Jorge's Thoughts: Innovate Your Marketing with Direct Mail

Of all the marketing vehicles, direct mail marketing gives you the most opportunities to specifically target your ideal prospect, to be innovative and to be more personal. 

From new technology in printing to the delivery of fresh ideas in messaging to the ability of addressing your prospects in a creative and personalized manner, direct mail allows you to drive response and drive engagement with your most ideal audience in a way that can powerfully impact your business.  

Here's how:  

1. Personalization:  Personalized mail stands out and gets attention. For your target audience to receive a direct mail piece from you shows that you have taken the time to deliver a customized message based on their potential needs. 

Additionally, 73% of American consumers said they prefer direct mail and 62% said they enjoy checking their mailbox. Give your target audience not only something to look forward to but also something that is personalized and will help you develop an initial impression.  

2. Packaging:  Direct mail response rates are higher than all digital media. Before your prospects respond to your direct mail, they first have to open it. You've got a small window of time to make that happen: 5-7 seconds. Make sure you stand out in the mailbox with creative packaging. 

Maximize response by using the latest print and imaging innovations to create the best looking and highest impact invitation in the mailbox. Take advantage of live stamping, handwritten fonts, full color graphics, odd size envelopes and other techniques that will help you avoid that dreaded look of junk mail. 

Pro tip: Postcards are for coupons and local general advertisers. All important and personal mail comes in envelopes; just ask Hallmark! 


3. Digital components:  Digital vehicles on their own may not generate enough response to keep you interested. You are targeting that guarded 50+ age group who still like traditional media, so you will need to reach with a mix of personalized direct mail, TV , radio, social media and internet ads. That approach will cover more ground, expand your message and give you more reach - what we call “critical mass” in the marketing world. It’s a combination of all or some of these that gives you maximized exposure, more opportunities to generate a higher response and stand above your competitors.

I've created a series of podcasts on this and other marketing tips to help you reach your target audiences. If you have suggestions for topics you'd like for me to cover via this type of content (or any type of content), tweet me at @JorgeVillarRME! 

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#howdoyouinnovate

3 Tips to Develop Connections through Digital Marketing

Earlier this week, our founder and president Jorge Villar shared his thoughts on the value in adding digital marketing to your prospecting strategy, specifically in the boomer market. He noted that it is just as important for advisors to understand how boomers respond to today's digital marketing as it is to understand their various - and diverse - financial concerns. 

As you begin to connect with your target audience more effectively through digital means, here are some tips to follow up with Jorge's:

Use data. 

The growing volume and range of information that come with data will help you make critical decisions about how to improve client engagement with social and web content, how to increase website and landing page visits, how to convert more sales and how you measure up with your competition. (Hint: Monitoring your competitors on social media can provide you with data on how their content resonates with clients and prospects.) 



Know your audience.  

Clearly identify the audience you want to serve. The needs, problems, challenges and goals as well as how that audience uses digital avenues will shape your messaging. Having just one marketing message and hoping everyone hears it doesn’t work, but diversifying your messaging and how it is delivered according your audience will allow you more opportunity to earn a greater ROI.



Personalize your marketing. 

Communication across all digital avenues should be personalized and relevant to your target audience. You are competing for people’s time; yours is one of hundreds of messages that are being delivered every single day all day long via social media, websites, emails, landing pages, display ads, etc. Clients are likely to pay attention only to those that create impact and establish a personal connection.









              Which digital avenue has had the greatest impact on your brand?

Tell us below or tweet us:

@RME360

             By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Jorge's Thoughts: Add Digital Marketing to Your Prospecting Efforts

77 million. 

That's how many baby boomers reside in the United States today, a powerful generation that makes up a significant part of financial advisors' target audiences. 

While it is easy to lump boomers into one large category, it is crucial for today's advisors to realize that boomers have diverse concerns and needs and respond differently to various types of marketing. Just as crucial? For advisors to understand how boomers respond to today's digital marketing strategies.

1. Select the appropriate social media channels. 

Not every social channel will be an effective avenue to market your brand to boomers. Consider the needs and concerns of the boomer audience that you want to target as well as how the sector(s) of your targeted audience use social channels. For instance, 70% of online boomers actively use their Facebook accounts, but only 39% of them actively use their Google+ accounts. 

