Does marketing automation actually save you time?
Absolutely! Both through content creation and digital marketing administrative tasks, marketing automation tools save financial advisors and their key support team’s time. Even if marketing or writing is something you enjoy (which we know isn't everyone's favorite), 85% of advisors report that finding time for marketing is a challenge. Having marketing technology that can help you stay top of mind for your clients and prospects without requiring time or extra work can be a huge benefit to your marketing efforts.
Is marketing automation content good quality?
This will depend on your service provider and business goals. Marketing automation content is naturally something that's not written by you or your team, and (with most providers) is available to other advisors. This is fine if it's utilized to stay top of mind for your audience(s) but should not be relied on to grow or support meaningful long-lasting relationships. For that, you’ll want to reach out individually as you’re able, host ideal client events to connect in person, and of course be authentic in your client meetings. Ideally, you want to find a marketing automation tool that allows you to create your own content (emails, social posts, email drip campaigns, etc.) that are unique to your firm but are released automatically according to their scheduled times.
What compliance considerations should I make when choosing a marketing automation tool?
Staying compliant while utilizing automated marketing can vary in difficulty, so knowing how the system works regarding compliance approval and content publishing/sending is vital. Marketing content sent to more than 25 people is subject to compliance ad review before being sent, which can make automated sends tricky to manage assuming you’re looking to email in bulk.
For your own sake, make sure copying or downloading content is easy so you can submit to compliance without too much hassle. Also confirm that content cannot be sent without being marked as compliance-approved.
The other major factor is time – if the marketing automation content is timely, talk to your compliance team about if review is possible with the amount of lead time your system provides between publishing (available for review) and sending (which requires review). Talk to your broker-dealer as you explore options, because your marketing and compliance teams may have found a seamless solution that takes the stress out of compliance approval for marketing automation content.
How important is CRM integration to a marketing automation tool?
Marketing automation is designed to save you time. If you or your team have to manually update your contact list or add new contacts to the various recipient lists each time you use their content, you’re not using the best or most efficient tool possible. While you can do it this way, CRM integration is also a key component of the list accuracy element of marketing automation for financial advisors. Most major marketing automation tools will have integrations established with the biggest CRM systems, but for any email or digital marketing tools you’re considering, make sure that your CRM integrates. This becomes especially important to screen for if you are considering a marketing automation tool or using a CRM that is not specific to financial advisors or the financial services industry.
How long does it take to get started with marketing automation?
Likely not long! If you’re choosing to move your website to a new servicer for built-in automated emails to open on your site directly, the website build will be the longest portion of the setup by far. Most marketing automation accounts can be setup within a week, and once established, the automations themselves should be easy to toggle on and off. You’ll just want to schedule time for the initial account setup (providing your email, branding, billing information, etc.), email domain verification (ask about their recommended best practices for deliverability), CRM integration, system training, and reviewing available content. Once initially setup, the time spent should be minimal – just an occasional check in to make sure everything is working correctly.
What does marketing automation cost?
Figuring out how/where to spend can be difficult, but digital marketing has been growing in popularity – and in consumer expectation – for many years. Marketing automations take the time-suck of digital marketing away from financial advisors but this naturally has fiscal costs as well:
Retail prices for FMG, Snappy Kraken, and many others tend to range dramatically based on quality and uniquely structured contracts. For reference, FMG is our chosen partner, and their retail pricing ranges from $99/month for an essential marketing suite with scheduling capabilities to $895/month for done-for-you marketing. Often, enterprise agreements can bring that price point down, but those are obviously only available if your Broker-Dealer has a contract with one or multiple firms.
What metrics should be tracked to help determine ROI for marketing budgets?
Marketing strategy development requires knowing your goals and having clear objectives for all paid digital marketing tools. Determine your primary objective (lead generation, client nurturing, basic touch points, etc.) and choose measurable key performance indicators from there (open rates, click rates, unsubscribes, etc.) to revisit if you think the cost is worth it for what you’re getting out of the tool.
It’s important to note here that if the goal is to nurture clients, the return on investment is hard to measure, so asking for feedback on the communications you send to this audience might help you better gauge how this tool is impacting the perception of value you provide to clients. Value-added activities like content and resources sent/provided do impact ROI but are likely more nuanced and likely to be overlooked when sourcing value of new business done with those clients, so feedback may be key to revisiting worthiness of your investment.
Is marketing automation worth it for financial advisors?
We can't just give you the answer to that, unfortunately. Financial advisors spend an average of $15,908/year on marketing activities, and it’s up to them to determine how much of that budget should go to digital marketing and if marketing automation should be part of that. We can share that often advisors decide marketing automation is worth it because “something is better than nothing" rings true when it comes to communications with your clients. You certainly want tools and systems in place to stay in touch with your clients and keep yourself in front of your prospects regularly. Having value-adding content made available to them regularly keeps you top of mind when they think of their financial advisor.
