Launching the Ensombl Blue Ocean Topic Matrix: the topics advisors care most about

Key points

• Second edition of What Advisors Want report released
• AI used to analyse conversations of 8,750 users of Ensombl advisor platform
• Top 10 topics for July- Dec 2023 ranked, revealing 54% increase in posts and advisor focus shifting more towards retirement and associated topics
• Report introduces two powerful tools for providers – Blue Ocean Topic Matrix and Ensombl Sentiment Index
• Blue Ocean topics – where providers can more easily differentiate themselves when engaging with advisors – include strategy, platforms, HR, and pricing of advice
• Advisor engagement with superannuation, investments and insurance is relatively low
• At the start of 2024, Advisor Sentiment was at its lowest level since Oct 2020.

Financial Advisor professional networking platform Ensombl has released its latest user insights report, What Advisors Want.

The second edition of the report examines the topics most frequently discussed and engaged with, by around 8,750 platform users, over the second half of 2023. Using proprietary AI, more than 2 million data points were captured and analysed, spanning thousands of conversations and engagement actions across the entire Ensombl ecosystem.

Among the trends evident in the high-level data was a marked uplift in the frequency of user posts, and a shift in advisor focus.

Posts around the Top 10 topics were up 54% compared to the first half of 2023. A significant increase in advisor focus on Retirement, Client Experience, Platforms, and Centrelink saw these topics break into the Top 10, while Professional Year, Client Acquisition, Strategy, and SMSFs fell down the rankings and out of the Top 10.

The second edition of What Advisors Want is also the first to plot the frequency, engagement, and sentiment associated with advisor engagement across the platform, enabling two powerful new insight tools to be brought to life: The Blue Ocean Topic Matrix, and the Ensombl Sentiment Index.

The Blue Ocean Topic Matrix maps advisor conversations across two dimensions – frequency and engagement. This sees conversations assigned to one of four topic oceans – blue, green, amber, and red. In simple terms, this shows how many advisors are talking about a topic, and how interesting they find that topic.

For providers seeking to target advisors, the Blue Ocean matrix provides invaluable guidance as to the content and messages likely to achieve the most cut through for the lowest investment, thus driving the highest marketing return on investment (ROI).

Blue Ocean topics include HR, fees and pricing, platforms, and strategy, while red ocean topics (crowded but disengaged conversations) include superannuation, investments, and insurance.

The Ensombl Sentiment Index uses Natural Language Processing to gauge underlying sentiment behind advisor conversations. At the start of 2024, advisor sentiment was at its lowest level since October 2020.

Commenting on the launch of the report, Ensombl CEO Clayton Daniel, said the AI-led analysis revealed the frequency of conversations about a topic didn’t always translate into advisor engagement.

“Many high-volume conversations, such as those around superannuation and life insurance, are actually quite shallow, BAU-type conversations, with low engagement from advisors. For a provider these ‘red oceans’ are crowded spaces to be in, taking more effort and resources to stand out. Blue ocean topics on the other hand are discussed less frequently, but attract extremely high engagement, allowing providers to stand out, and connect with advisors far more easily.”

“In terms of shifting advisor focus, we can see conversations around retirement and Centrelink, two related topics, were significantly higher in the second half of 2023, likely reflecting the increased advertising and marketing by providers in this space,” he said.

“Our vision as a community is to give advisors a seat at the table with providers, creating a conduit between their challenges and the product development and innovation that will shape the future of the profession. We want real-life advisor problems to shape marketplace solutions, and by showing providers the topics enabling more effective engagement, we hope to be able to strengthen advisor/provider connection and make it easier to establish that conduit,” said Daniel.

Read the report.