2. Use visual content. 

There is no doubt that visual content grabs attention, but what does that mean for your digital marketing? By creating and distributing pictures and videos, your content will more than likely earn more interactions and drive more engagement, which can earn you more leads and more referrals. For instance, visual content on Pinterest generates more referral traffic for businesses than Google+, YouTube and LinkedIn combined, and consumers who watch videos about a product are 85% more likely to make a purchase. 

3. Provide an omnichannel experience. 

Social media channels and other digital marketing avenues can be effective ways to begin conversations with future clients, but an omnichannel experience can help you seal the deal. 41% of those aged 55 and over who are online prefer to talk to someone on the phone before making a purchase. Include your phone number - as well as other contact information such as as email address and social media links - on your digital marketing materials. Each point of contact should be able to provide prompt and clear answers about your target audience's needs and concerns. 

Adding digital marketing to your prospecting efforts should be a critical part of your overall marketing strategy. I've created a series of podcasts on this and other marketing tips to help you reach your target audiences. If you have suggestions for topics you'd like for me to cover via this type of content (or any type of content), tweet me at @JorgeVillarRME! 

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#finservdigital 

Happy Senior Citizens Day: Why Seniors Attend Social Dinner Events

As we salute seniors today for Senior Citizens Day, let's take a look at how financial advisors can help them enjoy their worry-free golden years with 

financial freedom. 

Social dinner events provide seniors - a crucial part of your target audience - with a level of comfort to talk to you about their financial goals and concerns. 

Hear Jorge Villar, our founder and president, share his insight on why seniors respond to this important strategy in your marketing toolkit. 

For more on seminar marketing and much more, 

listen to Jorge's podcasts here. 

Want to hear about a specific marketing topic from Jorge? Tweet him! 

@JorgeVillarRME

Jorge's Thoughts: Content is Critical to Advisors' Marketing Strategies

"Content marketing entails understanding exactly what your clients need to know in order to supply them with the most useful resources without seemingly wanting to sell them something." 

-Attach Media

As advisors, creating and distributing content can not only help to inform your target audience about their financial concerns but it can also help you build a strong reputation as a trusted expert. And if your target audience includes boomers - which it most likely does - you're in luck; boomers spend more time consuming content that any other generation. 

So what types of content should you create? Think about what you find compelling, what prompts you to stop scrolling online and read further. 

Infographics: Brafton notes that this type of content is critical for the financial services industry to consider, as it focuses on "delivering valuable information to online audiences that love real-time information and interesting visuals." (See Attach Media's example above.) 

Videos: The Weidert Group notes that "the average person can retain 95% of video after 72 hours." 

Social media: CNBC notes that "an effective social media strategy can single-handedly create a following of thousands—and a flow of prospective clients—in just a short period of time." 

Podcasts: Business 2 Community notes that "while podcasts have been around for about a decade, there’s been a surge in listenership in the last couple years that’s getting a lot of attention from business owners, celebrities, advertisers, and consumers alike." 

I've created a series of podcasts on seminar marketing and how to reach your prospects. If you have suggestions for topics you'd like for me to cover via this type of content (or any type of content), tweet me at @JorgeVillarRME! 

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#finservcontent

Affluent Investors Use Social Media; You Should, Too!

Affluent investors are using social media to research financial decisions and to research how you can help them achieve their financial goals. 

Are your social media accounts up to par? If you're posting consistent content that addresses trending topics of interest to your target audience, you're on the right path. Check out this look at 3 crucial platforms to help you foster relationships with prospects and with clients!

LinkedIn:  

This platform is considered a gold star standard when it comes to professional networking. 

Identify companies you’d like to meet with and join LinkedIn groups to which their employees and decision makers belong. Develop a complete LinkedIn profile to make a powerful first digital impression, including a professional photograph and industry-focused keywords and skills. 



Twitter: 

Use this platform to quickly interact with your target audience and to contribute meaningful information to industry-focused dialogue. 

From offering updates on your company’s new products to using industry-relevant hashtags to engage in real-time dialogue, Twitter provides you with a digital opportunity to give your business a more human feel. 




Facebook: 

This platform provides you with a digital space to post videos and videos, yet another way to promote a more human feel to your business. 

You can also take advantage of posting offers as a way to distribute promotions and by promoting specific posts to a more targeted audience. By building an audience through posting such valuable information, you can easily facilitate digital introductions through multiple connections. 

Remember: 

• Monitor and respond to comments on your social media accounts. 
• Engage with others; don’t expect others to engage with you if you are not willing to do the same. 
• When followers comment, thank, answer and/or address them. 
• Don’t delete negative postings. Instead, address them immediately and deflect them with a response such as “I’m sorry you had a bad experience. Please call me so we can resolve this issue.” 

