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When it comes to marketing, financial advisors fall into one of two categories: they believe that their services don’t need marketing – after all, everyone needs help with their finances – or they are stuck in a rut of tried-and-true methods, relying primarily on COI and client referrals.
If you’ve been waiting for a sign that those tactics aren’t enough, this is it.
Luckily, there is an extremely effective and cost-saving marketing strategy to give your advisory business the boost it needs: email marketing.
When implemented correctly, email marketing will generate new leads. But while it may seem simple enough, there are considerations to follow to ensure its success. To see growth in your clientele as an advisor, here is my list of email marketing trends.
Six email marketing trends advisors need to follow
1. Email marketing automation
Email marketing used to function with a marketing team curating multiple emails and sending them out individually or in batches. However, as a financial advisor, do you have the time to do that? Does anyone?
One of the biggest trends that I recommend hopping on is email marketing automation. This is a strategy that sends out sequences of emails based on certain “triggers,” also known as a “drip campaign.”
A major benefit of automation is consistent communication with your clients. It also avoids the problem of content overload – you won’t be spamming your clients with emails. Instead, your clients will only get an email when they perform a specific action, such as downloading a file from your site.
If you don’t have a great team of technicians to build an automated email marketing system, don’t worry. There is plenty of automation software that can help you employ this strategy.
2. Subject lines
This strategy has been around for a while...and that’s because it works. According to Hubspot, 35% of email recipients decide whether to open an email based solely on the subject line.
If your email’s subject line is boring or cliché, it’s going to be ignored. Remember, your clients get hundreds of emails each day, and with a boring subject line yours will get lost in a sea of mail.
Here are some tips on how to write an eye-catching subject line:
- Include the first name of the recipient in the subject line;
- Don’t use more than 60 characters;
- Avoid certain flagged words like “free” or “help” that could get your email marked as spam; and
- Try using an emoji.
Getting the perfect subject line is a process of trial and error. Try A/B testing or sending batches of emails using different subject lines to see which one gets the highest response rate. Once you find the right fit, use it!
3. Visual appeal
To efficiently promote your financial advising services, make it as easy as possible for potential clients to understand what you’re saying. A great way to do this is by making your emails visually appealing.
I’m talking about adding pictures, videos, infographics, maybe even a GIF... A bright, visually appealing, and easy-to-read email will attract the recipient's attention and keep them engaged.
Experiment with video. This could be anything from a cool animation explaining how your services work, to a straightforward video of you standing and talking about the financial services you’re offering. Regardless, adding a video can increase click rates on your email by 300%!
4. The shorter the better
Imagine this. You get an email that is just a big old chunk of text. After a tiring day at work, are you going to take the time to read everything in the message?
Of course not, and your clients won’t either.
A long-detailed email may seem like the best way to get your message across, but it will prevent the recipient from reading it. Instead, keep your emails short and simple.
Think of it this way, the longer your email is, the more chances a recipient has to close the email or click elsewhere. If your email is short and sweet, they’ll read through it quickly, and even if they don’t click further and inquire into your services, they’ll leave with some knowledge of who you are and what you do.
5. Mobile optimization
An iPhone or Gmail app is used to read 56% of emails. That means more than half of the emails you’re sending out will be read on a phone screen. Another statistic shows that 81% of people prefer using their smartphones to go through emails. If your emails aren’t optimized for mobile use, you’re in big trouble.
Emails that are not optimized for phones will take a long time to load, have trouble loading graphics, and will have poor readability. If this is the kind of email you’re sending out, no recipient is going to want to open it, let alone sign up for the financial services you’re offering.
6. List segmentation
List segmentation is an email marketing strategy that is quite popular in the real estate industry and can be equally beneficial for financial advisors. List segmentation breaks up a large email list into multiple smaller lists.
But how does this work? There are a couple of different ways:
Segment your list from the very beginning. When a potential client chooses to subscribe to your mailing list, give them a few different options to choose from regarding the emails they would like to receive – for example, only emails on discounts or deals, or emails on new services being introduced.
The second way to segment your email list is by using certain characteristics. Let’s say there are 1,000 people signed up to your mail list interested in learning about your services. Divide this list according to demographics such as geographic location, age, and job.
Once divided, send out emails relevant to each group. If you have a list of teachers, for example, send them a newsletter about the best ways to plan finances on a teacher’s salary. If you have a list of just young adults, send them an email on why they should start saving early.
By segmenting your email list, you will personalize your emails. More personalized emails build trust among existing and potential clients and can help lead conversions. A 2015 report also showed that segmented emails generate 58% of a company’s revenue.
The takeaway
If you’re not utilizing email marketing as a part of your current marketing strategy, you need to be. An email marketing campaign on its own is effective, but combined with these tips, you’ll reach thousands of people in just a click!
Gretchen Halpin is the co-founder of Beyond AUM, which provides marketing, growth and technology solutions to financial advisors to drive business success. Over the course of her 25-year-career, Gretchen has founded more than five businesses, in addition to serving as the chief strategy officer for one of the financial services industry's leading wealth management firms. She has been featured in Financial Advisor Magazine and Forbes for her insights and has served as a speaker at the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors conference and Financial Advisor Magazine’s Invest in Women conference.
At Beyond AUM, we create tailored growth and marketing strategies that directly influence your target market segments, add value to your current client base, and build a strong referral and lead generation funnel. Email marketing planning and implementation is a crucial piece of our strategy. To learn how we can apply email marketing within your marketing plan, reach out to us today.
Read more articles by Gretchen Halpin
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
