“Marketers relentlessly bombard us with a deluge of messages from every angle – advertising, publicity and the Internet. In response, we’ve learned how to shut off to the communication barrage to the point that the majority of messages are just blur, failing to trigger any response and generating zero return for marketers,” said Claudio Pannunzio.

“For financial advisers in the US and Australia marketing to their key audiences, there is nothing they can do to change the message-overload situation. The problem is a global phenomenon.”

“What advisers can do is connect to their audience in an intelligent manner by providing them original information that grabs their attention.”

The secret says Pannunzio is to communicate differently. Advisers need to do more than just promote their products, services and areas of expertise. They must provide valuable and authoritative content that offers solutions to problems.

Content marketing is the art of communicating with key audiences without focusing solely on selling. It involves the creation and dissemination of original and useful content aimed at educating key audiences, rather than just squarely giving them a sales pitch.

Pannunzio continued, “The ultimate goal of content marketing is to provide information on a proactive and ongoing basis; information that the target audience finds valuable and that ultimately positions the adviser as a trusted professional.”

“From Fortune 100 companies to small businesses, companies of all sizes are embracing content marketing for one reason: it works. It works because it is focused on relevancy and value – the two characteristics that separate effective communication from the
daily spam consumers have grown accustomed.”

A recent study conducted by Information Technology Services Marketing  Association revealed that nearly 67% of US buyers of products and/or services reach out to vendors only after they have gathered facts and data through their own research, not vice versa.

In most cases, before an individual establishes contact with a business, he / she is already armed with information about the firm, its team and the products and strategies they offer. This new consumer attitude enables financial advisers to leverage content marketing to proactively educate prospects about investment products and strategies, industry lingo and available solutions.

Pannunzio said, “Empowering your clients and prospective new customers with knowledge that allows them to pose the right questions and get personalized answers enables you to establish a relationship of trust. That’s what content marketing is all about.”

“In essence, your clients and prospects engage in conversation with you before you even know they are interested in your services.”

Effective marketing content causes audiences to pause, read, get engaged, behave and act. In reaching out to audiences advisers should focus on creating thoughtprovoking rather than thought-leading content.

“In our information overload times, thought leadership continues to be essential, but it is no longer enough to generate appropriate reaction from your clients and prospective clients. Your content marketing strategy must prompt them to take action.”

“This could be by simply downloading your newsletter, signing up for a seminar/event, accessing significant articles or white papers or becoming your advocates,” concluded Claudio Pannunzio.

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The provision of financial planning services is a very personal business in which an adviser’s role often morphs from consultant to personal confidant. Because clients entrust advisers with their life savings and dreams, relationships have a large emotional component.

Claudio Pannunzio said “Video Killed the Radio Star blurted a 1979 song declaring the demise of radio and ushered us into the era of music videos. Today, video is rapidly replacing not just audio but the written word, too.”

“Because people think visually, images can be a powerful tool for financial advisers to establish and maintain trust and confidence.”

By 2015, according to eMarketer.com, 76% of the Internet audience, or roughly 195.5 million people, will be viewing video online on a regular basis. As much as we like print (most of you are reading this, after all, not watching it), videos are more powerful than words simply because people think visually.

“When we read, our minds convert printed scribbles into visual images that we encode with emotion and remember. When information comes directly in the form of an image rather than words, our minds can grasp more and make more connections because it’s not doing any of word-image translation,” said Pannunzio.

Dr James McQuivey of Forrester Research makes that point in his research, which found that one minute of video equals 1.8 million words. In a single frame, therefore, a video can deliver the same amount of information as three pages of text. While video is unlikely to erase the written word – just as it didn’t entirely replace radio – the inherent strength of the visual medium and the ever-vanishing technological barriers to its creation have powerful implications for financial advisers.

Pannunzio continued, “Video, far better than words, enables an adviser to appeal to the visual and emotional part of a client’s brain, thereby facilitating a better understanding of concepts surrounding money, investments and risk protection. More important, video establishes an emotional bond that even the best-written material cannot achieve.”

Video also can be a powerful component of an adviser website. A concise and informative video captivates users, inducing them to stay on your site. Videos can help advisers attract and retain new clients or generate new business from existing ones. Sending to a prospect a 60-second video underscoring an adviser’s expertise, investment approach and recapping the specific issues discussed during a first meeting can be an effective and highly personalized follow-up strategy. Also, a short educational video articulating the benefits of investing, saving, retirement planning, etc and featuring a clear call-to-action, could be instrumental in generating new business.

Advisers can also use video to deliver timely market updates, commentaries and insights on breaking news, and convey their thoughts on specific subjects. Instead of traditional greeting cards or e-mails, a growing number of US based advisers are beginning to use videos to send anniversary best wishes, thank you messages, invitations to special events or seminars, and to introduce new employees and new practice capabilities.

According to a recent research conducted by YouOn TV – a global new media and information technologies company – web surfers spend 48 seconds, on average, on a specific website. When a site features a video, however, average time spent jumps to five minutes and 50 seconds, which is 5.33 times longer than a visit to a traditional text-only website. Simply put, video provides a one-stop shop for information that reduces the need to navigate to other sites and keeps the user engaged until he / she is ready to act on an embedded call-to-action.

In periods of market volatility and uncertainty, the need to initiate and maintain client communication is self-evident. Video is an easy and cost-effective tool that increases an adviser’s face time with clients and adds a personal touch to client relationships. Indisputably, while producing a 60-second video commentary on breaking news takes effort, as well as some commitment of time, being able to reach 50, 100 or even more clients via video instead of individual phone calls or in-person conversations saves significant and valuable time.

“Complementing a traditional communication effort with video enables advisers to enhance the perception of their expertise, extend their brand, foster trust among clients and prospects, and differentiate their firm in the marketplace,” concluded Claudio Pannunzio.

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