Fintechs dive into digital marketing in post-pandemic world

As advisers look to use online tools for prospecting, Commonwealth and Sanctuary team up with Tifin, and AssetMark and eMoney Advisor roll out upgrades.

Wealthtech upstarts are making a concerted push into the world of digital marketing, creating new products and upgrading tools to help advisers attract clients remotely, as the industry continues to adapt to a virtual world.

Advisers are increasingly leaning on technology for prospecting, which is expected to be one of the biggest drivers of growth this year. According to a recent study from Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., more than eight in 10 advisers agreed that new tools would enhance client acquisition, and 32% said they were looking to use online tools to find new clients outside of their current geographic location.

Technology companies are looking to fill those gaps with new tools targeting wealth management firms that help their advisers connect with existing and potential clients.

Commonwealth Financial Network and Sanctuary Wealth teamed up this week with the Tifin Group, a platform that operates wealth management and personalized marketing fintechs. The company Clout by Tifin uses artificial intelligence to create custom communication and marketing materials firms can use to connect with clients, according to a release.

One of Clout’s services includes white-labeled weekly market outlooks, along with one content piece authored under the adviser’s name per month and a content library of personal finance, planning and investing articles, for a $600-a-month fee, according to its website.

An entry-level tier begins at $13 per day.

Commonwealth Financial Network, which is registered as both an investment adviser and a brokerage firm, works with more than 2,000 independent financial advisers nationwide and has more than $130 billion in AUM. Sanctuary Wealth has partner firms across 22 states with over $19 billion in assets under advisement.

Digital marketing is a major area where advisers have indicated they will increase their technology spend during the pandemic. Nearly 50% of advisers surveyed said they would boost digital marketing spending, according to the most recent InvestmentNews Adviser Technology Study fielded in 2020.

“It’s been business as usual for wealth management because advisers were thinking, things weren’t broken, why fix them,” said April Rudin, founder and CEO of the wealth management marketing consultancy The Rudin Group. “The pandemic has forced them to think digitally and come up with other ways of deepening relationships.”

Marketing tech has been an area of increased interest for financial advisory firms in recent weeks. EMoney Advisor, a tech provider for wealth managers, announced Wednesday the launch of new features for its digital marketing and engagement tool called Bamboo. The upgrades include new customizable branding and an integration with the customer relationship management Redtail Technology Inc.

Not to be out done, AssetMark Inc., the third largest turnkey asset management platform by assets, also recently announced the launch of two new tools to help advisers land new clients, including a digital prospecting tool and digital marketing platform.

“All marketing is digital-centric today,” said Niharika Shah, general manager at Clout by Tifin. “Growth marketing, an evolution of digital marketing driven by data and experimentation … is critical to driving both organic and inorganic growth.”

While tech is an important aspect of finding the right marketing strategy, honing the message should always take precedence, Rudin said.

“Is the message distinct, clear, concise and do people understand what you do?” she said.”Everybody wants to put the word digital in front of everything, but we can’t forget the regular old tactics are just as important as ever.”

While the online world is providing new tools to target the right prospects, which brings new precision and powerful new tactics that could be the catalyst for new growth, traditional marketing fundamentals will always be the cornerstone of any online strategy, Rudin said.

“There needs to be a lot of upfront work and sometimes people want to skip a step,” she said. “The fact is, crafting the message can be the most important step of all.”