What Has Your Marketing Taught You This Year?

Because I work with financial advisors, the end of the year is all about wrapping up the year when it comes to your finances - celebrating wins, learning from mistakes, and generally just understanding what your money taught you this year.

But as I've been working on client blogs, I've realized that you can also look at your marketing to see what it taught you this year. Here are some things to take a look at:

 How consistently did I show up this year?

• Did you publish newsletters when planned, or only when you had time?

• Did you post on social regularly - or in sporadic bursts?

• Which channels did you actually use, versus the ones you meant to use?

Who actually engaged with my content this year?

• Which topics sparked real conversations?

• Which posts earned genuine replies—not just likes?

• Did the right people follow you or book calls?

What content performed best and why?

Pull your top five performers from the year. Then look for patterns:

• Were they stories?

• Educational deep dives?

• Personal posts?

• Local or niche-specific topics?

• Clear, tactical how-tos?

Where did my best leads come from?

• Did clients come from your email list?

• From specific SEO blogs?

• From in-person events?

• From social media conversations?

• From referrals tied to your content?

What content could only I have created?

AI has changed search. Generic content lost traction this year. But your perspective, expertise, and lived experience still stand out. Ask:

• Where did I lean into my niche?

• What stories or frameworks were uniquely mine?

• Did I publish anything AI couldn’t flatten into a snippet?

Did my email list grow? And did I nurture it?

Email is still the most valuable marketing channel for advisors. Think about:

• Did your list grow this year?

• Which lead magnets actually converted?

• What newsletters drove the most replies or website traffic?

What efforts drained me—and what energized me?

This is the emotional audit that too many advisors skip. Ask:

• What kinds of content felt fun or easy?

• What felt heavy, frustrating, or time-consuming?

• What would I gladly do again next year?

• What would I delete?

What should I double down on in 2026 - and what should I let go?

Once you’ve reflected on consistency, voice, audience, performance, systems, and energy, the path forward becomes clear. Ask:

• What worked?

• What surprised me?

• What didn’t work at all?

• What can I simplify next year?

Your marketing isn’t just a task - it’s a compass. It’s showing you exactly where to go next.

Ready to offload marketing tasks you don't like or generally come up with a better strategy instead of winging it?

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