Which platform has had the greatest impact on your business? 

Tell us below or tweet us:

@RME360

             By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

3 Tips for Creating Targeted Video Content

“You might make a video with 89 views. But one of those viewers could be a producer at CNN. Undervaluing just that one view is a huge mistake.”

-Gary Vaynerchuck, C

EO of Vaynermedia and host of Ask Gary Vee

We all want to produce video content that earns a million hits, right? But if your videos don't go viral, are they less valuable, entertaining or informative? Absolutely not! 

They're likely more targeted. 

Video content is undoubtedly the most powerful medium in your marketing toolbox. When done effectively, it prompts interaction, it puts a personality with a name, it adds a layer of dimension to your content marketing and it's likely more interesting and more compelling than written content. While the financial services industry is heavily regulated, there is most certainly flexibility in how advisors can - and should! - use video content to market to targeted audiences. 

Consider these stats: 

• 64% of marketers expect that video content will dominate their overall marketing strategy. 
• 78% said video is the most leveraged medium of content. 
• 57% of financial brands want to increase their marketing investment in video. 
• 57% of consumer internet traffic will be from video content by the end of 2015.

So what should you show in your videos? What should your focus be? What content should you present? Here are some ideas to help you get started: 

1. Create a vlog to tell a story. 

A vlog - or a video blog - is a cost-effective, effortless way to share who you are, to establish a personal connection and to build your reputation as a trusted local expert. Show your audience what matters to your brand, how you became an expert in your industry or how you've helped past clients. 

2. Use behind the scenes footage to show how your brand operates. 

You have a team who collaborates with you, puts in long hours with you and helps you provide excellent service to your target audience. Use video content to show that to your prospects and clients. Don't give away your secret sauce, but do give your audience a sneak peek into your culture and what makes it, your products and your services unique. Think of this content as the bonus footage on a DVD. 

3. Create a themed series to share knowledge. 

Share advice on topics that your target audience is concerned with. Present information in a concise, easy to follow and entertaining manner. Show your audience how your advice on these topics has helped clients by including testimonials from them or sharing their stories. 

For instance, our The Marketing Minute series focused on providing quick marketing tips to financial services professionals. Here's an example: 

What would you add to this list? Tell us below or tweet us!

@RME360

             By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Digital Tips for an Integrated Approach to Hyper-Local Marketing

Simply getting your business’ name mentioned in a local magazine or renting local billboard space is not meaningful enough to generate buzz or connect with your local market. As our founder and president Jorge Villar said earlier this week, "hyper-local marketing demands that you use a more integrated approach to impress upon your ideal prospects that you are the trusted, go-to local expert." 

Check out these tips for the digital portion for your integrated approach: 

Optimize your company website. 

Many of your prospects rely on the Internet for their first impressions of your business. 74% of consumers use Google to search for a business before they respond to its marketing. In today’s highly digital world of information sharing, it’s crucial for businesses to establish their credibility in the market and industry by leveraging the power of an effective and informative company website. Without a website, 56% of consumers say they can’t trust your business. 

Your prospects are looking to connect with you—and with your competition—to fulfill their investment needs, and establishing and maintaining a company website is your first line of defense when it comes to outshining other advisors in your market. 



Connect with your audience through online video. 

If you really want to boost your credibility and super-charge your marketing, use online videos. Why? The answer is inthe numbers: 



1.) 74% of all internet traffic in 2017 will be video. 

2.) 52% of marketing professionals worldwide name video as the type of content with the best ROI. 

3.) 65% of video viewers watch more than ¾ of a video. 

4.) Video in email can boost open rates by 20% and increase click-through rates 2-3X. 

5.)  72.1 million smartphone users watched video on their devices at least monthly in 2013, and this is projected to rise to 86.8 million by the end of 2014. 

The ideal duration of an online video (with the exception of your company brand video) is just 90 seconds. Online videos need to be clean, crisp and direct not verbose. Include a clear call to action, your company's phone number, website address and an email address. 

Tip: Choose an email address with someone's name so your target audience feels more confident their message will be seen and addressed in a timely manner. 

Once your video is produced, get it out on the web. What good is having a great online video if no one sees it? It’s worth your time and money to work with a social media specialist to ensure your video content will be seen and drive traffic and response.

What would you add to this list? Tell us below or tweet us!

