5 Financial Advisor Branding Tips You Can Implement Today

By Jordan Collins
Tucker Advisors Senior Digital Marketing Specialist

Table of Contents

Click the links below to jump to a client appreciation event page section specific to your needs.

Create a professional email signature

Connect your offline materials to your online presence

Professionalize your email address with your domain

Create a website contact form

Create a prospect list with online tools

Everyday there are new online tools created and marketed to businesses claiming to drive more leads and grow your prospects. With such a crowded marketplace it is hard to know what tools are necessary and what tools just aren’t the right fit.

For financial advisors, it is important to use mechanisms that allow you more time to meet with clients and write business. At Tucker Advisors, we believe in marginal gains. It’s not about finding a silver bullet that doesn’t exist. It’s about making daily improvements that will make an impact over time to provide consistent value to you and your clients. That’s why we’ve put together 5 ideas for you to implement today!

Create a Professional Email Signature

What is an email signature?

An email signature is a content section at the end of your emails that will be added to each email you send. Below is an example of an email signature:

Many people will use email signatures to include contact information, links, images, and text. With each email that you send, you are also sending your contact info and web properties. It’s up to you to decide what information you’d like people to access in your signature, including your social media sites, phone number, and website address.

The Importance of the signature

Signatures can create extra traffic to your calendar invites, website, and touchpoints in a convenient environment for contacts to access you and your information. If your email is forwarded, those emails will also include your contact information if someone is providing a referral. This is another opportunity to show prospects that you are a polished advisor who is ready to help.

WriteThat.name looked at 700 million emails processed through their contact management solution and found that only 52% of users had email signatures. Here’s the infographic for the study:

What to include in your signature

As you can see, there is a lot you can do with your signature but not all of it will fit what you do for your audience. 

Take a minute to think through what pieces would be good for your emails and what wouldn’t. We would highly suggest not making your entire signature an image, as it may be turned to an attachment by some email providers. This will create display issues and not show the information you’d like. It is okay to have text links in your signature, as these will not be changed by email service providers. Convenience is the primary concern of your signature before optics and layout.

Good email signatures provide pertinent information that will always be easy to display. For starters, including your email address, website, your calendar invite, and a professional photo of yourself should do it.

Lastly, if you are going to include time-sensitive information in your signature, be sure to set a reminder to change your signature when the time is right. You don’t want all of your communications going out with an old date or event attached to an unrelated message. For the most part, you’ll want to stick to evergreen content.

How to Change Your Signature

There are countless email service providers and email clients that people use on a daily basis. To try and simplify this process, we will walk you through a high-level version of the process, then provide links to how you do this process using different services.

1. Go to your account settings and find where your signature can be edited
2. Input any information, images, and/or links you’d like to share
3. Save your signature
4. Activate your signature from the options in your account settings

This simplified version of the steps isn’t explicit or platform-specific but it’s enough to get you started. For more information on how to change your signature, see the links below for specifics.

Gmail

Yahoo

Outlook

Hotmail 

Comcast Xfinity

AOL

iCloud

If written instructions aren’t your preference, see YouTube for extensive, step-by-step instructions.

Connect Your Offline Materials to Your Online Presence

Business cards date all the way back to the 17th century in Europe. Even our forefathers knew that leaving your information with someone would be a helpful communication tool.  The business card has gone through a great number of iterations since then but the conventional wisdom remains. If you want someone to get in contact with you, make it easy!

Whether you have a stack of business cards or a full print package, your materials should take your prospect to where you want them, your point of sale. For many advisors, getting someone from your business card to your appointment calendar is crucial. This is where your marketing spend can make your life easier. 

When you create your print materials, be sure to include your website, your email address, and any other important online information that will help your prospects. 

Pro Tip: Use evergreen content! Don’t use an email address or calendar link that won’t be the same in 6 months. If you don’t want it going directly to your inbox, create an inbox like “admin@yourretirementspecialist.com.”

When you create new materials or print something, you should always think about who your audience is and what contact information should be included. If it is a current client, linking to your website and including contact information is a must. If you’re talking with a prospect you’ll definitely want to include a way for them to make an appointment and your contact information.

Another way that you can take people directly to a webpage is to include a QR code. A QR code will take a user from their phones’ camera directly to the webpage the QR code is associated with. This is something you can easily print on a paper, guide, or other physical material that can take people to your online presence.

