Directories, Reviews Top Kitces Report on Advisor Marketing ROI

The Kitces Report, published Sept. 15, surveyed 506 U.S. financial advisors in March and April and evaluated more than two dozen marketing tactics. The study found online advisor directories and third-party reviews produced the highest returns. The typical customer acquisition cost was $2,551 and the revenue acquisition cost was $0.70 per dollar of new client revenue.

The report gave specific cost measures for common channels. Listings on directories such as CFP Board and Fee-Only Network had a revenue acquisition cost near $0.28 per dollar. Firms that collected and displayed third-party reviews on their websites recorded about $0.13 per dollar. By contrast, social media had a RAC around $4.88 per dollar and client appreciation events about $4.54.

Other channel RACs reported were client referrals $0.34, search engine optimization $0.45, centers of influence $0.72, blogging $1.64, seminars $1.76 and in-person networking $1.45. The report also found that fully outsourcing social media had a lower RAC, about $0.45, than partially outsourcing at $4.17 or running it entirely in-house at $1.77.

Adoption of review platforms remained limited. About 13% of practices reported using third-party review sites such as Google, Yelp, Wealthtender or WiserAdvisor, a rise of five percentage points from 2024. Among firms that encourage reviews, a median of 16% of clients leave feedback. Brian Thorp, CEO of Wealthtender, noted that clients often check reviews even after receiving a referral.

Referrals were the most common channel: 88% of firms reported client referrals and 64% reported centers-of-influence referrals. The report found high-growth firms relied less on referrals for new revenue than slower-growing peers. Fast-growing practices derived roughly one-third of new client revenue from referrals, while lower-growth firms derived about 80%.

Smaller firms typically used five of the 26 identified methods and spent proportionally more on marketing. On average, firms invested about 7% of annual revenue in marketing and reported an 8% increase in incoming business and a 10% rise in new clients. The report noted some large practices had much higher costs, with average acquisition costs as high as $16,925 and a RAC of $2.01.

The survey sample came largely from Kitces.com readers, and the report noted that respondents tend to be more planning-centric than the broader advisory industry. The full research runs 123 pages and includes more than 100 charts detailing how firms of different sizes and growth rates allocate time and money across marketing channels.