@rme360

             By: Susan Gail Taylor, Social Media Manager and Copywriter at RME360

Jorge's Thoughts: How to Build Connections through Data

We volunteer a lot of information about ourselves to the digital world, and marketers know that. Good marketers make effective and appropriate use of data that will allow them to:

1) create messaging for products, services and solutions to target interested audiences

2) begin building relationships with prospects and clients 

With the vast array of marketing that arrives in the inboxes and mailboxes of our target audiences, it's crucial to the success of our campaigns to break through the noise. How do we do that? 

Build your connection based on data. 

For prospects: 

1. Use critical data points when prospecting. These include age, income, zip codes, IPA and net worth. This is the core set of information you need to ensure you market to those who will be best served by you. 

2. Obtain data on an audience 15-25 miles within your office. Those within this range are more likely to attend your seminars and visit your office. 

3. Identify 7,000-15,000 households that meet your criteria for a target audience. 

4. Use your selected data points to craft your message. Your messaging should speak directly and effectively to the audience profiled by the data. 

5. Stay top of mind. This requires you to send messages frequently and over a long period of time. Develop a strategy that includes messages delivered in a variety of ways for the next 8-10 months. 

Remember: Competition can be fierce. You may have 300-500 advisors within the 15-25 miles who market to audiences similar to yours. 

For clients: 

1. Dig deep within your data on existing clients. In building relationships with your clients, you learn more about them. Use that data when crafting your messaging. This includes data points such as hobbies, habits and affiliations. 

2. Create personal and individualized messages that do more than sell your products and solutions. Acknowledge your clients' birthdays or ask them about their children's softball teams. 

3. Use social media to complement data you've obtained from lists, but use data gathered there responsibly. Craft messages based on social media information in a respectful tone and with content that provides value to your clients. 

Remember: Clients often rely on emotions when making decision. Establish a solid emotional connection with them as you build your relationship. 

Tweet me and let's chat about using data to connect with your target audience:

 @JorgeVillarRME

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#connectdata

Jorge's Thoughts: 3 Tips to Develop Messaging that Converts Sales

If you've got leads, great! 

If you've got qualified prospects, congratulations! 

But how do you move them down the funnel? How does your current messaging impact your conversion rate and what can you do to improve it?

Believe it or not, every piece of written real estate matters when it comes to conversions. Each word on your print marketing, your digital messaging and your presentation materials has the power to lead to conversions, but some words have more power than others. 

Check out these 3 tips to consider when developing your messaging:

1. Stand out. Valuable prospects already have financial advisors. To earn their business, it's important to recognize that your messaging must be in steal away mode. What are you saying that is different from their current advisors? Inspire those valuable prospects to consider your services by showcasing what makes you unique. 

2. Identify pain points as well as solutions. Your prospects are likely to have several pain points of various concerns . While they won't find it pleasant or comfortable to discuss them,  they may not to do business with you unless there is something to resolve. Put the spotlight on how you can solve their pain points and make them more comfortable with their financial futures. 

3. Be top of mind. Your target prospects may not need you today, next week or next month, but inevitably they will need you. Your brand should be what they think of when they are ready to seek financial resolutions. That means your marketing efforts need to be consistent and that your messaging needs to address a variety of issues. For instance, if your target market consists of those age 55 and up, consider that their lives change every 4-6 months. Life events such as retirement, major illness or death in the family will trigger their need for you, so your messaging must speak to those concerns. 

Tweet me and let's chat about tips to convert sales:

 @JorgeVillarRME

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#convertthissale

Jorge's Thoughts: 10 FAQs Can Earn You Brand Advocates

Seminars - or social dinner events - are viable and powerful avenues to convert qualified prospects to satisfied clients. But these conversions don't happen during the event; the event is only the beginning of earning them. It's also the beginning of creating brand advocates. 

Advocates are loyal: they repeat business with you, they choose you over your competition and they promote your brand in both the digital and non-digital world to their friends, family and colleagues. They are valuable to your overall marketing strategy, and your seminar can serve as the first step in earning them. One way to begin creating advocates is to establish yourself as an expert who understands your prospects needs and provides a level of comfort when speaking about them. 

Picture this: you're wrapping up your seminar where you've just spent 45 minutes discussing Social Security and strategies for your retirement income. You look out into a sea of worried faces and ask if there are any questions. One or two hands may go up reluctantly if you're lucky, but more likely no hands will go up. Can you blame them? Would you be willing to possibly embarrass yourself by talking about your finances in room full of people you don't know?