All in all, you want a prospect or client’s offline and online experience to be seamless and easy to use. This will encourage them to refer others and access information with ease.

Professionalize Your Email Address with Your Domain

Why you should customize your email address

At one point or another, you’ve probably sent professional email through a personal email account. There’s nothing wrong with this but there are drawbacks. Email scams and automation have made it difficult to find out what information is important and what isn’t. Email service providers have become more and more astute about filtering these messages, but they don’t always get it right. One way to stick out from the crowd is to professionalize your email address with your domain. Instead of your email address being @gmail.com or @yahoo.com, it would come from your website. 

Example: financialadvisors@TGIFinancial.com

Seeing a custom domain in an email address provides context for where the email is coming from and why they are reaching out. The email address lets you know that the person reaching out is from TGI Financial and they are a business before you open the message. When you receive an email from fred9382@gmail.com, there’s no telling whether it is spam, a scam, or an old buddy from high school. 

Skip the guessing game and inspire trust in your messages by using a professional email address. You are more likely to get professional responses and signal to users that you are open for business.

How to get a custom email address

If you don’t already own a domain name for your business, you’ll need to start here. Choosing the right domain name for your business is important for a number of reasons but this article should give you a brief overview on how to do it. Once you have your domain name, your domain host will have options for you to create mailing addresses. This process differs depending on who you choose as your domain host, so we will list the processes with links below:

GoDaddy

HostGator

BlueHost

There are more domain hosts out there but most of these processes will have the same steps with slightly different steps. If your personal email address has a lot of business inquiries coming in, we would suggest forwarding those messages to your new address and updating your online presence to reflect this email address for users. This way, your mail is still all in one place.

Once you have an administrator or staff members, be sure to add them to your custom domain email addresses. Be sure to create at least one email account that is not dedicated to a specific person’s name, as this will be a good email address for your website’s contact forms and general inquiries.

Once you have created custom email addresses with your host, test that each email address is working by sending test messages. If you run into issues, follow up with your domain host support for more information.

Create a Website Contact Form

It’s great to have prospects visit your website but it’s better for them to leave you a message. In the modern era, the answering machine has been replaced by the website contact form. The best way for you to capture leads and prospects using your website is by capturing contact information. If your website doesn’t have a place for visitors to give you this information, it’s not going to happen.

To start, add a contact form to your website’s contact or homepage. Your homepage will receive the most traffic of any pages, so this is an important place to include a contact form near the bottom of the page. You can also link buttons on the homepage to take people to the contact form. The contact form doesn’t need to be front and center on your homepage, but it should be available should your visitor choose to get in touch. 

Once you’ve edited the page to add a contact form, you’ll want to fill out all of the details of what is mandatory and optional for your form. 

Pro Tip: Don’t require a phone number on your form. Studies have found that this one field can impact conversions by up to 47% and many people will not give their real number if you do.

The next step is to test your form. Depending on the contact form or plugin you choose, you’ll need to configure and test that if someone fills out the form, it does show up in your inbox. For this reason, some will use a plugin while others will only need to fill out the contact box in your page builder. 

Contact forms are crucial to your online success because they are a window for prospects to turn into a lead. Your website could have the best presentation of your business possible, but without a simple way for them to reach out, it can only produce brand awareness. With a contact form, you have the opportunity to create new leads.

Create a Prospect List with Online Tools

Finding viable prospects is one of the hardest jobs for a financial advisor. Companies know this and have entire business models built around selling contact information.

Pro Tip: Most bought lists are not compliant with mass email providers’ terms of service agreements. Sending out messages to a bought list that hasn’t opted-in to receive messages from you can get your Mailchimp, Constant Contact, or other ESP account blacklisted.

With all of these hoops to jump through, you may be thinking “how can I contact new prospects?”

One strategy is to get your library card. Yes, we meant that last line, your library card.

Many libraries have free access to tools outside of just checking out books. Reference Solutions by Data Axle (formerly ReferenceUSA) is the leading source for business and residential data in the United States. Libraries across the United States provide access to information within Reference Solutions at no extra cost if you are a local card holder. 

See your local library’s website for information on what data they have access to. This way you are saving on your budget and still have the ability to get reliable data from a quality source.

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There you have our 5 financial advisor branding tips you can implement today. We hope that these suggestions are helpful in your prospecting and will continue to build your financial advisory practice for the future. For more information on digital marketing, check out our article on how to track direct mail campaigns.

