What Asset Managers Get Wrong About Marketing

The digital revolution has affected every aspect of modern day marketing. If your asset management firm is still relying on traditional methods, you’re missing opportunities to attract RIAs to your firm’s platform. Or, just as painful, you are spending way too much time and money on inefficient tactics.

So What Is Working in the RIA Channel? Inbound Marketing

Asset management firms that still rely on outbound techniques are being left behind. Outbound marketing uses mass attraction to reach the broadest swath of advisors. It’s promotional content that inundates advisors with messages about your firm, your offerings, your team. Sadly, even after throwing tons of money into outbound marketing, the results tend to be rather limp—advisors tend to tune out, few respond, and even fewer lead to sales. 

How Does Digital Technology Impact Inbound Marketing?

Digital technology has changed the paradigm. The focus has moved from “it’s all about you” to “what information can you provide that helps RIAs do their job.” Digital technology has opened the doors to RIAs researching investment strategies, offerings, products, and trends. The veil has been lifted. RIAs can decide for themselves which asset managers make the most sense for their clients based on managers’ thought leadership and subject matter expertise, which, at the end of the day, all affects investment portfolio performance.

Inbound Marketing for Asset Managers Means Providing Information

For RIAs, the decision about which firms to invest with begins with information. Today, advisors expect asset managers to provide fresh expertise and insights. And they are using digital technology to find that information—websites, blogs, downloadable white papers, and more. The strategic advantage of inbound marketing for asset managers is—instead of approaching any and all potential advisors—now, you draw the advisors with the most potential to you. The result may be fewer leads, but those you get are far more qualified and provide a greater ROI.

Quality of Information and Relevant Information

It’s not just the quality of the information that you deliver—which of course needs to be high—it’s information that a RIA is receptive to. Let’s use the example of an asset manager that specializes in high yield products. An advisor who needs investment options to preserve wealth is not looking at messages about high yields. There’s no interest and hence no connection. But for the advisor who is avidly researching high yield offerings, once they come upon the asset manager’s information, the response is: “tell me more.”

The core goal of inbound marketing is to attract viable leads.

Connection, Conversation, Conversion

Once advisors come to view you as a viable, reliable source for information, they will seek your services and products and come directly to you. Digital technology gives your firm the ability to market 24/7, 365. You attract advisors when they are most eager for information, guidance, and expertise. As a result, sales conversions are much more cost-effective.

Tracking Inbound Marketing within the RIA Channel

Along with being inefficient, outbound marketing is hard to track. Inbound marketing strategies have embedded analytic tools to make engagement and ROI easily trackable. There’s a number of key metrics asset managers can analyze, from visits to click-throughs (CTs) to time spent on a page. Double bonus: the ability to parse data by any number of variables including message, date, and platform. Those asset management firms that have truly embraced inbound marketing will go even further, with techniques that test and optimize headlines. Content management systems (CMS) have made tailoring and fine-tuning content quick, easy, and effective. Given the significant advantages of inbound marketing, it should come as no surprise:

58% of smart industry leading companies have turned to inbound marketing techniques, with more looking to expand their strategies every day.

Simply put, raising capital today in the RIA channel demands the use of inbound marketing. Don’t be the last to the party. Build your credibility and content, and your base will organically grow.