EP 28 – No Lead Left Behind: A Modern Approach to Organic Growth with Samantha Allen
Organic growth is becoming more challenging for many advisory firms, especially as competition for attention continues to increase.
How do you create a marketing strategy that consistently attracts qualified prospects while giving advisors more time to focus on client relationships?
In this episode, Dan Gilmartin sits down with Samantha Allen, Executive Vice President of Marketing at Merit Financial Advisors, to explore how marketing, sales, and technology can work together to create a repeatable growth engine. Samantha shares how Merit blends proven marketing channels with ongoing experiments, why video streaming has become one of the firm’s strongest sources of high-net-worth clients, how AI helps route leads to the right advisors, and why close collaboration between marketing and sales has become one of the company’s biggest competitive advantages.
Key takeaways:
- Building marketing systems that let advisors spend more time serving clients instead of chasing leads.
- Using content to attract highly qualified, high-net-worth prospects through organic growth.
- Combining AI, automation, and human relationships to improve lead routing and follow-up.
- Creating stronger alignment between marketing and sales to improve the client experience.
- Re-engaging past prospects through data enrichment instead of letting qualified leads disappear.
- And more!
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About our Guest:
Samantha Allen is the Executive Vice President of Marketing at Merit Financial Advisors, where she leads the firm’s integrated marketing strategy across organic growth, digital marketing, content, brand, events, and advisor support. With more than a decade of experience in financial services marketing, she has held leadership roles at organizations including TD Ameritrade, helping firms connect marketing, technology, and business development to drive sustainable growth. Samantha is passionate about building scalable marketing systems, leveraging AI and digital channels, and creating stronger alignment between marketing and sales to improve both the advisor and client experience. She also serves on the board of the FinServ Foundation, supporting initiatives that strengthen the future of the financial services industry.
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