Sources: 

www.codetwo.com

www.writethat.name 

https://ahrefs.com/blog/

www.designerdaily.com

www.dreamhost.com

www.vtldesign.com

www.Blog.gimm.io

www.wisestamp.com

www.smallbusiness.chron.com

If you are looking for more ways to market your financial advisory practice, see this presentation from Tucker Advisors CMO Justin Woodbury.

If you would like more information on digital marketing strategy, visit here.

For Financial Professional Use Only. NOT INTENDED FOR VIEWING OR DISTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC. Insurance-only agents are not licensed to offer investment advice.

Indexed Annuities: The New Retirement Pensions?

By Sam Deleo
Tucker Advisors Senior Content Specialist/Editor

Defined-benefit plans. Those of us who are older might remember them better as “pensions,” but in 2021 they seem about as common as a rotary phone. (Sorry, but we don’t have time to explain what that is.)

Investopedia.com reported in a story last year that only 17% of U.S. private-sector workers still have access to pension plans. With many of the plans still in existence, employers have placed a freeze on funding them, which is often the beginning of the process to eliminate the plans altogether. In other words, the large majority of us can no longer rely on our employers to fund our retirement plans. We are on our own.

The Pros and Cons of the 401(k)

The most common replacement of the defined-benefit plan has been the defined-contribution plan, or, the 401(k). The 401(k) often offers a traditional pre-taxed account and a post-taxed Roth account, with both sourced in a blend of stock and bond options the employee must choose and maintain with the appropriate risk tolerance until retirement.

Some of us are lucky enough to work for employers that match a percentage of 401(k) contributions. However, in recent years, that benefit has also become rarer. Ultimately, it is up to the employee to secure their future income from the 401(k) choices they make. And as James McWhinney at Investopedia writes, that’s far from a certain outcome:

“After the money hits the account, it’s up to the employee to choose how it’s invested—typically from a menu of mutual funds—and the vagaries of the stock market to determine the ultimate outcome. Maybe the markets will go up, and maybe they won’t.”

The 401(k) plan does offer advantages over pensions for employees. For one, it can be a better instrument for growing retirement savings. Also, workers no longer need to worry about whether their employer can fund the pension or will declare bankruptcy to escape liability for it. But, without pensions, employees also can’t predict an exact monthly income for their retirement. In a 401(k), the income they plan on for retirement rises and dips with the market, and they must hope that none of the “dips” turn into downturns or crashes while they’re preparing to retire.

Free Guide: High Profile Use of Annuities

What Does an Indexed Annuity Do?

Even if market risk isn’t your thing, playing it safe has its own problems. With interest rates for bank accounts, CDs, money markets and even bonds lower than the current rate of inflation, workers will actually lose money year to year by investing in those savings instruments.

So, what is the most efficient tool for creating your own retirement pension? While there are more elaborate and hands-on approaches, more and more retirees are finding the solution is to fund an annuity with a portion of their 401(k).

“One user-friendly version of self-funded pensions is the indexed annuity,” said Tucker Financial President and CFP, Darren Petty. “It functions much like a ‘cash-balance pension plan,’ a defined benefit plan created by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) of 1974, except the annuity version is funded by the employee at or near retirement, usually with a portion of their 401(k) balance.”

An indexed annuity is an insurance vehicle that can guarantee a reliable monthly income over the lifetime of the policy holder, with the remaining balance payable to owner’s beneficiary(ies). The cash balance can grow at a stated interest rate, much like a bank CD, or it can have greater growth opportunity if the owner chooses an indexed option. This “links” the annuity cash value to a stock index like the S&P 500. When the market grows, the annuity cash value grows. When the market declines, the annuity doesn’t lose value because it isn’t directly invested into equities. To be fair, these annuities aren’t to be compared to a stock portfolio in terms of overall growth opportunity, but they can earn a respectable rate, all without market risk.

Why Are Corporations Moving Pensions into Annuities?

When you consider that indexed annuities de-risk principal and can guarantee a reliable monthly paycheck, it’s easy to understand why retirees are finding them to be attractive pension replacements. Even major corporations, such as GM, FedEx, DowDuPont, Lockheed, Molson Coors, Kimberley-Clark and others, have transferred their pension funds into annuities. These corporations understand that insurance firms act as the world’s risk managers and are better-equipped to manage long-term pension liabilities.

