Here's a conversation that happens in RIA firms every day:
Principal: "We need to invest more in marketing."
CFO: "What's the ROI?"
Principal: "Well... it's hard to measure. But we need to grow."
CFO: "Come back when you have numbers."
And just like that, marketing gets deprioritized—again.
The problem isn't that marketing doesn't deliver ROI. It's that most RIAs don't know how to measure it. So marketing stays in the "cost center" bucket instead of being recognized as the revenue engine it should be.
Let's fix that.
There are three main reasons RIAs struggle with marketing measurement:
Unlike e-commerce (click ad → buy product → measure ROI), wealth management has 6-12 month sales cycles. A prospect might download a guide in January, attend a webinar in March, and become a client in September. How do you attribute that?
Clients rarely come from a single source. They might hear about you from a referral, visit your website, read your blog, attend an event, and then schedule a meeting. Which touchpoint gets credit?
Most RIAs don't have the CRM and marketing automation infrastructure to track the client journey from first touch to closed deal. Without data, you're guessing.
But here's the good news: these challenges are solvable. With the right systems and frameworks, you can measure marketing ROI with the same precision you measure investment performance.
Let's break down how to measure marketing ROI in a way that's accurate, actionable, and defensible to your CFO.
You can't measure ROI if you don't know what you're measuring. Here are the key metrics every RIA should track:
Lead Generation Metrics:
Conversion Metrics:
Revenue Metrics:
Channel Performance Metrics:
You can't measure what you don't track. Here's what you need:
CRM with Marketing Integration
Your CRM should capture:
Vantage Point specializes in CRM optimization for RIAs, ensuring that every lead is tracked from first touch to closed deal—and beyond.
Marketing Automation Platform
This tracks:
Analytics and Reporting
You need dashboards that show:
Here's the formula:
Marketing ROI = (Revenue from Marketing - Marketing Investment) ÷ Marketing Investment × 100
Let's walk through a real example:
Scenario: Mid-sized RIA, $300M AUM
Annual Marketing Investment:
Results:
First-Year ROI:
($272,000 - $127,000) ÷ $127,000 × 100 = 114% ROI
But that's just year one. Let's look at lifetime value:
Lifetime Value Calculation:
Lifetime ROI:
($3,264,000 - $127,000) ÷ $127,000 × 100 = 2,470% ROI
Suddenly, that $127,000 marketing investment looks pretty smart.
One of the trickiest parts of measuring marketing ROI is attribution: which marketing activities actually led to the client relationship?
Here are three attribution models:
Gives 100% credit to the first interaction (e.g., they found you via Google search).
Pros: Simple, easy to track
Cons: Ignores all the nurturing that happened afterward
Gives 100% credit to the final interaction before they became a client (e.g., they attended a webinar).
Pros: Simple, easy to track
Cons: Ignores all the awareness-building that came before
Distributes credit across all touchpoints in the client journey.
Pros: Most accurate representation of reality
Cons: More complex to implement
Recommendation: Start with first-touch and last-touch to get baseline data, then move to multi-touch as your systems mature.
Not all marketing channels deliver the same ROI. Here's what the data shows for RIAs:
The takeaway: The best marketing strategy uses a mix of channels, with each playing a specific role in the client journey.
Avoid these pitfalls:
Marketing is a long-term investment. If you only look at 90-day ROI, you'll undervalue strategies like SEO and content marketing that compound over time.
Marketing doesn't just bring in new clients—it also increases referrals from existing clients and improves retention. Make sure you're measuring these impacts.
Not everything is directly measurable. Brand awareness, thought leadership, and market positioning have real value even if they don't show up in your CRM immediately.
Don't compare your marketing ROI to Amazon's. Compare it to your other growth strategies (hiring advisors, acquiring books of business, etc.).
If you're spending $100K on marketing but $0 on tracking and analytics, you're flying blind. Invest in the systems that let you measure what's working.
When you're making the case for marketing investment, here's how to frame it:
Talk about CAC, LTV, and ROI—not impressions, clicks, and engagement rates.
Present both first-year ROI and lifetime value. The lifetime value story is much more compelling.
What's the ROI of hiring another advisor? Acquiring a book of business? Opening a new office? Show that marketing compares favorably.
If leadership is skeptical, propose a 90-day pilot with clear metrics and a defined budget. Prove the ROI, then scale.
If the firm's goal is to grow AUM by 20%, show how marketing is the engine that makes that possible.
Building a marketing measurement infrastructure doesn't have to be overwhelming. Many RIAs partner with specialists who understand both marketing and financial services.
TE+A Marketing helps firms develop data-driven marketing strategies with clear ROI metrics, while Vantage Point provides the CRM and analytics infrastructure to track performance accurately.
Together, they offer a Marketing Technology Assessment that identifies gaps in your measurement capabilities and a 60-Day Program that gets you tracking ROI in 60-90 days.
Marketing doesn't have to be a cost center. With the right systems, frameworks, and discipline, you can measure marketing ROI with the same precision you measure investment performance.
The firms that figure this out will have a massive competitive advantage. They'll know exactly which marketing activities drive growth, they'll allocate resources intelligently, and they'll scale faster than competitors who are still guessing.
The question isn't whether marketing delivers ROI. It's whether you're measuring it.
This blog series is brought to you through the partnership of Vantage Point and TE+A Marketing, combining deep expertise in CRM optimization and strategic marketing for financial services firms.
Vantage Point specializes in CRM implementation, optimization, and integration for wealth management firms and RIAs. With decades of experience in financial services technology, Vantage Point ensures your CRM investment delivers measurable ROI.
TE+A Marketing is a full-service marketing agency focused exclusively on financial services firms with 50-500 employees. TE+A Marketing develops integrated marketing strategies that drive predictable growth and measurable results.
Together, we offer a unique 60-Day Program that bridges the gap between your technology and your marketing—creating a unified growth engine for your firm.
Ready to connect your CRM and marketing for exponential growth? Contact us today for your complimentary Marketing Technology Assessment.
David Cockrum founded Vantage Point after serving as Chief Operating Officer in the financial services industry. His unique blend of operational leadership and technology expertise has enabled Vantage Point's distinctive business-process-first implementation methodology, delivering successful transformations for 150+ financial services firms across 400+ engagements with a 4.71/5.0 client satisfaction rating and 95%+ client retention rate.