The average person receives 121 emails per day, and newsletters from businesses account for a pretty big chunk of that number.
Restaurants sharing their latest specials. Online retailers announcing sales. Lifestyle brands sending curated tips. Some industries are simply built for promotional newsletters.
But what about financial advisory firms? Does a newsletter make sense in an industry where trust and expertise carry far more weight than the latest coupon code?
The short answer? It depends. Newsletters can absolutely be a fantastic tool for client engagement and lead generation. But starting and maintaining one comes with real trade-offs. To help you make a decision for your own firm, we’ll look at the pros and cons through the lens of financial advisory services.
The Upsides of Financial Advisory Newsletters
- Showcasing your expertise. Advisors who can demonstrate thought leadership give potential clients a reason to trust their expertise. And a newsletter gives you a chance to share timely insights like market trends, financial planning strategies or commentary about economic news in a way that positions you as a trusted industry expert. Meanwhile, clients and prospects alike appreciate reminders that you’re keeping a finger on the pulse on the financial landscape.
- Staying top-of-mind. Financial planning is long-term by nature. Prospects might not be ready to commit when they first encounter your firm, and existing clients might only meet with you a few times a year. A well-crafted newsletter in between ensures clients you’re not forgotten (and reminds them they haven’t been forgotten, either). And when a prospect is finally ready to make a big financial decision, it’s likelier your name is the one they remember.
- A built-in value-add. Some firms present their newsletter as an exclusive benefit of working together — a part of the client experience package. For prospects, it can be positioned as a free resource that demonstrates value upfront. Either way, it’s a way to reinforce that you go above and beyond.
- Gentle lead generation. While a newsletter (usually) won’t close deals on its own, it can quietly nurture your funnel. Someone might subscribe months before they’re ready to commit, using your insights to gauge whether you’re the right fit. When they’re ready, they’re already warmed up.
The Downsides of a Newsletter
- It’s a serious time commitment. Coming up with new, relevant and compliant content on a consistent schedule is difficult. Advisors are busy enough managing portfolios and meeting with clients. Without a clear plan (or outside support), newsletters can quickly become one more unfinished to-do.
- The compliance hurdle. Oh, what it must be like to write a newsletter for an unregulated industry! Unfortunately, every word you write has to pass muster with compliance ensure you’re on the right side of the regulatory lines. That means your newsletter will need to lean more toward education, news and general guidance rather than “insider advice.” Valuable, yes. Limiting? Also yes.
- Limited direct revenue impact. Newsletters aren’t a direct revenue driver. They won’t usually convince an existing client to increase their investments or add new services. Instead, they’re better suited for client retention and slow-burn prospect nurturing. That’s important, but it can be difficult to measure.
- The creativity drain. Once you’ve written the basics (retirement planning tips, budgeting reminders, tax-season checklists), what’s next? Many firms struggle with content fatigue after the first few issues. Without fresh ideas, newsletters can start to feel repetitive for both you and your readers.
What Works for Financial Advisors
If you decide the pros of a newsletter outweigh the cons, it’s worth thinking carefully about what kinds of topics land well in a financial services context. For example:
- Educational explainers: Break down concepts like Roth conversions, required minimum distributions (RMD) or risk tolerance in plain language.
- Seasonal reminders: Tax deadlines, year-end planning opportunities and back-to-school budgeting tips are useful to just about everyone.
- Economic context: Share “what this means for you” insights when big financial headlines break (without veering into unapproved predictions).
- Lifestyle tie-ins: Think financial wellness, planning for major life events or even recommendations about money-management books.
On the flip side, you’ll want to avoid a few things, including specific investment recommendations, performance predictions, overly technical jargon that alienates readers … and anything that might raise compliance’s blood pressure.
Think Before You Hit Send!
Ultimately, a newsletter can be an excellent fit for some (albeit not all) financial advisory firms.
If you have a knack for writing, a clear content strategy and the bandwidth (or support) to keep it consistent, it can strengthen relationships and showcase your expertise. But if you’re already stretched thin, you risk sending out one or two editions before letting it die off — and that could hurt your credibility more than if you had never started one at all.
Whether you’re going the newsletter route or simply need more ideas for content that converts, Mischa Communications can help. Let’s get started.