Carson Group taps Zocks for AI-powered client insights

Carson Group has officially become the latest in a wave of wealth firms tapping into artificial intelligence in an effort to supercharge their organic growth efforts.

According to a statement published Wednesday, the firm has partnered with AI platform provider Zocks to enhance client data management and workflow automation across its nationwide network of RIAs.

Carson Group, which oversees $38 billion in assets under management and serves more than 50,700 families, is integrating Zocks’ AI technology to streamline advisor operations.

The partnership gives hundreds of Carson advisors access to the Zocks platform, allowing them to update client profiles, generate meeting notes, automate workflows, and analyze client communications. The platform also facilitates email responses and consolidates insights from multiple data sources, including CRM systems.

"The rapid adoption we've seen with the initial 250 advisors and their staff in under eight weeks speaks to both the platform's immediate value and Carson's commitment to embracing technology that transforms client relationships," Mark Gilbert, CEO and co-founder of Zocks, said in a statement revealing the partnership.

Gilbert noted highlighted the platform's impact on operations at Carson, saving advisors an average of 45 minutes per meeting by automating tasks and integrating with Salesforce.

Since implementation, more than 280 Carson Group advisors and staff have been actively using the platform, with Chief Strategy Officer Dani Fava reporting a weekly active usage rate of 97 percent across all the firm's advisors.

"This isn't just about efficiency; it's about unlocking deeper insights from every client interaction to deliver more value and drive better outcomes," said Fava, the former leader at Envestnet who joined Carson last April.

Snappy Kraken unveils updates

Carson and Zocks' partnership reveal comes just a day after Snappy Kraken, an award-winning martech (marketing technology) firm that caters to broker dealers and RIAs, unveiled its own AI-related updates.

Its first enhancement, a new enterprise hub, is geared toward large financial firms that wish to oversee their advisors' marketing activities. Among other features, it includes streamlined processes for advisor onboarding, scaled campaign and content management, simplified workflows to ease regulatory compliance, and robust analytics and AI-driven insights.

"For the first time, firms can manage prospecting and marketing for hundreds or thousands of advisors across all channels, track performance with AI-driven insights and deliver highly personalized communications at scale," Robert Sofia, founder and CEO of Snappy Kraken, said Tuesday.

Snappy Kraken also revamped its campaigns app, giving advisors the ability fo launch personalzed marketing campaigns faster and more easily with AI-powered automation, integrations with leading advisor tools, and a library of campaign templates.

In its "State of Digital 2024" report, the advisor tech provider offered a glimpse into the most successful digital marketing tactics and strategies for advisors. Among other insights, it found video could help turbocharge email campaigns, with a reported 117 percent increase in email open rates and a 120 percent surge in click rates for links in emails.

And while email proved to be the MVP in advisors' bench of digital marketing tools, accounting for 55 percent of traffic to advisors' websites and landing pages, the report found success has to come from quality – think strong email contact lists and subject lines – as well as quantity through regular sendouts of at least once per week.