I watched our marketing costs climb while lead volume dropped.
We were doing everything we'd always done. Email campaigns. SEO. Content marketing. But the math stopped working.
Then clients started telling me something strange.
They weren't finding us on Google anymore. They were finding us on ChatGPT. And when an AI platform recommended us, it felt more authoritative than scrolling through search results.
At the HubSpot conference, the data confirmed what I was seeing. Research showed that zero-click searches now dominate. People aren't clicking links. They're getting answers.
That's when I realized the traditional funnel wasn't just inefficient. It was obsolete.
Google gives you links. AI gives you solutions.
When you search on Google, you get a list of websites. You click, you evaluate, you compare. The burden is on you to find the answer.
When you ask ChatGPT or Perplexity a question, it gives you a recommendation. It's already done the evaluation. It's telling you what to do.
That shift changes everything about how prospects discover financial services firms.
The sales process still centers on trust. But trust gets earned differently today.
Research shows that buyers are 70% through their purchasing process before they ever talk to a salesperson. And 80% of the time, buyers initiate that first contact.
Most of the journey happens digitally. Most of the trust gets built before you know someone exists.
Firms that recognize this reality and leverage it will survive. The ones that don't will get lost in the noise.
You can't predict where someone will find you.
That's why you need to be everywhere your prospects might look.
You don't control the sequence. You can't force someone through awareness, then consideration, then decision in that order.
McKinsey found that financial services customers interact with brands across an average of channels. Not one or two. Six.
The more they see you, the more they hear from you digitally, the more trust compounds.
People confuse the Loop with the funnel. They're not the same thing.
The funnel describes the buyer's internal journey. It hasn't changed in hundreds of years.
You become aware of a problem. You consider your options. You make a decision.
That's true whether we're talking about 1950 or 2025. The psychology of buying doesn't change.
What changed is how that journey gets facilitated.
It used to be all in the power of the salesperson. They controlled information. They guided the process. They closed the deal.
Then it became part digital, part salesperson. Prospects did some research online, then engaged with sales.
Today it's mostly digital. But it still requires selling at the end.
Loop Marketing is the framework for how you message and reach your audience across that fragmented journey.
It's how you align your content with your buyer personas. How you show up on every channel they might use. How you quickly evolve what's working and kill what's not.
The Loop isn't describing the buyer journey. It's describing your execution framework.
Loop Marketing has four stages. Express. Tailor. Amplify. Evolve.
Express is about figuring out your core message. What problem do you solve? Who are your buyer personas? What makes you different?
You can't be everything to everyone. You need a clear point of view that aligns with who you serve.
Tailor means adapting that message for each audience and each channel.
The message you deliver to an allocator is different from what you tell a financial advisor. The format that works on LinkedIn is different from what works on YouTube.
You need to be on every channel where your buyer personas spend time. YouTube. Your website. Email. Reddit. LinkedIn. Podcasts. Wherever they are.
Amplify is where the real leverage happens.
This is about taking one piece of core content and repurposing it across every format and platform where your audience exists.
Your quarterly investment outlook becomes six blog articles. Those articles become 24 social posts. You record your portfolio manager delivering the insights on video. That video becomes clips for YouTube, LinkedIn, and your website.
One message. Multiple formats. Maximum reach.
Most firms create content once and post it once. Amplify means you extract every ounce of value from the thinking you've already done.
This is arguably the most important stage because it multiplies your presence without multiplying your effort.
Evolve is about analyzing every touchpoint and engagement.
You track what's working. You use lead scoring to identify your most engaged prospects. You spend your time and resources on the people who are actually interested.
And you do it fast. Things change more quickly today than they did five years ago.
I've launched LinkedIn campaigns that cost over $1,000 per lead while Google was bringing in leads at $85 each. We moved budget immediately.
That's doing more of what works and less of what doesn't.
Most financial services firms aren't ready for this.
They're nervous about retargeting because of compliance. They think following prospects around the internet feels aggressive.
I get it. This industry is conservative for good reasons.
But eventually they'll come around. They'll have to.
Their salespeople aren't getting in front of enough advisors. Their internal teams can't connect on the phone. Financial advisors can't follow up enough with prospects to get them back for a second meeting.
The firms that adopt this approach quickly are the ones that will win.
Then we made sure they were on every channel those personas used. YouTube. Website. Email. Reddit. LinkedIn.
We helped them analyze every touchpoint. Every engagement. We implemented lead scoring to see which prospects were most engaged.
They spent their energy on the people who were interested. They did it consistently over time.
In 10 months, they went from net outflows to net inflows.
The results speak for themselves.
We have clients raising hundreds of millions of dollars using this approach. It works because it aligns with how buyers actually behave today.
If you're a CMO or head of distribution still doing traditional marketing, here's what to do tomorrow.
Take one piece of core content. Maybe it's your quarterly newsletter.
This is where Amplify comes in.
Repurpose it into three months of content in different formats.
That newsletter becomes four to six blog articles. Those articles become 12 to 24 social posts. You record your portfolio manager delivering the insights on video. You turn that into clips for YouTube and LinkedIn.
One piece of content. Multiple formats. Multiple touchpoints.
That's the mindset shift.
You're not creating content to check a box. You're amplifying your thought leadership to extend your presence across every place your prospects might be.
Because you can't control where they start their journey. But you can make sure you're there when they do.
The buyer journey hasn't changed. But how you show up in it has to.
Loop Marketing is how you do that.
Ready to turn Loop Marketing into measurable growth?
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