Tag: Asset Managers

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Client Value

Serving Our Clients and Each Other

Does anyone remember the NBC public service announcements from the late eighties of “The More You Know?” This is the one with the shooting star and the rainbow across the screen. For some reason, that’s always stuck in my head. It reminds me of how much better we can serve our clients and each other, when we know more information.

A major tenet of how we operate with our clients is knowing about the background and backdrop of their projects and their company, so we can serve them well. Communication is the center point between how we work and collaborate well with each other.

Three Types of Information We Need from Our Clients

Let’s discuss the three areas we focus on as we work with our clients to make sure we are getting the information we need. With more information, we can do a better job. The backdrop, the key players, and the expectations.

Backdrop

The backdrop can be anything from a challenge the company has been facing, to a goal the company is trying to reach or even something a company has been trying to do and hasn’t been able to achieve – and initiatives the company has found challenging.

Sometimes there are different priorities within a firm, for different departments, and maybe things aren’t getting done. Progress may have stalled out because there haven’t been resources. It helps us to understand the backdrop, so we understand how much time to put into a project, and how to structure it to be completed in an appropriate time frame.

Key Players

The next key area for us to clearly understand is if there are key players involved in a project.  Is this something the CEO requested that we should put a high priority on? Or is it more of an operational piece that is important, but maybe not as high of a priority or a project that can be on a longer timeframe? When are people expecting this piece to be done or this marketing program to launch?

We need to understand how to prioritize it among our projects for a client, as well as how aggressively we should project manage it through to the end.

Expectations

The third area we need to understand is the expectations. Any good marketing project should have a concrete goal in mind. We like to know what that is, whether it’s brand awareness, or generating additional conversations with clients or investment advisors.

We don’t assume we know the goal of a project. Instead, we ask our clients exactly what they’re trying to get out of each marketing program. We can then deliver the correct project and program for them.

Communication is important. And the more we know, the further we can go with our clients. This includes knowing the backdrop, the key players involved in a project, as well as the expectations.

If you’d like more information about how Marketing Intent can help your firm with marketing, please reach out to us.

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Client Value

Marketing Intent and the Resources We Have Built

Let’s talk about how Marketing Intent is structured and the network of resources the firm has built.

Cherie Fournier, our CEO, has been in the financial services marketing arena for 25 plus years. After working in corporate environments for most of that time, she decided at the beginning of 2020 to start her own marketing firm.

Marketing Intent focuses efforts on helping asset managers market to their target audiences. We also help streamline their marketing operations and develop plans and strategies.

The Thinking Behind Marketing Intent

The reason we started Marketing Intent in 2020 is because we wanted to tap into our financial industry experience to serve a wide range of companies. But we knew we weren’t experts in all facets of marketing. We’re not graphic designers or web developers, and we know our clients have a broad range of marketing needs. We felt it was an ideal time to tap into the gig economy, which has gotten even more attention after COVID. People started working from home and seeking better work life balance.

We found ourselves with a lot of great talent available to us to build out a network of professional marketers who could help our clients. For example, Cherie’s background is marketing management, strategy and copywriting, and Alise’s is marketing strategy and project management. Obviously, marketing goes far beyond that. Our professional marketing network helps us offer our clients a much greater bench depth of professionals to help with their projects and make them successful.

Our Network of Professionals

We structured Marketing Intent around these networks of professionals. Cherie and Alise are front and center with each of our clients. We look at our network and choose the right professionals for each project, and each client.

If we have somebody who’s looking at rebranding and doing a website, we may pick a design resource that might be different than a firm that is just redoing a brochure or wants to freshen up something that’s existing. We look at who is going to be the best match for each project and we deliberately select the best team.

How We Developed Our Network

Throughout Cherie’s career, she has had many relationships on the client side of working with different professionals. Marketing Intent has tapped into those cultivated relationships. Some are are decades long and other resources are newer.  We continually look at contacts and see who we can get connected with to grow our base of professional marketers. We are never static. We’re constantly growing and constantly looking for new people to add to our roster of contract resources.

