Tag: Marketing Strategy

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Content Trust

Third-Party Information is Invaluable  

Financial advisors love getting third-party information from asset managers. This is what we’ve been hearing in the field. Why? Read on for the many reasons third-party information can be a powerful tool for asset managers and how it helps financial advisors. 

Building Trust 

We all love telling our own story…and when we do, we highlight the positives. Providing third-party information to advisors about your offering or your asset class helps build trust because you’re not shying away from sharing someone else’s perspective – which can be perceived as a more balanced perspective with pros and cons. Financial advisors need the whole picture on what you’re offering and the asset class you’re working within to feel comfortable presenting your investment opportunities to clients.  

Sharing third-party information with financial advisors also demonstrates that you’re willing to share perspectives on your firm, offerings and asset classes that go beyond tapping into your sales team and senior management team. Financial advisors appreciate these varied perspectives and transparency. 

Where to Find Third-Party Resources 

There are many credible and reputable sources for market outlooks on alternative investments, various types of offerings and asset classes. Find the 3-4 sources your firm is comfortable with and continuously monitor them for articles and insights relevant to you. For deeper dive third-party information on your firm and offering, you can also use your due diligence report (e.g., Fact Right) as a third-party resource.  

Third-Party Content as a Value-Add 

Creating original content can be time consuming. Use value-add content to supplement your original content…and think beyond just your offering. Maybe you see an article that can help advisors with practice management…push it out to the sales team as another touchpoint. And the sales team can do this on their own as well based on advisor interests. They can send something to an advisor that may relate to a personal interest in an email saying, “Hey John, I was just thinking about you when I read this. I thought it would be very beneficial, I know we talked about this the other day.” It helps advisors know the sales team is listening and helps to build relationships. 

Where to Use It  

Use third-party information to help fill your content calendar when your own development of content is light. You can send it out in mass emails to advisors, post it on social media (this is especially useful for firms offering 506(b) offerings that are limited on marketing) and the sales team can use it to start or follow-up on conversations with advisors. 

Starting the Conversation Continues It 

When you start building conversations by sending out third-party information, you can become an advisor’s go-to…and the conversation continues. Advisors – producers and prospects –  are going to come to you with, “You’ve always been so helpful with the information you provide. I really appreciate it.” And that appreciation and transparency + trust. 

If you would like to discuss how you can find more third-party information, share it with advisors and help build trust, reach out to us. 

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506(b) 506(c) Private placement

Why Hire a Marketing Firm for a 506(b)? 

Some firms offering 506(b) private placements wonder why they would hire a marketing firm. While a 506(b) can be very limited on how you can market the offering, there are a number of ways you can stay in front of financial advisors with compliant marketing, and market your firm and expertise. 

We Collaborate with Compliance and Legal Teams  

At Marketing Intent, we collaborate with your compliance and legal teams to understand what they are comfortable with in marketing your 506(b). While there are (many!) rules to guide us, comfort levels range as do the “whys” behind a compliance or legal team’s stance on a marketing approach or messaging. Understanding the compliance/legal perspective and any sticking points helps us set the stage for a marketing campaign or materials that are going to make it through the compliance review process and become a reality.  

Start from the Ground Up 

While there are many limitations on marketing a 506(b) itself, you still have much to market and talk about with advisors. Many firms offering private placements are smaller and may not have brand recognition within financial advisors. That is priority #1. You must build trust with advisors. Raise brand awareness by attending conferences and sending pre- and post-conference emails and sharing posts on social media. No mention of your offering – just your firm, your asset class and key differentiators. 

Asset Class and Offering Type 

Next up is your asset class. How can you make sure advisors know what you invest in? You want them to think Firm Name = Asset Class. Describe your asset class in terms that are easy to understand and grasp. What lifestyle trends affect demand for your asset class – bring those to light. Then think about your offering type…what education can you provide advisors on how that structure works and how it benefits clients? While advisors are analytical, they still need education – and they still have the same 8-second attention span as the rest of us…so keep it jargon-free and short.

Marketing Intent is skilled at helping firms offering 506(b) offerings market in collaboration with compliance and legal teams…and helping asset managers gain the brand awareness that starts sales conversations. Contact us to learn more about how we can help your firm.  

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Email

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. 

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Copywriting

One Email, One Story, One Topic 

One email, one story, one topic. Let me break this down for you. Most asset managers use email quite a bit and we’re proponents for it, because we see it working effectively. But there are some keys to it that are very important to hone. Attention spans are limited. So make sure your emails focus on one story and one topic. 

What’s Your Story?

Every asset class has a story behind it – self-storage, industrial, multi-family, etc. And oftentimes, it’s based on the demand drivers behind an asset class. Or an asset manager’s investment approach. Which demand/supply dynamics or a unique take on an asset class could you educate advisors on? That is your story.  

Focus on One Topic

Now, boil your story down even further to one topic to help educate advisors. For example, choose one factor that drives demand or one unique aspect of your investment philosophy and focus on that.  

