How are these for a couple of impressive statistics?

1. Inbound marketing is 61% less expensive per lead than outbound marketing
2. 58% of smart industry leading companies have turned to inbound marketing techniques, with more looking to expand their strategies every day.

If your asset management firm is still relying on outbound marketing to generate leads and sales, it’s being left behind by competitive fund managers that have embraced inbound marketing. Marketing savvy asset managers know that RIAs are thirsty for information and are scouring digital platforms for insights into investment strategies, offerings, and trends to help their clients.

Outbound marketing usually takes the form of direct mail, email, cold calls/telemarketing, and online ads. It’s unwieldy to provide deep information in these mediums. They are also “one-and-done”—once they are executed, that’s it. The direct mail and email gets thrown into trash. The online ad is seen and then quickly forgotten. Cold calls rarely get picked up, and forget about someone returning a voicemail. Plus, your direct mail, email, and cold calls are only as effective the quality of your list. The idea is not to abandon all these tools, but to use them strategically.

The defining aspect—and winning attribute—of inbound marketing is that it targets advisors in the early stages of the investment journey and helps educate them. It is the front line for attracting leads and nurturing connections. The digital tools in the asset manager’s inbound marketing arsenal are more effective, cost-efficient, flexible, and trackable.

Let’s take a closer look at three core components of inbound marketing for asset managers:

BLOG POSTS

The heavy hitter of inbound marketing. Companies with blogs get 97% more inbound inquiries than those without. Advisors read blog posts because they want to; they are actively searching for information. Plus, a blog post lives on; it stays on the Internet to be bookmarked, copied, forwarded. It is keyword-rich for search engine optimization. Moreover, a blog post can be multi-purposed for social media, which brings us to…

SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS

Today’s culture depends on social media for a lot of its news —and is always looking for reliable sources. RIAs are no different in their behavior. Consistent social media updates show advisors your firm is current and attuned to today’s issues. The average person spends over an hour and a half every day on social media. This includes advisors and this is where you can reach them with an informative post, tweet, or comment. Unlike cold calls, social media posts reach advisors at any time—day, night, weekend—whenever they are inclined to be receptive to information.

WEB PAGES

Strategically designed, logically organized, and well-written web pages ensure that visitors engage with your content. Like blog posts, web pages are keyword-rich for SEO and are available whenever an advisor is searching for information. Like its sister inbound marketing components, web pages have the advantage of built-in analytics. The metrics can tell you where visiting advisors are coming from (both geographically and which digital platform), whether they stay on a page or bounce right off, and whether they take action.

Because, after all, you want advisors to take action—whether that is moving along the sales funnel to request gated, downloadable content or going direct to you with a call or email.