The Ever-Changing Market

Sometimes we have a client that needs a resource that we don’t have. Marketing is ever changing as we know, and we don’t always know what is going to come our way or what type of requests are made. Often, if we have a request come up on something that we haven’t yet done, we tap into our current contacts to see if they have a trusted resource that we can use for a project. If not, we do research and vet different companies to see which ones are going to work well with us and who is going to serve our clients to our standards. We then bring that firm or individual on board as a contractor to help us with a certain project.

If you would like to learn more about how Marketing Intent can help your business grow by tapping into our network of professionals, please reach out to us.

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Marketing Management Time Management

Overcoming Obstacles When Managing Marketing and Delegating

You’re short staffed, buried in work and you know you should delegate to get out from underneath it and get caught up on your marketing tasks, but you’re not. Why aren’t you delegating? Even seasoned marketing managers fall victim to the “I can do everything myself” or “I can do it better myself” mentality.

Let’s discuss ways to overcome some of the obstacles we feel when managing marketing and delegating – as well as opportunities to potentially outsource delegation to an outside marketing firm.

Some managers fear delegation because it hasn’t worked out well for them in the past. In my 25+ years of managing marketing teams, I have found that it comes down to delegating to the right people.

There are four different personality traits that I found are critical when you’re choosing who you’re delegating to. 

Strong Sense of Responsibility

First is a strong sense of responsibility and a commitment to the company. You want somebody who is dedicated and interested in their career growth, as well as the mission of the company and feels excited about it. That energy then translates into wanting to accept the additional responsibility of delegation.

Intuitive Communication Skills

Next is intuitive communication skills. I always think of this as understanding the communication needs of the target audience, which in this case is myself, or you, if you’re the manager. You want to make sure that the person you’re delegating to understands what you need to know and when you need to know it. They need to give you updates that make you feel comfortable, without feeling like you have to pry for information, or that you aren’t getting what you need.

Strong Project Management Skills

The next is really strong project management skills. It’s important for whoever you’re delegating to, to understand the overall project and how to move it along. I like to know that the person understands “Plan A,” but that they also have a “Plan B” and even a “Plan C” at times, in their back pocket. They can then keep the project going and moving along if they encounter any obstacles.

Confident Individuals

Next are individuals who are confident in themselves. You want to make sure that you have a team or a person you’re delegating to that is solutions oriented. They need to be trying to solve a problem that comes up versus coming to you as a safety net when things get hard.  They figure out how to address red flags and put projects back on track. This is somebody who feels comfortable and confident in challenging situations, but also makes solutions a reality.

Self Reflection

Let’s move on to our next topic – which can be harder because it requires self-reflection. Oftentimes managers want to take credit for everything the team does, and they feel like in order to do that, they have to do all of the work. They take more of an “I” approach to managing marketing than a “WE” approach.

What I found in my career is that a “WE” approach is much more effective in motivating a team, as well as lightening your own workload, so you can dedicate your time to the tasks and projects that require your attention. If you think about how to motivate your team and elevate each member to work to their maximum potential, there’s much more that a marketing team can accomplish, than if everyone is working on their own.

Delegation to an Outside Firm

When it comes to delegation, marketing managers don’t often think about using an outside marketing resource. Consider projects you just aren’t getting to, or projects that you need help with to push them across the finish line. These are great areas where an outside marketing resource can help. 

An outside marketing firm can also help fill in areas that aren’t your strong suit.

If you’re not an organized person, try to find a marketing firm that is. If you’re looking for a little bit more creativity, then make it criteria to select a firm. Once you have that alignment, you can start out with a small project to make sure you’re developing trust, and then you can move on to delegating out bigger projects.

If you’re finding yourself underwater and need help managing your marketing load, we at Marketing Intent would be happy to explore delegation to us, with you.

Let’s have a conversation.

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General

Your Success is Our Success

What does client success look like for us here at Marketing Intent?

Our philosophy is “Your Success Is Our Success.”

We start off by setting expectations and then delivering on those expectations, which in turn results in a meaningful experience for the client and building trust. We can then develop long-term relationships.

We Make Sure You Reach Your Goals

We make sure that our clients’ success is aligned with their goals, and we make sure they’re reaching those goals. A big part of that is communication and planning. While communication in or work lives is common, we have a keen focus on ensuring high-quality communication and strategy planning.

