actionable intelligence for firms ranging from independent RIAs to some of the largest financial institutions in the country.

Resources Mentioned

🔗 Learn more about Jump → https://jump.ai/

🔗 Connect with Liam → https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-hanlon-52aa60119/

Every advisor knows their clients love them. So why are so few using testimonials in their marketing?

Andrew Johnson is the founder of Testimonial iQ — now FMG Testimonials, following a recent acquisition by FMG — and one of the sharpest minds in advisor marketing and compliance. In this episode, Andrew breaks down the state of testimonials three years after the SEC marketing rule changed everything, why the biggest firms are finally all-in, and what advisors need to understand about AEO before their competitors do.

What You'll Learn

• Where testimonials actually stand — FINRA, the SEC, and the states that are still catching up
• Why most advisors still aren't collecting reviews — and why the hesitation has shifted from compliance to something more personal
• The rules around collecting testimonials — what you can and can't do, and why the paper trail matters more than you think
• How testimonials feed AEO — and why LLMs are quietly becoming the most important research tool your prospects use
• What "durable growth" actually looks like — the strategy the fastest-growing RIAs are building right now
• The Amazon analogy that explains everything — why reviews have become the default heuristic for high-stakes decisions
• Trust badges are back — why CFP® designations and awards are suddenly more valuable in an AI-driven search world
• What's next for FMG Testimonials — Andrew's vision for getting client feedback into every corner of the advisor marketing ecosystem

Guest

Andrew Johnson — Founder of Testimonial IQ, now Director of Product at FMG as FMG Testimonials. Previously founded Dataline, a lead gen platform for financial advisors. He's worked with some of the largest and fastest-growing RIAs in the country.

Resources Mentioned

Connect with Andrew: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-b-johnson/

Check out FMG Testimonials: https://fmgsuite.com/features/testimonials/

What does it actually take to grow your advisory firm with short-form video? We went straight to the source.

Nick Meyer is the most followed CFP® professional on social media — 1.8 million followers, over 330 million video views — and the co-founder of Sage Content. He's worked with Fidelity, Discover, Ally Bank, TurboTax, and the Golden State Warriors. In this episode, Nate puts Nick in the hot seat with 15 questions every advisor wants answered about video marketing.

What You'll Learn

• How to get started — You don't need fancy gear. Here's the simplest possible first step.
• Which platform to prioritize — TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, X... and why the answer might surprise you.
• How often to post — The minimum cadence to actually build momentum without burning out.
• Ideal video length — The 30-to-90-second rule, and when you can (and can't) break it.
• Edutainment vs. talking head — Which style converts clients, and which one just gets views.
• Production quality on a budget — The three elements that matter most, and the gear recommendations that won't break the bank.
• How to repurpose content — One video, every platform. Here's what to change (and what not to).
• Why clipping podcasts usually backfires — And what to do instead for short-form content.
• Measuring ROI — How to think about returns on content over months and years, not days.
• Paid ads done right — Why boosting posts quietly kills your organic reach, and the strategy that delivered a 26X return on ad spend.

_ _

🔗 Learn more about Sage Content → https://sagecontent.ai/home

Is compliance a "boogeyman" keeping you up at night as a financial advisor, or is it the secret to your firm’s reputation?

In this episode of The Afternoon Advisor, Nate Hoskin sits down with Chad Gordon, founder of Sharp Archive and an RIA owner who is obsessed with driving "time spent on compliance" down to zero. They dive into the high-stakes world of SEC fines, the rise of AI-powered litigation, and why the future of financial advice is a 100% "collapse" into human relationships.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The $2.6 Billion Crackdown: Why the SEC is targeting "off-platform" communications and what it means for your WhatsApp and Signal threads.
• The "Ambulance Chasing" AI: How opposing counsel is using LLMs to scan years of firm data in seconds—and how to stay bulletproof.
• The 100% AI Vision: Borrowing from an Elon Musk analogy, Chad explains why the difference between 99% and 100% automation is exponential.
• The Death of Stodgy Software: Why compliance tools shouldn't look like they were built in 1998, and how modern tech enables growth on TikTok and Instagram.
• The Relationship Collapse: Why your ultimate job isn't spreadsheets—it's being the "human in the room" while AI handles the rest.

Key Quote:

"The SEC isn't the enemy; they’re the lifeguard. It’s annoying when they whistle at you, but they’re the reason people trust you with their money in the first place." — Chad Gordon

Connect with Chad Gordon:

Website:https://sharparchive.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chad-gordon/

Episode Summary

Most advisors hear “email marketing” and think “blast a cold list.” Patrick Di Cesare argues that’s the fastest way to burn trust in a trust-based industry. In this episode, Nate and Patrick break down a permission-based email funnel that turns attention into booked calls - starting with a lead magnet, followed by a pre-built email sequence designed to build trust, handle objections, and create qualified appointments. You’ll also learn what to send, when to send it, how long your sequence should run, and how to use AI without sounding like every other advisor on earth.

Key Takeaways

• Cold email blasts to purchased lists usually fail because prospects don’t know (or trust) you.
• Great advisor email marketing is permission-based: lead magnet → welcome delivery email → automated nurture sequence.
• Email is “owned land” (unlike social platforms) and lets you control cadence and reach.
• A realistic benchmark: ~5 booked calls per 100 subscribers over ~90 days (varies by niche and offer).
• The 3 highest-performing email themes:

• Client success stories
• Pain points that keep your niche up at night
• Objection-crushers (especially “I can DIY this”)

• The “warm window”: the first 10–14 days after opt-in is when people are most likely to book.
• Long-tail wins: email sequences should run 3 months minimum, ideally 6–12+ months to catch life events.
• AI is best for ideation and extracting insights - not copy/pasting generic emails (yes, people can tell).
• Write like a human: aim for a 5th–7th grade reading level (Hemingway app recommended).

Notable Moments / Quotes (Paraphrased)

• “You’re asking someone to trust you with their life savings - cold blasts don’t build trust.”
• “Social is rented land; email is an asset you control.”
• “People don’t want to understand finance - they want to feel understood.”
• “If you wouldn’t do surgery on yourself after watching YouTube, why DIY your financial plan?”

Simple Funnel Breakdown (Discussed in the Episode)

• Lead Magnet (PDF/checklist/template)
• Email #1: deliver the asset + set expectations
• Email #2: crush a key objection
• Email #3: client success story
• Continue cycling success stories / pain points / objections daily for 10–14 days
• Move to 1–2 emails per week for 6–12+ months

Action Checklist to Start (Beginner-Friendly)

• Create a simple lead magnet your niche actually wants (e.g., “10 Tax Mistakes High Earners Make”).
• Add a landing page to capture name + email.
• Promote it in your videos/posts (link in bio, CTA, comment keyword tools).
• Build a 14-day sequence + longer nurture sequence.
• Keep writing clear and simple - avoid “financial techno-babble.”

Guest Mention / Free Resource

• Patrick’s free lead magnet: Email Checklist for Financial Advisors https://bfladvisormarketing.lovable.app/

Connect with the Guest

Patrick Di Cesare — Founder, BFL Advisor Marketing
https://www.linkedin.com/in/patrick-di-cesare-04666132/