EFFICIENT PLANNER
Trend Spotting: 5 Tips for Advisor Marketing in 2025
By Laura Garfield
You don’t have to be a Tik Tok sensation. You don’t have to push out content on social media three times a day. And you don’t have to launch a weekly podcast to be successful in 2025.
Whew!
Now that we have that out of the way, let's dig into some high-impact ideas you can easily embrace in the upcoming year. Because nobody wants to spend the next 12 months churning away at a strategy without getting great results. To get the most out of your time and budget, consider the following five trends.
Trend 1: Build Authority on LinkedIn
If you spend any time on LinkedIn, you’ll see more influencers writing long-form content and posting short-form videos. There’s a reason for that! The algorithm is giving preferential treatment to longer posts (think word count of 250–500) and shorter video content (60 seconds or less). In 2024, LinkedIn started testing a videos tab for short-form viewing. The experience is a lot like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube shorts. All have reshaped how we view content, and LinkedIn is following suit.
Want to win on LinkedIn in 2025? Make a habit of posting your thought leadership with a mix of longer written posts and short videos. LinkedIn users are more than 20x more likely to re-share a video!
👉 Did you know only 1% (about three million) of LinkedIn users are sharing content every week? But that content is getting nine billion impressions!
Trend 2: Treat AI Like Your Intern
Think of AI writing tools like your inexperienced summer intern. If you were giving that intern a writing project, you’d go into detail about what you wanted, and then expect to do some heavy editing on the back end. Same applies to AI. With the help of tools like Copilot or ChatGPT, you can generate a very rough first draft at lightning speed. But you need to remember the quality of the draft is only as good as your prompts.
If you’re getting serious about sharing thought leadership or short video scripts for LinkedIn (trend #1), give AI the right prompts and you’ll have the seed for your writing. It’s always easier (and quicker) to edit than to start from scratch.
👉 Need to build your own AI prompt guide? Get started with this prompt guide from Harvard University.
Trend 3: Ride the YouTube Wave
With almost five billion active monthly users, the audience reach on YouTube is unparalleled. Many advisors assume the bulk of this audience is outside their target market. Not true! About 35% of those monthly users are baby boomers and Gen Xers. If you include millennials, the audience share increases to 60%. That’s why marketers say YouTube is the most effective online video channel:
If you’re thinking of following trend #1, consider posting those short-form videos over on YouTube as well. Shorts (60-second limit) are quickly gaining popularity on the platform. YouTube Shorts has over 1.5 billion monthly users and the demand for content is outpacing supply.
👉 It’s not easy being a content creator. In fact, more people are outsourcing video production. In 2024, 38% of video marketers created their content in-house (down from 60% in 2023).
Trend 4: Don’t Stop Sending
How packed is your inbox? The average person gets 120 email messages a day. We live in the age of inbox overflow. You might find it annoying but there’s a method to this madness. Half of marketers say email is their most impactful channel.
For advisors, email is still the most reliable way to get in front of your list of clients and prospects. You can’t control when they will log onto social media platforms but you can be certain that sooner or later they’ll be checking their inbox.
👉 The first step in capturing attention in the inbox is a well-crafted subject line. Write a statement that stands out from the crowd. Think about what would make someone want to open the email. And emojis never hurt!
Trend 5: Stand Out With Social Proof
Saying great things about yourself is one thing. Having happy clients sing your praises is another. In 2022, the SEC relaxed the ban on client testimonials, yet the advisor world as a whole has been slow to respond. In fact, fewer than 10% of SEC-registered investment advisors report using testimonials.
Looking for an easy way to start collecting client testimonials online? Check out services like:
Recording video testimonials is another way to create powerful social proof. In other industries, video testimonials are the most popular singular use case for video because they build trust in a product or service.
Take Charge of the Trends
Trends come and trends go. The biggest mistake advisors make is doing too many things at once—and doing none of them well. Choose a trend or two that is right for you and commit to it for all of 2025. Remember, success doesn’t happen overnight. Just like you’d tell a client, it’s important to stick with your plan.
Laura Garfield is co-founder of Idea Decanter, a video marketing company that uses a proven three-step process to create authentic, authority-packed content. These videos help you stand out and attract dream clients who already know you’re a fit. Find out more at www.ideadecanter.com or email laura@ideadecanter.com.
image credit: Adobe Stock Images