Communication = Success

We lay out when we are going to communicate, our plan for a client’s projects and the deliverables – and then we make sure we meet those deliverables. We also strive to go above and beyond those deliverables. If we can add value to a project or take it a step further to help clients reach their goals, we will.

But first and foremost, we make sure we provide the deliverables promised. We communicate and keep the client apprised of everything going on. There’s never a question in their mind of where their projects are.

What Can You Do?

Here are a few things that a client can do, either working with us or other marketing firms, to be successful on their end.

Don’t stop being curious. We’re in an ever-evolving industry and since the pandemic it’s even evolved quicker, so stay on top of what is going on and what is available out there. Doing research on how to solve some problems or get around roadblocks is going to help people advance and be leaders in the industry.

If you would like help with your marketing and you want us to help guide you along the way to reaching your goals, we’d be happy to help. Reach out to us today and let’s have a conversation.

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Conferences

We Are Proud to Sponsor the 2022 GlobeSt Elite Women of Influence Conference

In the commercial real estate and financial services industries, we’re often asked to sponsor conferences. It can be difficult to decide which are the best to support, which fit into our budget, and which meet our goals for conference attendance. The GlobeSt Elite Women of Influence Conference is a perfect match for us.

We are thrilled to support and sponsor the GlobeSt Women of Influence Conference on July 25-27, in Park City, Utah.

One of the main reasons we’re enthusiastic about it is because of the important role women have played in the commercial real estate industry – and that their role continues to grow.

The Amazing Lineup of Speakers

As women in the commercial real estate industry, we can’t wait to hear from the amazing lineup of women who are going to be speaking about trends in commercial real estate, how we as women can negotiate better, and diversity, equity and inclusion. We look forward to the discussion on “is it time to launch your own firm?” since we did just that on the marketing side of the industry in early 2020 with the launch of Marketing Intent.

Women Make a Difference Across the Commercial Real Estate Industry

We decided to sponsor this conference because we’ve seen firsthand the impactful work women in the commercial real estate space can make. They are doing work not only in the area of marketing, but across the board in asset management, acquisitions, due diligence, property management, finance, operations and many other areas. They are making a difference and creating a bigger space for women in the industry going forward.

Mindfulness Hike

We’re sponsoring the mindfulness hike, a very special event taking place on Tuesday morning of the conference. This hike represents the balance we seek in our own lives between self-care, wellbeing and our work. We’re looking forward to invigorating scenery and great conversation.

Learn how Marketing Intent can help asset managers and financial advisors create marketing that grows their businesses. Contact us to set up an appointment.

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Marketing Basics

Three Ways to Improve Your Marketing Execution

When most people think of marketing, they think of the creativity that goes into copywriting design and web development. But we all know without a solid strategy for execution, that creativity doesn’t go very far.

In this article, we’ll discuss three ways to improve your marketing execution through project management, technology know-how, and procedures.

Project Management

Let’s start with project management. Most marketing projects are more in depth than they might seem on the surface, with many moving parts. At Marketing Intent, we use Trello to manage our projects as well as our clients’ projects. Trello is a simple and versatile project management software that we use for anything from managing an event to launching a fund. Trello allows us to keep all project details and deadlines in one place so we can keep tabs on how deliverables are moving forward. There are many choices in project management software today. Pick one that is simple, fits your needs – and most importantly – that you will use consistently.

Technology Know-How

A software tool is only as good as how you use it. So, it’s important to have somebody on your marketing team who is comfortable with technology – and not just on the project management side of the equation. In today’s world of digital marketing, marketers are using numerous types of technologies to do their jobs. Sometimes 10 or 12 different programs. It’s important to have somebody who is comfortable and willing to learn and maximize these technologies.

But keep in mind that you don’t have to use every available function of a technology. The goal is to use technology to increase your efficiency. Not to get overwhelmed by its features or go so far into functionality that you take time away from core marketing tasks, or the technology becomes so complicated that you don’t use it.

Procedures

That takes us to our next point. And this one may be foreign to many people thinking about marketing. Procedures. I like to think of procedures as being kind to my future self.

