Marketing for Estate Planning and Administration | Averi Finnerty from The Walls Law Group

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Averi: I’m doing good. How about you?

Ernesto: I’m doing great. Thank you so much for asking. And, well, I’m sure our listeners are tuning in wondering what the Walls Law Group is all about, so let’s kick it off with that. Averi, in your own words, can you tell us a little bit more?

Averi: Yeah. So we are the Walls Law Group, and we are an estate planning, estate administration, and business planning law firm. We help families and businesses plan, protect, preserve, and ultimately transfer their wealth through estate, business, and asset protection planning.

Ernesto: That’s awesome to hear. I think whenever that doesn’t happen, there’s a lot of uncertainties at the end with kids and grandkids and fighting, so definitely important. And so, so that way our listeners can get a good understanding, what would you say is that key problem that you guys like to solve for your clients there?

Averi: Yeah. What we ultimately want is to provide peace of mind for our clients. Some things that we do include estate planning for a client. So when they’re wanting a trust, we’re going to help them with that. We then help the families with estate administration, which is what happens when a client passes away with a trust and also with probate. So when someone dies with a will and not a trust, that’s going to be the probate process, which is time-consuming and also costs a lot of money. So we want to try to avoid that. We also help our business clients with starting an LLC.

Ernesto: Definitely. All right, perfect. And next, is there a certain vertical segment, a certain age group that you guys tend to focus on, or a certain ICP that you guys go for?

Averi: Yeah. For business clients, that would be really any age. But with our estate planning, that’s going to be, obviously, anyone—everyone should be creating an estate plan. But we’ve noticed that the older someone is, the more important it is that they do start to plan, especially when they have kids involved, if they’re moving, when things change in their life—getting their estate plan updated continuously.

Ernesto: Okay, so how would somebody usually find out about the Walls Law Group? Is there a top client acquisition channel for you guys?

Averi: Yeah, so we have people who find us through social media, through word of mouth, but our main acquisition channels are through Google and referrals. Some of those referrals are from past clients that we’ve had.

Ernesto: Interesting. Perfect. And so that way, our listeners who are tuned in could go ahead and visit you, they could always check you out at wallslawnc.com. What role does the website play for client acquisition?

Averi: Yeah, we have information for potential new clients on our firm and our practice areas. We also have a contact us form. I’ve noticed that we might have people who are in the information search phase of the buying process. So if someone realizes that they need to update their estate plan or create one, they might find our estate planning checklist guide and download that, where we have an email campaign to check in on them. We’ll have clients convert from that. Or we have people who know they definitely want an estate plan right there, right now, and they can fill out our contact us form. Then we will be in touch with them to see if we’ll be a good fit.

Ernesto: Definitely important. Awesome. So, is there any tools, tips, or methods that you would recommend to our listeners as far as website lead generation?

Averi: Yeah. For our website, we aren’t selling a product; we’re selling a service. Sadly, it’s not one of those where you can say, “I want a trust, I want a will,” and just purchase it right then and there. Most of our conversions happen at our consultation, so it is after the website visit. But I will say, making sure that you have all the information available for your potential clients or consumers is key, and also having a form or a way for people to contact you.

Ernesto: Perfect. Interesting. Thank you so much for sharing that with our listeners. Well, let’s switch gears a little bit, and let’s talk about you. What are some key tasks you like to focus on in your day-to-day work?

Averi: I love being busy. In my role, I do a lot of the marketing here at the Walls Law Group. Some of the things I do include all of our emails and email campaigns. I’m working on developing and nurturing relationships with clients. I also work with event planning—we’ve done a few events so far. Then I handle all of our social media and analytics. That includes filming videos, editing videos, making graphics, and then tracking our followers and how our posts perform. I’m also working on our blog and potentially a website redesign this year.

Ernesto: You’ve got a full plate there on your hands.

Averi: Absolutely. And I love it.

Ernesto: Definitely. So in the time that you do have available, how do you stay up to date with all the marketing news and trends out there? Is there a preferred channel that you like to use?

Averi: Yes, I absolutely love LinkedIn. I follow some LinkedIn groups. I also stay up to date with LinkedIn Learning. There are collaborative articles on LinkedIn, including a social media marketing one, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be one of the people who can respond to some of the questions people have in the social media marketing field.

Ernesto: Perfect. Awesome. Thank you so much for sharing that with us. Let’s jump into our next section then, Averi, which is our rapid-fire question round. Are you ready for them?

Averi: Oh, absolutely.

Ernesto: Perfect. Awesome. First off, Averi, what is the last book that you read?

Averi: The last workbook I read was “Automatic Marketing Machine,” but I absolutely love romance books. So I did just binge the whole Twilight series on HBO Max recently, and I am constantly looking for more romance books to read.

Ernesto: Interesting. Perfect. Next, if there were no boundaries in technology, what would be that one thing that you would want to have fixed for your role as a marketer today?

Averi: The one thing I would absolutely love is to be able to see what other things someone is searching for when they’re on our website. That would help us see what they really want and would also help with SEO and keywords, creating better content for our PMCs, and making sure we’re satisfying all their needs.

Ernesto: Great to hear that. Next, if there’s one repetitive task that you could automate, what would that be?

Averi: I would love if the videos we made and some of the graphics could be done automatically, like with editing. I know there are some AIs that do that, but I like to really nitpick everything. Another thing I would love to automate is newsletters. They’re just a lot of work, and I get so scared—I don’t want to put something in that’s not important. It’s a whole thing. I love writing the blogs, but the newsletters can be a little scary.

Ernesto: Definitely, you’re reaching the whole audience, so you have to be sure about what you’re putting out. Awesome. Lastly, if there’s one piece of advice that you would give yourself, Averi, if you were to restart your journey as a marketer, what would that be?

Averi: I would say not to compare your marketing journey to someone else’s. A year ago, I was definitely comparing myself to others, and I felt very discouraged about where I was. I wasn’t at the level of some other companies yet. I had to step back and realize I needed to work on some professional skills. At my previous company, I helped direct and edit a commercial that was then aired. I worked on email campaigns and honed in on those professional skills. When I did get into this role at this company, I was able to hit the ground running. Even from September to now, I’ve seen such tremendous change and improvement in my marketing skills that I would have never believed possible. So I would say, keep working on your skills. Look at LinkedIn, take courses and certifications, and within a year, you won’t even recognize where you started.

Ernesto: Definitely some great advice, not just for yourself but for everybody out there. Thanks so much for that, Averi.

Averi: Of course.

Ernesto: We are coming to the end of the show here today, Averi, but before we end, I do want to give you the last word. If someone forgets everything about the interview today, what is that one thing they should remember about the Walls Law Group?

Averi: The Walls Law Group ultimately wants to help people with peace of mind through estate planning, estate administration, and business planning. If you have any questions, please call 919-647-959 or visit wallslawnc.com for more information.

Ernesto: For peace of mind, right?

Averi: Absolutely. That’s the most important part.

Ernesto: Awesome. Well, Averi, thank you so much for being on with us today. I want to thank our listeners as well for tuning in, and I’m looking forward to our next episode at Pathmonk Presents. Thanks a lot, Averi.

Averi: Thank you for having me.