Category: Email

5 Ways to Improve CTAs

Post author By Cherie Fournier
Post date July 28, 2023

Have your eyes ever failed you? You can’t find a pen that’s in your hand, a phone that’s on your desk, or for the sunglasses sitting in your car console. That’s what it feels like when you’re on a web page or reading an email and can’t see where to take action – like your eyes are failing you. Read on to learn how to make sure you’re using clear calls to action (CTAs) to engage wealth advisors and investors.

#1 – Include Multiple CTA Buttons

This is a point of debate among marketers, but we’re proponents for including more than one CTA in our marketing. Why? All advisors and investors are not in the same place on their journey to becoming an investor in your funds. Think about where your readers may be in their journey and guide them to the next logical step or information they need. For example on a website, direct them to information about the “why” behind your asset class AND to your property portfolio. We also have found it effective to use the same CTA multiple times. As advisors read through your content, they don’t want to scroll back up to take action. Help them out by repeating the CTA button to register for your webinar, request more information or whatever you want them to do. Be generous with your CTA buttons/links – make them visible.

#2 – Present a Problem and Provide a Solution

When advisors are reading about your firm, and you’ve strategically brought up the problem they are facing, also provide the solution. For example, if you’re addressing the need to offer investors a strategy that is resilient to inflation, add a CTA to “Learn how FUND is resilient to inflation.”

#3 – Offer Value

Advisors love educational information – not just on your offering, but on your asset class, the market and trends. Use accessing value-add and thought leadership content as a CTA. Make sure this content is high-quality and timely…and worth an advisor’s attention. Maybe you create a report on market trends, explain the demand drivers of your asset class or explain something unique about your investment structure. You could offer this content in a webinar as well, with your CTA as registering for the event. Make it a lead generator by requiring a form to access written content.

#4 – Personalize the CTA

Isn’t it great to see your name in emails? It not only makes the email more personal, it also garners attention as we see our name in writing. When using email automation systems, it’s easy to add a line in like this: “NAME, click here to register now,” or “Learn more here, NAME.” People are going to click.

#5 – Make The CTA Interactive

The last tip on improving your CTA is to make them interactive. You can ask questions or have people take a quiz. Make it fun and engaging. And collect data on the engagements and how your CTAs are performing so you continually improve them. With today’s technology, you can often grab an advisor’s information from their interaction – an automatic lead that you can follow up with.

There are so many options out there to improve your CTAs, and to design them in a way that’s eye grabbing and brings you to the forefront in engaging advisors over your competitors. If you would like to discuss how we can help improve your CTAs, reach out to us.

About Marketing Intent

We are a sales-focused marketing group specializing in alternative investments with a track record in marketing that helps drive sales. We live by the mantra, “nothing happens until something is sold.” Our marketing serves as the backbone of sales. Our work makes your prospects and clients take notice, ask questions and listen to your story. Learn how we can help create marketing that helps raise capital.

What Makes You Automatically Delete an Email?

Post author By Cherie Fournier
Post date July 21, 2023
No Comments on What Makes You Automatically Delete an Email?

What makes you automatically delete an email? For us, it’s when it’s nothing but words – that’s an automatic DELETE. No one has the attention span for that…and all those words tell us that someone doesn’t respect our time. Read on to learn how you can plan email content more effectively and get your message across immediately.

Don’t Make People Scroll

We recently saw an email from an asset manager that was way too long. It required us to scroll and scroll and scroll….and scroll to get to the bottom. It was longer than a webpage of content. This approach is not catching anyone’s attention – so why do it? It’s not skimmable and we would be surprised if the email performed well.

Avoid the Word Wall

That same email also made the mistake of including no graphics – none. Total word wall. Make your emails more engaging – and less wordy – by using graphics, video, buttons and motion. Make them skimmable…people have an 8 second attention span. What are you doing in your email to at least get that much time…and potentially earn another 8 seconds because your content is engaging. Graphics are also more eye friendly. Many people spend so much time at a computer that a change of “scenery” is welcome and they are more likely to engage with it.

Keep Your Email Simple

Our industry is complex, but our emails don’t have to be. Think about your firm, your asset class, your investment offering. Bubble the key points up to engage advisors – don’t give them every detail. Keep it to one topic per email and get to your point quickly with a strong CTA. Your emails should be making your sales team’s job easier – make sure they are performing well for that purpose. Keep it short and jargon free.

We love a good email challenge…need a rewrite on an email? Have a topic you don’t think can be boiled down? Send it our way. We’d love to help you make a strong email performer out of it.

About Marketing Intent

Email Is Not Dead

Did you know email is not dead? It just needs to evolve.