Avoid Jargon

As you write the copy for your one story/one topic email, keep it simple and easily digestible. Keep the jargon out of it. Avoid complex terms and superficial language (aka fluff) that doesn’t say anything. People have a very short attention span…don’t waste any attention your email may have garnered on an advisor deciphering what the text means. Keep language simple, and get right to the point.  

Keep It Short

Most emails should be able to be seen in their entirety on your computer screen. Don’t make advisors scroll…and scroll…and scroll to read the email. Engage advisors immediately with short, compelling content – strong copywriting and headlines – and high-quality visuals and you’re more likely to get them to commit to reading your email in full.  

If you need help making your emails more impactful, we’d be happy to help. 

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Events

Due Diligence Events

Let’s talk about due diligence events. The majority of asset managers are holding them – especially now that in-person events are back in full swing. But not all firms are delivering a high-class experience to advisors.

Read on for tips on designing an event advisors will want to attend.

Create a Compelling Event

We’ve seen a number of sponsors putting together due diligence for the first time. A key aspect to remember is that you’re asking advisors to leave their offices for one to two days to attend. You must make it worth their while and provide them the avenue to learn something new about your firm so they don’t feel it was a waste of their time to be away from their office and clients. A key way to do this is to provide advisors with access to your management team, including members of the property team. They are the source of the nitty gritty details advisors want to know. And if you prep them well for the event also the source of the stories, advisors will remember and share with their clients.

Make it Convenient for Advisors

Another key consideration is the travel you’re asking advisors to take. Put yourself in the advisors’ shoes. Do you want to travel to a location that’s hard to get to? This will be a barrier to attendance. Is your agenda robust enough to attract advisor attention, but not so heavy that three days out of the office are required?

Are you asking them to travel midweek vs. at the beginning or end of week? The start or end of a week allows advisors to easily tack a weekend onto their trip. Focus on event days of Monday and Tuesday or Thursday and Friday.

What’s the registration process for the event? Have you streamlined it as much as possible? Are you providing ground transportation to the hotel? How can you make is as user friendly as possible? When they get to the hotel, is it easy to check in at the hotel and for your event? What’s the meeting room like? Is it set up comfortably? Are you providing snacks? Snacks are critical to keep people fueled and engaged. Planned breaks are equally as important so people know when they can check in at work, return calls, etc. And don’t forget to provide Wifi access during your event for consistent email service.

It sounds like a lot – and it is. And in-person due diligence events are not cheap. Make sure you maximize the advisor experience by creating a checklist of all the key elements that should be covered well in advance of the event so you have them top of mind while you’re in the thick of making your event come to life.

Maximizing Event ROI

Every due diligence event should have a solid follow-up plan to ensure you’re positioning it to maximize ROI. Think about it in terms of the time commitment you’ve just asked your firm’s management team, sales team and marketing team to make. Not to mention the advisors’ time spent to get to and from, and attend your event.

Think about what your sales team needs from marketing for a solid follow up. How can you help them continue conversations with the advisors who attended? How can you help advisors learn more, overcome objections and start investing their clients in your fund?

Also, be sure to ask advisors to complete a survey about the event so you can gauge how the event was received and ask for referrals of other advisors they suggest attend a future event and ask advisors if they’d like a meeting with your sales team.

Finally, ask your sales team to pull capital raising results by advisor before and after the event. Positive results indicate your events are on par. Negative and they need improvement.

If you need help with a due diligence event, we have almost 20 years of experience designing successful, impactful events – organizing, planning and marketing them. We would love to help you maximize your event’s ROI.

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.

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Email

The Power of Email in a Down Market

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.

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Communication

Utilizing All Marketing Platforms

Have you seen that meme where it says, “You’re not my friend if I’m not tweeting you, Instagram messaging you and texting you all at the same time, but about different things?” 

Let’s discuss how this concept can apply to your business successfully.

Using LinkedIn, Website and Emails Together

We often see asset managers create a report or a paper and just post it on their website for financial advisors to find. They think that’s enough to distribute their content and they don’t email it out as well. And if they do email it, they often don’t also promote the content on social. We know there are times you can’t share certain types of content on social, but when you can, you should.

Getting Information in Different Ways

All advisors you’re targeting are not reading their email, and all are not visiting your website. They are interacting with your firm in different ways, seeing different messaging and building their knowledge base about who you are and what you do.

So, make it easy for them. It’s very likely advisors aren’t seeking you out. You need to show up where your target audience is and demonstrate thought leadership. Educate them. Help them solve client problems. And don’t worry about repeating content. People need to see/read messages multiple times for them to sink in.

Getting more views of your content creates more interactions which drives conversations.

Take your content, repurpose it, put it out across all possible mediums – and help drive advisor engagement and capital raising.

If you would like to talk more about how we can help with your content strategy, reach out to us.

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Capital Raising Sales Support

Marketing That Helps Bring Capital in the Door

If you’re not doing marketing that’s helping bring capital in the door, why are you doing it?

The reality is that there’s a lot of marketing done in our industry that just does not support the sales effort.