Oftentimes in marketing, there are projects that need to be done once a month or quarter. Instead of trying to remember what you did last time or re-learning the process every time you’re working on that project, take time to create procedures for the project. Next time you do that project, refer to your document and you’ll save time and brain power…and your future self will thank you!

To recap, we’ve talked about improving your marketing efficiencies with project management, the use of technology and procedures. These are strategies we use every day at Marketing Intent to manage our own projects, as well as our clients.

At Marketing Intent, we implement smart technology, project management platforms and helpful procedures to assist clients with their marketing initiatives.

If you’d like help becoming more efficient in your marketing, reach out to us, we’d be glad to help.

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Content

Creating Content to Stay Ahead of the Curve

Are you overwhelmed with creating content for your firm? Does it seem like there’s never-ending demand for additional content from your marketing team?

In this article, we’ll discuss creating a content machine so you can stay ahead of the content curve.

Consider Your Target Audience

The number one rule for creating content is to consider your target audience. Make sure the content you’re developing is already in demand, even before you create it. The best way to do this is to think about what types of conversations you have with your clients. What questions do they ask?

If you are an asset manager, tap into your sales team to understand what objections they’re hearing and what types of information might be unclear to financial advisors and investors. Use those topics in your content.

Determine What Type of Content to Create

The format you choose for your content can be just as important as the content itself. If you have a complicated topic that’s just too hard to explain on paper, use video. If a topic is too long for a video, split it out into multiple flyers or even an email campaign. Regardless of the type of content you use, make sure it’s skimmable and that you’re supporting your topic with high-quality graphics.

The Machine Part of the Equation

Now comes the best part…the machine. When creating content, whether it’s a video, a report, or an email, always think about how you can parse that out into smaller pieces.

For example, a video can be split up into smaller videos to use on social media or within emails. You can take a flyer and divide it into social media graphics, or an email campaign.

Once you have that solid piece of content developed, consider ways to parse it out and use it more broadly so you get maximum mileage out of it.

We Help Clients with Content Daily

We’ve talked about creating a content machine based on:

  • Understanding what your target clients want to hear about
  • The formats they’re most receptive to
  • Parsing out your content to make it go further

At Marketing Intent, we help our clients with content daily.

If you need help, reach out to us, and we’d be happy to help you make you content go further.

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Marketing Management Marketing Team

Marketing Teams Aren’t Immune to Inflation

Inflation – it’s all across our economy and affecting almost every part of our lives, including our marketing teams. If you’ve been searching for marketing candidates, you’ve probably noticed a demand for increased salaries, but you may not be getting qualified candidates applying for your positions or the hiring process is draining your team resources.

Let’s talk about how an outside marketing firm can help take work off your shoulders by tackling shorter and longer-range marketing projects.

The Sprint Project

The “sprint” marketing project is a short project where you might already have content developed and you just need it developed into an email, flier or a social media campaign. That’s where an outside marketing firm can step in quickly, especially one who knows your industry. They will help you push the project to the finish line.

The Half Marathon Project

Next, let’s talk about the “half marathon.” This is a project you may already have started and know it’s going to take some time to complete. You may need help with strategy, planning, writing or designing some deliverables. Again, an outside marketing firm can step in, accelerate the project and see it through to completion.

The Marathon Project

Then there’s the “marathon.” These projects can last multiple months. We often see these projects as the ones that firms have started, but don’t have the time to dedicate to them. An outside marketing firm can help you with planning, making sure everything stays on track over the months, as well as creating the deliverables. Examples of marathon projects are fund launches, series of videos, and automating email marketing.

Reallocating FTE Dollars to Outside Resources

Regardless of how in-depth your marketing project is, from that short sprint to a long marathon, taking the dollars you have earmarked for full-time employees (FTE) when you just can’t fill those roles, and dedicating them to an outside marketing resource can go a long way in helping you reach your marketing goals.

Contact Us to Fill in the Gaps

If you need help, as you’re looking to fill marketing roles and just aren’t finding the right candidates, reach out to us and we’d be happy to fill the gaps.

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Websites

Three Reasons Why a Low Quality Website Hurts Your Business

Have you ever come across a company and visited their website only to be shocked by what you found?  Maybe you came across jargon, outdated information, or even typos. This is why it’s so important to make sure your website is of high quality.

