Consumers have voted with their wallets. Highly personalized, digital experiences like Amazon and Netflix have redefined the corporate landscape. Businesses that ignored this transformation are roadkill. And now fintech and insurtech are leading the same changes to your business.

Just to level set, maybe we need to define what do we mean by marketing in 2019? Read more

Which advisor paradigm are you serving? If you’re a financial institution that is dependent on growing relationships with financial advisors, this is a critical question.

I don’t need to explain Snapchat filters to my 30-year-old nephews. But I’m not sure it would be the same conversation with my 88-year-old Dad. The same principal applies here. The business paradigm for financial advisors has evolved in the last few years. How you should approach them and what they might expect from their strategic partners differs depending on where they are in this evolution.

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  • Why “shiny object” marketing works.
  • Why “shiny object” advertising is killing your business.
  • Why it matters what your audience thinks before they even know they need you.
  • How to position your brand in the ICS.

Why are so many in this financial advisor channel using the same approach to marketing?

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How do you persuade more affluent families or financial advisors to become customers?

Give them what they want.

This week we’re talking about a simple, step-by-step framework for driving new customers to your business. Read more

Classic marketing suggests that creating top of mind (TOM) awareness pays dividends as the prospect finds themselves in need of your services.

But in today’s web-enabled, shopping-driven marketplace there’s more to the concept.

Today you need a fresh approach to marketing that focuses on being in your target audience’s “initial consideration set.”

Marketing by advisors and marketing to financial advisors is impacted by this important research.

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Statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza at the Plaza de Espana in Madrid, Spain

Getting outside of the box.

We’ve all said it. Why does it matter in this independent financial advisor space?

When everyone looks or sounds alike, consumers default to choosing brands. That’s an expensive space to compete in.

But when we get outside of the box, go beyond product-driven marketing and actually present ourselves as someone who understands the advisor’s circumstances, challenges and motivations; then we have differentiated ourselves. When we are connecting with our audience they listen and they begin to trust. Our audience is not homogeneous. It’s a collection of personas.

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FANG has changed the game!

The world renowned consultants at McKinsey put it this way:

“For the past decade, the life insurance and annuities industry has struggled to find growth. The future of the life insurance industry will depend on adaptation.

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But when’s the last time you saw one on TV?

Have you heard of Vitaminwater? Coke bought it for $4.1bn. Traditional soft drinks are now less than 2/3 of Coke’s business, and that percentage is likely to decline.

The problem, I think, is that we fell out of love with sweet, syrupy soft drinks. Coke saw this handwriting on the wall, so they evolved into ready-to-drink teas and coffees and juices and dairy products.

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That’s right. Oxytocin.

Whether you are marketing to financial advisors or affluent families, your marketing needs a good dose of oxytocin.

If you a looking for more sales activity, more profitable conversions and less pressure to discount your value; then oxytocin is what you need.

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They’ve changed the rules of the game for retail stores, travel, movie going, music, dating and marketing to financial advisors.

In large part due to companies like Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google (FANG), as many as 70% of your financial advisor prospects will make a decision about doing business without ever speaking to you. Their decision will be based only your digital footprint.

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