[There has been a quantum leap in the art and science behind client and prospect engagement in financial services. The need for heightened customer connection during the pandemic has accelerated the deployment of advanced digital marketing tools, analytics, and an enhanced digital media presence. These new tools challenge us to strategically re-think and creatively reconfigure our traditional marketing strategies and approaches.
Adding fuel to this are research studies that have pointed out an insidious procedural problem—lead management and engagement. Looking deeper at the issues uncovers and quantifies the nature and size of the problem. Advisors are losing meaningful income as research shows that approximately 50% of leads are being wasted due to advisors not following up properly. This has necessitated new innovative approaches in such areas as influence marketing and lead management.
To explore and discuss this area more fully, we reached out to Institute members Luke Acree and Joshua Stike of ReminderMedia—a unique relationship marketing firm and client nurturing specialist that recently launched their Digital Marketing Platform for financial professionals. We asked them to share with us their research and how they responded to industry challenges by strategically designing tools and processes geared to meaningfully engage clients and prospects beyond traditional marketing approaches.]
Bill Hortz: How do you define the concept of customer engagement? Why do many in the industry go about it the wrong way?
Luke Acree: Too many business owners are transaction-focused versus being relationship-focused. This is why many clients change financial advisors even though they did a great job; why a large percentage of spouses move advisors once the other has died. Engagement with a customer or prospect that transcends a transactional approach shifts to relationships.
That is why we created our digital platform offering. It gives a way for the financial advisor to move beyond just technical communication and include lifestyle-based content and approach in their client touch points. When the advisor focuses on connecting on a relationship level, they end up retaining more business and ultimately create raving fans which will refer them business.
We purposefully designed our digital marketing platform to be lifestyle focused. If you can connect with someone on an emotional level, they are way more likely to move you into the “like” and “trust” category faster. Think about it like going out to coffee with someone in a business setting. You do not just go to talk business; it is to get to know that client better. Yet so many advisors do not apply that to their marketing. Rather than getting to know your clients on a personal level, they pitch business and information, features and benefits. It would be the same thing to take a client out to lunch just to pitch them products or throw stats at them.
Hortz: Can you share what research and facts you uncovered that helped guide you in designing your engagement strategies?
Joshua Stike: According to Conversica, sales and marketing professionals agree that 50% of their lead generation budget is wasted on leads that are never contacted and 41% cite the reason is because the leads are too hard to reach. The reality is that most financial advisors do not have the time, resources, or pay-off to spend time calling Internet leads all day. That is why we created an automated touch point system that not only delivers the highest quality package—showcasing the quality of your brand—but does it for you—from the creating the carefully honed content to regularly delivering the touch points. By consistently nurturing these leads that are being wasted, you will build stronger connections and higher levels of trust for when the prospect is ready to engage.
In our own research on value of ongoing quality engagement, we found through our third-party surveys directly of readers of American Lifestyle magazine—one of our signature advisor branded engagement tools—that 76% of people are more likely to do business with the professional again because they send them the magazine. In addition, 58% of people have referred their professional because of the magazine in the last 12 months. And when looking at what content people enjoyed most, 81% favorited the recipes.
We employed that same strategy when creating our digital marketing platform—leveraging the content that people ENJOY receiving with all of the branding that lets them know YOU’RE the one that sent it to them. This triggers the reciprocity effect and recipients feel compelled to return the favor.