Critics of annuities claim they carry high fees, and this is particularly true of variable annuities, which have fees ranging from 2% to 5%. The lower-cost indexed annuity typically comes with a 1% or less annual fee, depending on the retiree’s deferral period (years until retirement). Others say you can make more money by investing in stocks. It is true that you might grow money faster in stocks or mutual funds, but creating your pension income at retirement is still the goal of this growth. Another common critique is that indexed annuities “tie up your money,” but in fact, most offer between 10% and 20% liquidity each year. “This (liquidity) is far more than you should ever access,” said Petty, “when you consider that all distributions are fully taxable if the annuity has been funded by 401(k) dollars.”

Indexed annuities are not for everyone, and they may not be for you. If you’re still well within your accumulation years, you can take greater amounts of risk in the market. For those who are, say, less than 40 years old and have the time to recover any potential loss from riskier market investments, it may be wise to wait before investing in an indexed annuity. And, if you are a very high-net-worth investor who does not require secure monthly income for retirement, an indexed annuity is likely superfluous.

But the recent trend toward indexed annuities as an alternative to other retirement income solutions is not an accident. People want the security of the old pension plan. They’re finding they can come very close to recreating that financial period of history with a carefully selected indexed annuity.

We spoke with Darren Petty a bit more in depth about what he sees as the similarities and differences between the old pension plan and today’s indexed annuity, as well as other possible methods of creating this kind of income.

Q: How can retirees most efficiently receive pension-like income throughout their retirement?

A: There are several options within just the categories that are appropriate for retirement income. You have dividend-paying stock portfolios, laddered-bond portfolios, rental income or annuities. Within these categories, we look at four main things: income, growth, liquidity and tax efficiency. So, within those four categories, the most efficient for those who don’t want to be tied to managing their investment constantly during their retirement is the self-funded annuity. It provides reliable income, respectable growth, sufficient liquidity and tax efficiency. The fifth, bonus aspect is that it requires no monitoring or maintenance. Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of dividend-paying stocks for retirement income? A: The advantage is that you can get stock growth and receive a monthly income when the sun is shining, so to speak, and the tide is high and all boats are floating. So, in an expansionary economy, they’re great. In a recessionary economy, the stock value goes down and its dividend often disappears. As Warren Buffet said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.”

Q: What are the pros and cons of annuities for retirement income?

A: Some of the cons are that they can’t compare to your stock portfolio. The growth potential can be disappointing if compared to a high-flying stock. They are also not 100% liquid. The advantages contrast the disadvantages. While your annuity will not experience outsized growth, the vehicle has no downside risk, which makes it appropriate for an income-producing asset where moderate gains that never experience a market loss are sufficient. Also, 100% liquidity is an insane request on a 100% tax-deferred vehicle.

Q: Can you talk about the key differences between employer pensions and self-funded annuities?

A: If you have an employer pension, the advantages are that you don’t have to allocate or manage the investment. Your retirement income is easy to calculate, and it’s a clear trajectory. In a 401(k), as we’ve discussed, it will be a bumpier ride but you’ll be able create your own pension that you own and control. And an indexed annuity will likely be a large part of that creation.

Q: How much of a retiree’s income should be “guaranteed,” i.e., how much of the 401(k) should be used to fund an annuity?

A: I think that is a very practical question for people. So, this should be a reverse-engineered calculation where you subtract Social Security benefits from your required annual retirement income, and fund an annuity to cover the difference. For example, if your goal is $100,000 in annual income, and $50,000 of that is in Social Security benefits, you would fund an annuity for the other $50,000. That may require anywhere from 40% to 70% of your 401(k), but that’s the purpose of 401(k)s, to fund retirements. Our approach is that we’re trying to leave as much outside the annuity as possible but still make sure that the client has zero lifestyle risk. That’s our goal, to keep as much of your investible assets out of the annuity while still securing your monthly retirement needs.

For decades now, the financial industry has presented indexed annuities as products. Some financial advisors used them in ways that did not maximize their advantages for the client. So, advisors themselves are somewhat to blame for indexed annuities only now receiving their due as powerful financial instruments when used the right way to fund retirements.

Determining the correct amount for your “annuity pension” is something a good financial advisor will help you with by providing a context for a comprehensive financial plan. The indexed annuity can play a crucial part in any financial portfolio that seeks a balance of growth and security. Even more exciting, when used the right way, indexed annuities can serve as a worthy substitute to the pension era that retirees once enjoyed.

