The second talk of Exchange’s Industry conclave, “Message Not Received: How to market to the busy unresponsive advisor,” covered how financial institutions are failing to connect to advisors and how they can remedy that problem. Independent Advisor Alliance CMO David Buzo covered high ROI strategies and how to stop using outdated marketing tactics.
Buzo kicked off by comparing a lot of marketing to meeting someone at a party and immediately going in for a kiss. There are rules and expectations that marketers can inadvertently violate. “A lot of those rules today are being broken,” Buzo said.
Buzo on Changes in Advisors
“The advisor count is shrinking,” Buzo noted. That means there are less advisors to target for marketing departments. Their psychographics are also changing. There is a 32% decrease predicted between now and 2035. Younger advisors are coming in at a slower rate than older advisors are retiring.
Behaviors are also shifting. In 2035, Buzo sees more AI assistants and personalization becoming increasingly important. “Maybe now the gatekeeper is not going to be the person answering the phone, its going to be AI.”
The 5 Rules
Buzo shared his framework for the five rules that marketers need to consider. They are.
- You don’t know who you’re trying to reach. Who is your client? Who is the decision maker? What are their needs?
- You are reaching them the wrong way. Everyone has different behavior patterns and preferences. “The fix here is to be intentional,” Buzo said.
- You are asking for too much too soon. Delivering value to someone before asking them for something can be a huge help to properly connect with someone.
- You are leading with the solution, not the problem. Many firms are eager to push their solutions, instead of communicating the problem you can help solve.
- You are prioritizing volume over quality. Account-based marketing (ABM) works to start at a client level and work your way up, rather than starting at the top of the funnel and eventually drilling down. It can be advantageous to focus on a smaller slice of the overall pie and do it well, rather than sending thousands of emails.
Being on top of these rules can help create meaningful connections.
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