Advisors with a defined marketing strategy
falls to the lowest rate in five years (20% in U.S.), yet
confidence in meeting practice goals remains high
Less than half of U.S. advisors currently use
or plan to use generative AI for marketing, compared to 56% of
Canadian advisors
NEW
YORK and TORONTO,
Feb. 7,
2024 /CNW/ -- As macroeconomic volatility has
led to an influx of investors seeking financial advice, advisors
are increasingly looking to next-generation technology such as
generative AI to address their marketing challenges and meet the
increased personalization expectations of prospects and clients,
according to global Fintech leader Broadridge Financial Solutions,
Inc. (NYSE: BR) annual financial advisor marketing survey.
In its fifth year, this annual survey evaluates North American
registered financial advisors' sentiment and activities around
digital marketing strategies, shedding light on the successes and
challenges that advisors are facing. According to this year's
survey, advisors are now more than ever struggling with their
marketing efforts due to a lack of time and expertise needed to
build a successful strategy, yet many are finding success in
building their practices through a personalized content approach
and leveraging next-generation technologies such as AI to reach
their prospective and current client base.
Frequent, Meaningful Communications Serve as Drivers for
Advisor Growth
As investors demand a more high-touch experience from their
advisors, financial advisors who communicate more frequently with
their clients are found to be far more confident in meeting their
practice goals. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. advisors who
communicate at least quarterly with their clients are confident in
meeting their goals compared to 51% who communicate with clients
annually or less frequently. Similarly, U.S. advisors who are
personalizing their content marketing are more confident in
reaching their practice goals (71% compared to 62%), and have
almost double the rate of being "very confident" in reaching
practice goals next year (30% vs. 18%).
Those who are personalizing their content are also more likely
to:
- convert social media leads to clients (45% vs. 34%)
- use generative AI (50% vs. 38%)
- spend more time on marketing efforts (an average 2.5 vs. 1.9
hours a week)
- have a defined marketing strategy (32% vs. 10%)
- generate more website leads (an average of 3.3 leads person
month vs. 1.9)
An important element in an advisor's growth strategy is
personalized educational content that forges deeper relationships
and helps clients achieve their unique goals, and yet many advisors
find challenges in developing and sharing personalized education.
The top reasons that U.S. advisors don't share educational content
with clients are that they're not sure how to best go about it
(49%), don't find enough time (46%), perceive a lack of interest
from clients (44%), and run into compliance issues (34%). To
overcome these challenges, many financial advisors are leveraging
innovative technology solutions. The survey found that over half
(56%) of Canadian advisors are currently using or plan to use
generative AI in digital marketing strategies compared to 43% of
U.S. advisors.
Advisor AI Usage and
Perceptions
The top use cases for AI among North American advisors include
generating personalized content, developing personalized marketing
campaigns, automating administrative tasks and communications and
segmenting clients and prospects, highlighting how generative AI is
a key tool in enabling advisors to engage with clients in more
meaningful ways while lowering their operating costs.
Along with generative AI, advisors are also looking to ramp up
their investments in social media for digital marketing, with 57%
of Canadian currently or planning to invest in social media
marketing compared to 43% of U.S. advisors. This is likely because
Canadian advisors are placing a greater emphasis on attracting
Millennial and Gen Z clients compared to their U.S. counterparts.
Canadian advisors have also been more successful in converting
social media leads to clients (44% vs. 39% of U.S. advisors), with
LinkedIn and Facebook being the top two social media platforms for
lead conversions across North
America.
"An advisor recently told me she no longer competes only with
other advisors when building a sustainable practice with younger
clients, she competes against TikTok influencers as well. 2023 was
the year of generative AI, and tech-savvy advisors can break
through the clutter as they develop use cases to better personalize
their content and communications for multi-generational clients,"
says Kevin Darlington, General
Manager, Head of Broadridge Advisor Solutions. "However, many
concerns and questions remain around the technology, so advisors
should understand the risks and opportunities to leveraging
generative AI in a digital marketing strategy to remain compliant
while attracting prospects. Similarly, social media has become a
popular tool to attract the next generation of potential clients
and should be harnessed effectively for lead generation."
The Number of Advisors with a Defined Marketing Strategy
Reaches Lowest Level in Five Years
The number of advisors leveraging a defined marketing strategy
has fallen due to the number of challenges that advisors face when
it comes to marketing. Nearly all advisors (99% of U.S. and 98% of
CA) find marketing activities challenging. The top two challenges
North American advisors face include finding time for marketing
initiatives and sourcing the right expertise. However, having a
defined marketing strategy can help ease these pressures.
The number of U.S. advisors who have a defined marketing
strategy is at the lowest level since 2019; 20% in 2023 compared to
28% in 2019. Similarly, only 21% of Canadian advisors report having
a defined marketing strategy.
Despite a decline in advisors with a defined marketing strategy,
those who leverage one are significantly more confident in meeting
their practice goals over the next 12 months (83% and 89% of U.S.
and Canadian advisors, respectively, compared to 62% and 61% of
U.S. and Canadian advisors without a defined marketing
strategy).
Seventy percent of U.S. advisors with a defined marketing
strategy saw an increase in inbound requests in the past 12 months
compared to just 44% of advisors without a defined marketing
strategy. For Canadian advisors, the difference was nearly double -
63% of those with a defined marketing strategy saw an increase in
the number of inbound requests compared to 32% of advisors without
a defined strategy.
"We conduct this survey annually to analyze how advisor behavior
is evolving with the changing financial advice landscape. There is
a direct correlation between advisors who spend more time on their
marketing efforts, their levels of confidence, and the number of
prospects they attract," adds Darlington. "It simply shows that
devoting the right amount of time to create a defined strategy
drives measurable results, helps advisors map out their time
commitment and allocate the appropriate resources before they set
out to engage in marketing. Advisors should leverage the right
tools and technology that can save them time, resources and allow
them to be intentional with their efforts to get the highest
ROI."
Read the detailed insights from Broadridge's fifth-annual
financial advisor marketing survey here.
Methodology
The Broadridge survey was conducted by 8 Acre Perspective, an
independent marketing research firm. A total of 403 U.S. financial
advisors across primarily IBD and RIA channels completed the
survey, which was fielded from October
20-November 15, 2023. A total of 131 Canadian financial
advisors across primarily IBD and Regional Full-Service Brokerage
channels also completed the survey, which was fielded from
October 25-December 4, 2023.
For further details on survey methodology, please contact a
Broadridge media representative.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech
leader with over $6 billion in
revenues, provides the critical infrastructure that powers
investing, corporate governance and communications to enable better
financial lives. We deliver technology-driven solutions to banks,
broker-dealers, asset and wealth managers and public companies.
Broadridge's infrastructure serves as a global communications hub
enabling corporate governance by linking thousands of public
companies and mutual funds to tens of millions of individual and
institutional investors around the world. In addition, Broadridge's
technology and operations platforms underpin the daily trading of
on average more than U.S. $10
trillion of equities, fixed income and other securities
globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is a part of
the S&P 500® Index, employing over 14,000 associates in 21
countries.
For more information about Broadridge, please visit
www.broadridge.com.
Media Contact:
Matthew Luongo
Prosek Partners
+1 646-818-9279
mluongo@prosek.com
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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.