(AssetMark) The world is changing rapidly, but one constant that financial advisors can have faith in is that success depends on continued growth. Consistent growth, however, isn’t an easy thing to achieve—especially not if the ways you traditionally engage with your target audience are changing.
The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that in-person meetings and events aren’t necessary for business success, and they might not even be ideal. For advisors looking to ensure that their practice will continue to grow in the long term, learning how to forge connections and communicate virtually is essential. But many advisors find it challenging to recreate the same level of engagement when meeting a prospect over a computer screen as they do when meeting one in person.
What can these advisors do? Educate.
In our American Financial Experience Survey, we found 46% of investors are interested in learning more about investing. Advisors who provide this education can meet and form deeper connections with prospects. If you can meet this need, you’ll build trust and be top of mind when prospects are ready to engage with an advisor.
So how does one educate?
Quick Tips to Improve Your Virtual Prospecting
- Create a digital marketing plan: This should include social, informational blogging, email marketing, online advertising, and any other activity that drives your business. Our Simple, Smart Marketing Plan resource is a great place to start for ideas. People are out there looking for information. This is one way to ensure you’re there to provide it.
- Create your voice: Make it consistent with who you are and use it across all your marketing channels and activities. This includes Zoom calls, which can feel awkward at times. It may be a lot harder to be yourself when you’re sitting in front of a computer, but remember that you are your own brand; if you can be your authentic self, even over Zoom, you’ll be well on your way to ensuring your prospects remember you.
- Define and segment your clients and desired client profiles: Gone are the days where you could blast a newsletter out to every contact in your database. Everyone has different needs and preferences. You wouldn’t talk to an active investor the same way you would talk to a potential investor when in person, so why would you treat them the same online?
- Personalize: Don’t forget to provide individual outreach that delivers personal attention. This doesn’t have to require a lot of time, nor does it have to require a lot of content. One great way to do this is to forward articles that can provide additional education or reinforce the information you’ve already provided.
- Host educational webinars: Pick topics that are relevant to your existing clients and the clients you want to attract, e.g., ESG investing for millennials or sound financial habits that can put your client’s college grads on an investment path that you can one day manage.
- Embrace technology: Be on the constant lookout for new digital marketing and communication technologies and activities that can help you deepen your engagement with clients and prospects. See which ones fit you, your style, and your needs best.
Connecting with the New Generation
Financial advising is a fundamentally people-focused practice. That means a financial advisor needs to meet their clients where they are and focus on their needs. These days, the majority of a financial advisor’s audience lives and works digitally, and they’re hungry to know more about investing.
By creating a digital marketing plan and delivering educational content, you’ll improve your chances of serving the new generation of investors. Learning this whole new skill set can be intimidating, especially when you want to focus on the investors that are already with your practice. If you want more actionable advice and guidance on how to go about growing your practice (whether that’s through digital marketing or otherwise), reach out to the team at AssetMark. We’re happy to help.
