By Marcus Roth, Simplicity Lone Beacon’s Senior Director of Data, Automation & Content.
Certain prospects value different features when shopping for an advisor. But there are mostly just two types of prospects: convenience-based and strategic, tactical.
The convenience-based prospects really don’t want, or care, to know HOW the financial world works. They just want the numbers to go up, to keep them from going down, and to feel safe. They value convenience and a good relationship with their advisor built on trust. On the other hand, some prospects are more hands-on. This type of prospect wants to see proof that their advisor is “smart” or a master of their trade. For this prospect, this is what tells them their advisor can be trusted to make the right decisions. They are skeptical because they don’t want to feel like they made the wrong choice when selecting an advisor. The stakes are high – they’re trusting you with their life savings after all, it can’t get much higher.
The strategic, brainy prospects will likely respond well to detailed and technical marketing content. You might also know this style of content that writes about one or two sentences to a paragraph; where each sentence is pretty punchy. The clients who value convenience and trust more will likely respond better to simpler content with a more professional and user-friendly experience.
It’s not to say that the trust-based prospects don’t need proof that the advisor they’re vetting is credible. They do, but they’ll get that proof elsewhere such as in face-to-face interactions. Online, the barrier to that proof is a lot lower than the more technical and skeptical prospects.
As a brief aside, testimonials work effectively for both groups but more effectively for the first type of prospect I outlined. Testimonials utilize a concept of marketing called social proof. To the “convenience and trust based” shopper it quickly allows them to identify there are others like them that have had success with this advisor and thus they are a reasonable choice. To the more analytical prospect, testimonial e-mail shows proof of results, as the giver of the testimonial would not do it if the result were bad, which is ultimately what they are searching for to validate their buying decision.
Giving the convenience and relationship-based prospects that technical, long form financial content will likely overwhelm them. They will see the financial world as a swirling storm of numbers and a conversation they can’t contribute to. At the very least, they will stop reading quickly and not open many more emails. Remember, these types of prospects are looking for you to clarify this world for them, not reiterate its complexity.
As a result, long form, more technical materials make this would-be prospect recoil and move on to other options that tailor to their current level of understanding and accommodate their general disinterest to learn more. After all, if they wanted to learn about finance, they may have gone into that career path themselves or become a retirement do-it-yourselfer.
Most prospects fall into the “convenient and easy relationship” camp. So, broadly, the content that appeals to that demographic is a superior choice as marketing content.
So that leaves:
Highly technical and long content (via email) is good for advisors who comes off as “Brainy Smurf” FOR other “Brainy Smurf” prospects.
It would be worth it for a “Brainy Smurf” advisor or advisory to put together a long form newsletter where they rant on whatever intelligent things come to mind that week for their audience to read. This would help attract those clients where other simpler content marketing is not hitting the mark.
The way to build this list of brainy prospects is different and more challenging. When making content online, and through other channels, such as giving a talk on finance in person (as one example) that is technical and then within the content, and at the end, direct them to your newsletter. “If you’re interested in more content just like this then subscribe to my newsletter/this channel.” Prospects will self-select for the technical content they want.
Theoretically, an advisory could do both. I recommend a general newsletter for the average prospect and then a technical newsletter for those who opt into it (by enjoying other similar technical content).
Be warned though, the brainy advisor persona is a lot of work to do well. The way I see it, someone trying to appear like “Brainy Smurf” in the space, needs to be extra active in the financial advisor world. This means commenting on social media a lot with their insights, posting their own thoughts, sharing wise anecdotes at parties about finance, advertising their accomplishments in the field, writing articles or a book, collaborating with other people who are seen as knowledgeable in the field, and more. Obviously, that is a lot to add to someone’s plate who is already an advisor running their own small business.
This lays out how a financial professional could find themselves with a strong social media and YouTube presence, assuming the work is put in for a consistent amount of time. And when they start to gain a real following on YouTube, TikTok or other platforms, then we can wrap back around to capturing the less technical focus via one YouTube video explaining something simpler on your channel with a strong call to sign up for an appointment.
In conclusion, effective email marketing and copywriting for financial advisors requires a nuanced understanding of the target audience. Tailoring content to suit the preferences of both convenience-based and strategic, tactical prospects is key to engaging potential clients effectively. For the former, simplicity and trust-building content is paramount, whereas the latter group is more receptive to detailed, technical information. By leveraging the power of testimonials and adopting a dual-strategy approach—offering both a general newsletter for the average prospect and a more technical one for those seeking in-depth knowledge—advisors can cater to a diverse range of client needs. However, financial advisors should be mindful of the commitment required to maintain a ‘Brainy Smurf’ persona and its associated activities. A strong, consistent online presence through social media, YouTube, and other platforms can further bolster an advisor’s credibility and reach. Ultimately, the key is to align content strategies with the varying needs and interests of prospects, ensuring that each communication adds value and builds trust in the advisor-client relationship.
About the Author: Marcus Roth is Simplicity Lone Beacon’s Senior Director of Data, Automation & Content. Marcus has a unique experience in B2B and B2C start-up companies ranging from enterprise-level market research of Artificial Intelligence to self-defense eCommerce products. His experience in AI market research brought him, and his research, to INTERPOL, The United Nations and Harvard University.