Sales-Focused Marketing Strategy

Yes, we’re a marketing firm. And we appreciate all things marketing. But in the asset management and alternative investments world, we focus on marketing not just for the sake of marketing, but to help raise capital for your investment offerings.

For example, while we appreciate branding and the importance of it, it can be taken too far, which can take the focus off sales-focused marketing efforts. For example, instead of using effort to make sure an advisor lunch is well branded on site, consider instead putting resources into providing a solid marketing follow-up effort for the event, which will better support the sales team and the capital-raising effort.

Educate Advisors

Another key area that can help push capital raising is advisor education. Educating them on your asset class, your company, your management team and your offerings. Think about how you’re giving advisors updates and staying in front of them so they develop trust and faith in your firm. And how you’re providing the information they need so they understand your offering and can explain it to their clients. Make that easy and your sales team will have an advantage with advisors and establishing the type of relationships with them that lead to capital coming in the door.

Deciding Where to Focus

Thinking about where to focus your marketing can be overwhelming. As you’re prioritizing your list, evaluate each marketing project by what it does for your sales team. Does it help explain something better? Address a common advisor objection? Highlight what differentiates your firm? Explain the investor problem your firm’s investment solves?

If you’re looking at your project list and don’t know the answers to the above in relation to each piece, get the sales team involved. The marketing-sales feedback loop is critical in understanding which marketing efforts move the capital-raising dial. And remember, that marketing is iterative. You won’t always get it right the first time, but through collaboration with the sales team, you will consistently improve and make sure marketing contributes to bringing in capital.

At Marketing Intent, we help our clients focus on prioritizing marketing that helps bring capital in the door. If you need help deciding which marketing projects to focus on, we would be happy to talk to you about it.

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Marketing Management Project Management

The Power of the Pivot

Your fund just closed and you expected it to be open for six more months.

Your marketing plan is out the window.

So what do you do next?

This is where the power of the pivot in business comes into play.

Changing Direction Quickly

In marketing, we love to create project plans, line up our content calendar, schedule campaigns and set everything in motion.

We have this ideal set out on how everything’s going to go. Your fund is launched, it’s live, your sales team is raising capital and your firm is planning on selling it until it reaches $X in capital or as of a certain date. But then your sales team raises capital faster than you expected.

All your marketing plans are out the window. What do you do next? The sales team doesn’t get time off until the next offering. And the next fund launch is likely months away.

This is where strategy comes into play. And your ability to change on demand. Especially in a volatile market. It’s important to prep yourself mentally and with strategy to quickly change direction. 

Develop Your Next Steps

First, bring the entire marketing team into what is happening and the pivot your firm and your team need to make. Sketch out the situation, which marketing programs are now obsolete, what advisors’ information needs will be around the business event that just occurred and what they will need to know going forward as you launch a new fund.

When you have a gap between funds, a great place to focus is on brand awareness. Just because your fund is closed, doesn’t mean your brand’s gone. Your sales team works hard to establish relationships with financial advisors…part of your job is to help them keep those relationships intact even if you don’t have a product in the market. Miss this as a marketer, and capital raising will be slow going at the start of your next offering as you try to make up for lost time in maintaining a presence in the minds of advisors.

For example, advisors are looking for education – on alternative investments, on your asset class, on lifestyle trends affecting commercial real estate. Focus on that between offerings. You can also distribute content from third parties and note how the information relates to your firm. And keep featuring your management team on webinars to provide advisors with updates or insights.

If you would like to discuss how we can help you plan for the pivot, reach out to us today.

Categories
Brand Trust

What’s Your Story

Financial Advisor sharing charts

We tend to think that financial advisors or high net worth individuals have an elevated level of understanding of investment products – and they likely may – but we also know that everyone has a very short attention span which impacts how you should tailor your offering story to your audience.

Let’s discuss ways to boil down the complex investment offering story in a way that’s relatable to advisors.

Boiling Down Your Story

What is the foundation that asset managers should have to help boil their story down? The key is simplicity. We’re proponents of not using jargon, and getting down to the basics.

Don’t Get Lost in the Jargon

It’s important to have the story be clear and concise with not a lot of jargon – focus on the basics.

There are so many great offerings out there, but they get lost in the jargon and the complexity of the language. Making sure you tell your story simply is going to help you gain more traction.

Focus on Supply and Demand

What is the basis of the story that you should be telling? It largely boils down to supply and demand. Think about commercial real estate buildings and different asset types, what is the demand for those? And what’s driving the demand?

Oftentimes, demand is driven by lifestyle. What’s happening in the world today? What is changing? What are people focused on that’s driving demand for your asset class? Boil the demand drivers down to the basics and the relatable so advisors can quickly grasp and remember what your story is and what’s behind it.

Let Graphics Tell Your Story

Graphics are a great way to tell your story quickly, and it’s way better than reading a paragraph. If someone has a graphic and a paragraph in front of them, they are going to be drawn to the graphic every time.

If you would like help telling your story, reach out to us at Marketing Intent. We’d love to set up a meeting and discuss it with you.

Let's start your marketing with intent.

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