by hank berkowitz
wealth management
as the old saying goes, “you only get one chance to make a first impression.” by the same token, you only get one chance to leave a lasting impression. at a time when four out of five high-net-worth individuals are considering leaving their advisors at any given time, can you afford to take a chance with your hard-won clients?
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according to our recent wealth advisor confidence survey™ conducted in association with the financial awareness foundation, webinars, and low-cost, low-effort social media channels such as facebook, twitter, instagram and snapchat are among the least most effective communication channels used by surveyed financial planners, wealth advisors, estate planners, and cpas.
% of respondents finding channels “very” or “extremely” valuable
| channel | advisors expecting to grow by double-digits in 2018 | all other advisors | gap in % points |
| public speaking | 75% | 59% | +16% |
| writing articles for publication | 69% | 48% | +21% |
| writing books/ebooks | 54% | 48% | +6% |
| being quoted in the press | 54% | 30% | +24% |
| blogging | 48% | 29% | +19% |
| producing videos | 48% | 17% | +31% |
| hosting client events | 44% | 35% | +9% |
| publishing on linkedin | 32% | 20% | +12% |
| webinars | 22% | 23% | -1% |
| tweeting | 4% | 13% | -9% |
| 7% | 13% | -6% | |
| instagram, pinterest, snapchat | 4% | 6% | -2% |
source: hb publishing & marketing co, llc and the financial awareness foundation,2017
further, advisors that expected to grow by double digits over the next 12 months were less likely to use these low-cost channels than their less confident peers.
by contrast, advisors who expect to grow by double digits over the next year are more likely than other advisors to blog, write articles for publication, produce videos and publish on linkedin.
in other words, the channels that require the most time and thought are the ones that high-performing advisors are most likely to use….we didn’t say most expensive. we just said the ones requiring the most mental “heavy lifting.”
sure, but won’t social media endear you to millennial clients, prospects, and workers? not exactly. turns out that advisors in their 30s and 40s are generally less likely than their older peers to find webinars and social media effective forms of client communication (see table below).
% of respondents finding channels “very” or “extremely” valuable
| channel | advisors age 30-39 |
advisors age 40-49 |
advisors age 50+ | under 50 vs over 50* |
| webinars | 0% | 22% | 29% | 16% less likely |
| tweeting | 0% | 11% | 10% | 1% more likely |
| 0% | 0% | 14% | 14% less likely |
|
| instagram, pinterest, snapchat | 0% | 0% | 7% | 7% less likely |
source: hb publishing & marketing co, llc and the financial awareness foundation,2017
* age 30-49 combined vs. age 50-70+ combined
as my grandfather always said, “you get what you pay for.”
don’t cut corners when it comes to communicating clients. be timely and be relevant. but unless you’re the president, take the time to put some thought into what you are saying, before you post, tweet or publish.
or, as they say in academic circles, “publish or perish!”