The research is clear that financial advisors who have doubled down on digital marketing and virtual outreach during the pandemic have excelled.
To be more specific, 74% of advisors who have leveraged a multi-channel approach for building prospect relationships are reporting average or better results during the crisis (almost triple the rate of those who used email alone).
Those who have holed up in their offices and tried their best to ride out the storm using traditional marketing and lead generation efforts have stagnated and declined.
While there’s hope that the world will return to some sense of normalcy in the months ahead, the reality is that our industry will never be the same.
Preparing For What’s NEXT
This pandemic has accelerated trends that were already bubbling beneath the surface and catalyzed rapid, lasting changes as it relates to marketing, sales, lead generation, and client engagement.
The upcoming Virtual Financial Advisor Summit 2021: NEXT, which is co-produced by Advisorist and Broadridge Advisor Solutions, is set to take place on Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021.
This free one-day Summit set an industry-wide record for attendance last year and is expected to shatter that mark this year.
Hear from a world-class lineup of speakers and presenters, including best-selling authors Ed Slott and Tom Hegna, thought leader Michael Kitces, CNBC contributor Brian Kelly, Cooper Schwartz of Money.com, hall of fame speaker Bill Cates, Facebook’s Ken Johnston, Mike Foy of J.D. Power, Benjamin Brandt of Retirement Starts Today Radio and more than a dozen others.
For advisors who are seeking ways to fast-track growth and adapt, this event will provide a glimpse into the sales and marketing techniques the top 1% of advisors are using to win big in the virtual arena.
Here are some of the powerful issues, trends, and developments that will be further fleshed out on February 10:
• The number of advisors doing in-person meetings with clients dropped from 36% (pre-crisis) to 5% (during the crisis). When the opportunity for in-person meetings re-emerges in the near future, it’s unlikely that our industry will return to pre-crisis levels. Video and Zoom meetings will continue to be the norm. Advisors who have learned how to master the art of visual meetings are closing prospects at much higher rates.
• 3 in 4 advisors who would prefer to be working in their office reduced their prospecting efforts. In contrast, just over 1/2 of advisors who enjoy working from home reduced prospecting. In other words, mindset everything. Advisors who have embraced this new normal are excited about the opportunity to adapt. Those who are uncomfortable in digital environments are struggling.
• Only 25% of advisors currently use digital channels beyond phone and email. Even more shocking is the fact that just 1 in 10 uses social media with their clients. For the advisors who do utilize these channels, there are significant opportunities to differentiate and slide past the competition.
• 82% of Americans believe working with a human financial advisor would help them as it pertains to their wellness. And when you consider that 65% of high net-worth individuals under the age of 45 believe it’s important for a financial advisor to have a strong digital offering, the importance of being digitally literate and active only grows.
• During the first 6 months of the pandemic, user searches for “financial advisor” on Google increased by 17% over the previous year. This underscores a surge in the number of investors who sought out a financial advisor for the first time during the pandemic.
• 62 percent of investors are now open to working with an advisor remotely, whereas just 48 percent were comfortable with the idea prior to the pandemic. Just five years ago this number was closer to 20% to 30% of investors. Last summer, Microsoft CEO Satya Nandella described this shift as, “Two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.”
• 33 percent of high net-worth millennials look at an advisor’s posts on social media as part of their evaluation process. The content they most want to receive from advisors includes investment recommendations (78%), market news (53%) and industry updates (43%).
Based on the latest data and research, the future is clear:
• Investors recognize their need for advisors more than in recent years.
• Investors are more comfortable than ever with the idea of virtual engagement with advisors.
• Advisors are expected to be virtual.
• Financial advisors who have made the shift to virtual advising are winning.
• Changes are happening at a rapid rate, and advisors must be proactive.
Prepare For What’ NEXT With The Virtual FA Summit
As an advisor, it’s imperative that you’re always thinking about what’s coming next. And that means staying on top of the latest trends and developments as they emerge so that you can develop preemptive and proactive strategies that help you serve your clients and grow your practice.
On Wednesday, February 10, the Virtual Financial Advisor Summit 2021: NEXT will take a deep dive into the trends, frameworks, strategies, and research that are driving the financial advisory space right now.
There’s never been a more critical inflection point in our industry. If you want to stay ahead, you need to have your finger on the pulse of what’s happening.
Last year’s inaugural Virtual Financial Advisor Summit was attended by 6,110 registered advisors from the U.S. and Canada. They represented a collective $194.88 billion in AUM.
Don’t miss a chance to be a part of this year’s exclusive group of forward-thinking advisors.
Jeremiah Desmarais is a marketer and author at Advisorist, an education platform for insurance and financial advisors and a sponsor of the Virtual Finnancial Advisor Summit: 2021 NEXT.