Break the air of awkwardness permeating the room by providing a top 10 list of questions you are most frequently asked (see how to get the list I recommend for advisors below). These will be the questions your soon-to-be brand advocates lack the confidence to ask, the questions they need answers to before they take the next step and make an office appointment with you. For instance: "What happens during an appointment at your office?" Anticipate such concerns and answer them honestly.

Here's what will happen once you begin to answer:

1. Your prospects will realize they aren't alone in their concerns.
2. They will understand your core values.
3. They will trust you and see you an expert.
4. The air of awkwardness will be replaced by the air of social approval as heads nod in agreement and understanding. 

By addressing their concerns in a way that doesn't risk embarrassment on their part, you will inspire a sense of comfort that makes it easier for them to make an appointment with you. You will also be taking a critical step in creating brand advocates. That air of social approval will leave with them, and they will share their seminar experience with others. Brand advocates are the heart and soul of any marketing strategy; revive your strategy by focusing on creating and engaging with them. 

If you'd like to a copy of the top 10 questions I recommend advisors ask, tweet me: 

@JorgeVillarRME

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder 

#whosyouradvocate

Jorge's Thoughts: Debunking the Top 3 Seminar Marketing Myths

This week, we're taking a look at seminar marketing across our social media. Take a look at these top 3 seminar myths and let us know what you think in the comments below!

1) Feeding at the events 

This is a must to create that social event environment and not that antiquated lecture, workshop or sales pitch scenario. Also, the obvious: it allows time for you and/or your team to make appointments; otherwise, attendees would just leave after your presentation. The restaurant setting is neutral and familiar to your attendees. They probably go there many times on their own, and it's not suffocating or compromising like the other closed door venues. They know they can just leave the crowded restaurant if they wanted to.

 Something is bothering them financially, which is why they originally responded. If there are a few couples who appear to be there just information shopping or just gathering ideas, then so be it. They help fill the room and give you that emotional dynamic that makes people feel comfortable. You are going to get a 20% to 30% appointment ratio from the people who are attending whether you feed or not. You need the numbers on your side. Top producers do not worry about food costs because the ROI takes care of that. Ironically, not offering food does not change the appointment ratio nor does it mean that the attendees are truly more interested in what you are presenting . It will just end up being 30% appointments of less attendees. 

 

2) Converting attendees to appointments 

The amount of appointments you make at your seminars is 100% in direct proportion to the following factors:

• Did you have enough attendance? 

• Did you connect with your audience socially? 

• Did you tell stories that were relevant to the attendee's financial concerns? Could they relate? 

• Did you give your local background and tell your own story?  

• Did you intrigue your attendees with potential solutions and options and not a product pitch? 

• Was your topic current? Did you have too many slides?  

• Did you inspire the audience to feel like their confusion and worries about many financial issues were normal? 

• Did you explain and clarify what will happen at their first office appointments, include that nothing will be sold even then? 

• Did you have an effective and professional process to ask for the appointments during the dinner session? 

• Did you pre-sell appointments during their presentation and not just at the end? 

• Was the event feedback form explained and handed out? 

• Were you diligent in calling attendees who could not commit to a time and date the very next day? 

• Did you ask if a better or a later date would help them commit?  

• Did you offer the option of a private complimentary phone call review session if they were not willing or ready to meet face to face yet? 

 3) Saturation in marketing 

The real saturation is not in the marketing; rather, it is in the amount of advisors who are in direct competition in the immediate area. In one city corner at a business district intersection there could be 10 to 30 advisor offices. Many advisors ignore that fact and decide to blame bad seminar results on the amount of marketing that they perceive is happening in their backyard. If that were even remotely true and it was not working, then why would so many others send out invitations? 

The reality is that a very high percentage of those who are even doing seminars are doing them wrong. Wrong invites, wrong lists, wrong venues, wrong dates, wrong messaging...on and on. They may want to cut corners, save pennies, not take the time to understand marketing and end up usually partnering with local printers instead of experienced direct marketers. Good marketing is based on good data. Understanding and following the 10 to 15 critical variables that create successful outcomes is challenging. 

To wrap this up, everything we do here at RME360 is intended to create predictable marketing and sales processes that will continuously drive prospects and results for advisors over and over, all year long. We have 20 years of data. Let us show you how we can generate a continuous flow of prospects for your business. 

Tweet me and let's chat about seminar marketing:

 @JorgeVillarRME

By: Jorge Villar, President and Founder