Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our professional lives have changed dramatically. Going into the office full-time is seemingly in the past and most in-person social interactions and networking opportunities have disappeared. As a result, financial advisors have to rethink their entire marketing strategy and explore new methods to create opportunities to build relationships with UHNW families and grow their firm. There are many ways to interact in the virtual, but how do you make them as effective as in-person interaction?
In her latest virtual discussion, Wealth Matters Consulting President Rosemary Denney explores how to rethink interaction with your audience in a way that will build relationships in a virtual environment. In this interactive roundtable discussion, financial advisors were able to discuss real-world examples, hearing what works, and what does not.
She draws upon her 15 years of experience in the industry to address:
- How intentional outreach can lead to growth
- Crafting content around common client questions
- Using content across all relevant platforms
- How to determine if you should host a digital event
- Basic marketing rules to live by in a virtual world
Intentional Outreach Leads to Growth
When it comes to growing your wealth management firm through virtual marketing, it all begins with intentionality. Easily jumpstart your pipelines by intentionally checking in with current and former clients to see how they are doing, offering help to COIs and circling back with prospects. Throughout this outreach, we recommend utilizing a CRM to facilitate and institutionalize your business development focus.
Answer Your Clients’ Questions
We are currently in a time of information overload. Computers, phones, tablets and televisions bombard us constantly with notifications and content (information). All of this makes it extremely difficult for financial advisors to create content that cuts through all of that noise and generates any type of interest. The last thing we want to do is add to the mess.
Thankfully, there are a few effective ways to approach content creation. The most basic way is to craft content that answers general uncertainty and questions about what is happening in the market or frequent occurrences in your clients’ lives. Other methods include curated content, collaborative conversations that can broaden your reach, and content that be utilized in multiple mediums (i.e. audio, video, written, etc.). Regardless of the specific content you create, it must be tailored to your target audience with the goal of either interruption, engagement, education or calling to action.
Once you have your piece of content, it is time for outreach. Outreach must be:
- Intentional and Personal – Mass email is just a baseline, go above and beyond by forwarding relevant content to the right people.
- Regular – You cannot send an email every 6 months and expect people to tune in.
- Professional – The content should appear how you want your firm to be reflected to the public.
Content Uses
As briefly mentioned above, when it comes to content, there is a wide range of avenues wealth advisors can explore with it. For example, you can take a topic, such as tax strategies ahead of the administration change, and then make the most out of it by turning it into a written commentary, video, podcast and press pitch. All those pieces can then be posted on your website and sent out via email and social media. For maximum impact we recommend personally sending them to prospects and clients who may find the content of interest.
Digital Events – To Go Live or Not?
In years past, most of the firms we work with would host one or two signature events for clients (and prospects) throughout the year. Added to the mix would be networking events, small intimate lunch-and-learns and many other types of events to interact with UHNW families on a regular basis. Unfortunately, all of these networking options are no longer responsible or feasible in the current COVID-19 world.
Instead, financial advisors need to start taking their events digital. However, taking all types of events live in the digital space is not always the best idea. As a result, it important to ask yourself the following questions when deciding whether or not to host a digital event:
- Why are we having this event? Business development? Client education? COI relationship building?
- Is the content deliverable in a virtual environment?
- Is my target audience interested in this content?
- Can I elevate this experience to make it memorable?
- What is my audience getting from this event and is it worth their time?
Rules to Live By
All this being said, we can summarize in a few, easy-to-remember rules:
- Building relationships begins with intentionality – intentional touch points intended to strengthen a relationship is key.
- Use social media wisely. Use email sparingly.
- All content should be produced for your target audience, not for yourself.
- Content can be creatively packaged in multiple forms.
- When in doubt, ask for feedback or professional help.
If you are interested in learning more about how to build relationships with clients and prospects in a virtual environment, please do not hesitate to contact us. Our multi-faceted communications, marketing and public relations team has the skills and experience you need to stand out amongst your peers to grab the attention of UHNW families in the digital age.