Evolving Your Email

We recently learned that wifi wasn’t initially adopted. With the obsession to find a wifi network, get a wifi password and check to see if a location we’re vacationing to is wifi friendly, this is surprising. But the reason why is because the icon that you click on to get to wifi was static initially so people ignored it. Once the icon became dynamic, people adopted the technology far more readily and started to seek it out. Email is much the same way.

For example, in an email promoting a webinar, there’s often a static “Register Now” button – and no movement. To engage more people, this button can be flashing to get them to notice it and take action. Or within the email, movement can be added to garner attention in other ways too…like a reel of photos going across the top, animated gifs.

Completing Actions Within the Email

Another way emails are evolving is by adding actions that can be completed within the email itself. We’ve gotten away from “Click Here” or “Go to another page” because nobody wants to take the time to go to the other page. They want to do what they need to do within the email now. Email automation systems have evolved to help support this trend, offering new ways to keep email effective and vibrant.

Despite marketing trends and fads, email has shown it has staying power. It just needs to continue to evolve to keep advisors’ attention.

If you would like help evolving your emails, reach out to us at Marketing Intent.

Tags Asset Managers, Email Strategy, Marketing Firm, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Team, Prospects

The Power of Email in a Down Market

Post author By Cherie Fournier
Post date May 26, 2023

Marketing is a lot like dating. That was the topic of a recent presentation we did at an industry conference. In dating, a key to getting to know someone and developing trust is through clear and consistent communication.

The same holds true for asset managers marketing to advisors. To establish a relationship, you must communicate consistently and clearly…in all market conditions. When the market goes down, this becomes even more critical. You can’t disappear.

Stay in Front of Advisors with Email

This is when a very cost-efficient marketing tactic like email marketing should be at the top of your list. Yet many asset managers discount it and its effectiveness.

It’s important to let advisors know what’s going on with your company, your fund, and the investments they may have their clients in. You need to consistently show up. They don’t expect you to explain the market volatility or repair it – they just want to know you’re still there and what you’re focused on. You consistently communicating with advisors means it’s easier for them to give their clients who have invested in your funds updates. Advisors will remember this and that you made their lives easier and made their clients feel more comfortable.

What Advisors Want

To bring the point home even more, as we have talked about this topic with advisors, some of the key things we hear are, “I want to hear from the asset managers”, “I want to understand what they’re doing”, and “I want quarterly updates.”

The asset managers that are ranked most highly by advisors as firms they would work with are those that communicate clearly and consistently.

There you go…you have your mandate. Don’t ghost advisors. Show up for them, support them and educate them in ALL market conditions.

Marketing Intent Can Help

At Marketing Intent, we’re skilled at helping our asset manager clients keep the conversation with advisors going. If you need help, reach out to us.

Tags Alternative Investments, Asset Managers, Financial Advisors, Marketing Firm, Marketing Strategy

Email Segmentation

One-Hit Wonders

Post author By Cherie Fournier
Post date February 1, 2023

What does this list have in common: Carl Douglas, Los del Rio, Soft Cell, Vanilla Ice and Wild Cherry?

They’re all “one-hit wonders”. They all have a song that we know, like Kung Fu Fighting, The Macarena, Tainted Love, Ice Ice Baby and Play That Funky Music. Those were their big hits – and they never had another one.

So what’s that have to do with alternative investments and asset managers?

One-hit wonders are advisors who do one trade with your product, and they never do another one. We know they have done a lot of research on your company and your product, they’ve completed the paperwork, and they found enough value to invest a client’s assets. So, why would they go through that entire process and do one trade and not another? The reason isn’t always clear, but the good news is we can do something about it.

Let’s talk about ways we can turn a one-hit wonder into a loyal producer for your firm.

Have a System in Place

When an advisor makes a trade, make sure you have a system set up where you thank them. Send them an email, thank them for their trade, and also highlight why they invested in your product. Give them your value add and what you plan to deliver to investors.

You also need to regularly check in with advisors. Set up a schedule after the first sale to check in with advisors at 30, 60 and 90 days or every quarter. A streamlined way to manage this is through marketing automation.

Have a Conversation

Even after – or especially after – an advisor has allocated a portion of a client’s assets with your firm, your sales team should continue to have conversations with them to understand their latest thinking about your company and product. And make sure you arm your sales team with a list of who is a one-hit wonder, so they understand where an advisor stands and that they may need additional support telling your investment story.

Always keep that dialogue open, that’s where you’ll learn why a second trade hasn’t been made. If your sales team is having that conversation, they will be able to better understand why an advisor only did that one trade and it will help you fill in the gaps.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you convert one-hit wonders into loyal producers, contact us at info@marketingintent.com.

Tags Alternative Investments, Asset Managers, Financial Advisors, Marketing Firm, Marketing Partner, Prospects

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