Imagine that you can hire a psychologist to analyze and fix your marketing messages so they hit your target market right between the eyes. What would that look like?

For example, let's say your work involves retirement planning. How would a marketing therapist fix your out-bound messages?

• First, he'd look closely at your intended target market and ask if it's actually a viable target market. In other words, do they fit the criteria: 1) need what you have, 2) want what you have, 3 able to afford what you have, 4) willing to spend money to get it? 5) most importantly – could they realistically be motivated to buy it from you? Surprisingly, many retirees or people seeking to retire do not meet all of those. Still, many advisors hammer away at them anyway, wasting priceless resources.

• Second, a marketing therapist would look at your offering. Do the words and images attract the exact people you want to work with? Most financial and insurance messages fall on deaf ears. Why is that? Because they're the wrong messages sent to the wrong target markets. The most absurd reference we see is referring to Boomers as Seniors. Next, is approaching retirees in hopes of doing investment planning for them. Both of those tell retirees that your offer is off-target.

• Third, he'd look at you. Are you someone your intended target market would easily and quickly gravitate to? Do they find you immediately trustworthy and credible? Do they like you? After researching this for about twenty years, we've discovered that many advisors who work with retirees are indeed credible, but they are terrible at demonstrating their credibility. Thus, most people they meet don't trust them.

What the heck is Marketing Psychology? Marketing psychology is simply a scientific effort to match pegs and holes. When you get the square peg matched up with the square hole, you have far better potential for success. Unfortunately, very few people in the financial industry understand this point. As a result, they spend vast sums of money to publish and transmit the wrong messages to the wrong people. Square peg, round hole.

Psychological mismatches. The obvious mismatches include investment options with too much risk or not enough flexibility. However, the most important ones are emotional issues – things that help your prospect feel safe with you. They include: photos of staff members on your website; a personal phone call from the advisor; clear descriptions and directions; relevant information rather than a never-ending sales pitch; content written in the language of the target market, rather than an industry professional.