In this article, we’ll cover three reasons a low-quality website hurts your business: credibility and trust, your innovation impression, and the customer experience.

Credibility and Trust

Let’s dig into credibility and trust. When someone visits your website and they find typos or outdated information or they don’t understand what you’re presenting, they get a negative impression. They may be thinking – is that how this person/company operates? Do they not tie up loose ends? Do they not pay attention to details? Are they a poor communicator?

That isn’t the impression you want to leave with prospective or current clients. Think about what you’re communicating when your website isn’t current, clear and accurate.

Innovation

The second reason to have a high-quality website is your innovation impression. A high-quality website design immediately communicates innovation and creativity – whereas a poorly designed site communicates a lack thereof.

The “canned” websites that have become commonplace in the financial services industry also fall into the low innovation camp, using the same basic design as other firms and sometimes even the same or similar content.

You may be thinking – “Yeah, yeah, I know I’m not creative.” And a lot of people in the financial services industry do lean toward the analytical side, but we can still communicate and market in creative and innovative ways. This is particularly important for financial advisors who want to attract younger clients. They will be looking for the latest in website, technology and communication trends and how you’re appealing to them digitally.

The Customer Experience

Now let’s talk about the customer experience and what you’re actually asking someone to do when they come to your site. If they are visiting your site to find a particular piece of information about you or answer a question- and they have to dig around your site without success – you’ve created a negative impression and caused frustration.

If that visitor is a prospect, they are probably not going to pursue contacting you or working with you. You made it too hard for them and they will feel like you don’t have their interests/needs top of mind. It sounds basic, but people’s attention spans are limited when it comes to vetting a company or a person they are considering working with. They will move on very quickly if they don’t have a positive experience.

To recap, we’ve discussed:

  • The importance of a high-quality website
  • The damage a low-quality site can do to your credibility and trust
  • Your innovation impression
  • The customer experience for prospects and clients

Contact Us for Marketing Help

If you need any help improving your website, contact Marketing Intent. We’d be happy to help you stand out among your competitors.

Categories
Marketing Team

Why a Marketing Firm Can Help Bolster Your Marketing Team

Is your marketing team underwater? Have you been struggling to find quality candidates to fill positions?

An outside marketing firm can help bolster your marketing team in three key areas: strategy, execution, and training junior or new employees.

Strategy and the Planning Process

Let’s start with strategy. The strategy and planning process is the foundation of your marketing activities. We see our clients struggle with putting plans in place, having the time and energy to dedicate to developing their strategy and understanding how to effectively move forward.

In thinking about how an outside firm can help, a qualified marketing firm that’s familiar with your industry is going to be able to come in, look at what you’re doing and understand it quickly. They will get up to speed on what you offer, who you’re targeting, and identify ways to help you fill the gaps in your strategy.

Those gaps can either be the communication between sales and marketing – which is pretty common in our industry – gaps in your story, or even gaps in the materials that you are putting together to help educate advisors on your offerings. An outside marketing firm can help you develop a strategy to better tackle that communication.

Put a Plan in Place

Next, let’s talk about execution. A strategy is worthless unless there’s a plan in place to make it a reality. Once you have a strategy in place, a qualified marketing firm can manage all the pieces, moving tactical marketing and deliverables forward. They will ensure everything’s happening on time and in the correct sequence to make your marketing successful.

Training Junior and New Employees

Let’s talk about an area that a lot of people overlook as far as where a qualified marketing firm can be beneficial to your team – training junior or new employees. We all know in the financial services industry how complicated marketing is – SEC regulations, FINRA requirements, what compliance is looking for, how selling agreements work or the numerous audiences we’re targeting. An outside marketing firm can be key to helping new or junior employees understand the industry, shorten their learning curve, as well as build their confidence.

We’ve talked about how an outside marketing firm can help with strategy, making that strategy a reality through solid planning and project management, as well as help you educate junior or new employees on the financial services industry and how it works.

CONTACT US FOR MARKETING HELP

If you need any help with bolstering your marketing team, contact Marketing Intent. We’d be happy to help in any of these areas.

Let's start your marketing with intent.

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info@marketingintent.com
303-912-7349

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