Notes

For more information about indexed annuities or to receive a downloadable white paper on addressing annuity concerns, email Kyle.Savner@TuckerAdvisors.com or Jason.Demers@TuckerAdvisors.com.

Sources:
1. Investopedia.com
2. MedicareWallet.com

– For Financial Professional Use Only. Insurance-only agents are not licensed to offer investment advice.

Client Appreciation Events: A Guide For Every Financial Advisor

By Jordan Collins
Tucker Advisors Senior Digital Marketing Specialist

Table of Contents

Click the links below to jump to a client appreciation event page section specific to your needs.

Why throw a client appreciation event?

Client Event: What makes a good one?

Defining the objectives of your event

Measuring Success

Client event examples

Client event follow up

Why Throw a Client Appreciation Event?

As a financial advisor, you have a lot of business to take care of. Between meeting with prospects, building your business, and finding the right solutions for clients, the calendar is incredibly full.

Why throw a client appreciation event if there are so many more important things to be done?

If this is something that’s crossed your mind, we have some important information for you. Throwing a client appreciation event can create trust with current clients, lead to referrals, and give you common ground with your local community. These values can’t be understated when you are looking to build your business.

Not only will an event put you on the top of their mind, it will also show that you are offering value that is supplementary to your advice. In the digital age that we live in, it is crucial to humanize yourself and connect with clients. If you are looking for a guide to throw an event, you’re in the right place. We will arm you with tips for your event and a robust guide download.

What Makes a Good Client Event?

The first step to a great event is choosing dates that people are able to attend. Planning for a date where there aren’t major holidays, poor weather conditions, or a large local event is important to increase participation from clients. We don’t just want our clientele showing up, we want their family and friends to attend! When scheduling an event, you also need to take lead time into account. If you send out invitations with only 2 weeks notice, you’re unlikely to have a lot of attendees. If you send out invitations with 8 weeks notice, you are much more likely to find that people are free for the night.

Inviting friends and family is a great way to put attendees at ease socializing and mingling with others. For many adults and kids, going to an event alone can be a large source of anxiety and will detract from your attendees’ interest in coming. Another reason you want additional guests is this is a great opportunity to introduce yourself to potential referrals. You never know who could be joining your event! Put your best foot forward as your event could be an olive branch to provide value for them.

If you have a staff, bring them in on your plans early. Planning, inviting, attending, and following up are all important steps to ensure a seamless experience. Many events involve eating, drinking, and activities and you’ll need all the help you can get to pull it off. With that in mind, be sure that you account for the number of people attending. This is where your staff’s invitations and follow up can help you anticipate how big or intimate your event will be.

If you are a smaller office, we’d suggest playing to your strengths and doing something small like a round of golf or hiring a chef for an intimate home-cooked meal. There are times where less is more and the right environment will be more effective.

Lastly, you can go as big or as small with your event as you’d like but one thing you don’t want to do is plan poorly. Your value to clients relies on the idea that you are able to strategize and plan for their future. If you can’t plan a party, it will not reflect positively on your ability to plan their finances.

Defining Your Event Objectives

You may be asking yourself “why am I defining objectives if this is just a client event?” The answer is because your event represents you to your attendees. If you want to build trust, you’ll have to know what you’re trying to accomplish.

In our research, we’ve seen two sets of objectives. You have your soft-skill objectives and your hard-cost objectives. An example of a soft skill objective is to meet five people that you didn’t know at the beginning of the night. An example of a hard cost objective is to receive referrals from current clients.

As you can probably tell, finding a balance of the two is crucial. You aren’t throwing this event to go table by table and review balance sheets, but you are a financial advisor whose clients are getting together for a night of fun; at some point, a financial question will surface.

This is an opportunity for you to show your expertise and how you’re a grounded community member just like everyone else. You shouldn’t sell or pitch at this event, as it is not the right time or place. If you’d like to say a few words thanking everyone for coming or giving out business cards to have someone contact you, this is far more appropriate. You want to build excitement and get more people to attend your next event! Don’t make your valued guests feel like they’re being sold.

Measuring Success

Measuring the success of your event is rooted in how you defined your pre-event objectives. If you set the objective of having more than 10 attendees, you have a very clear idea of whether you reached your goal. The big idea is that without setting goals, you won’t know if you were successful.

You will want to sit down with your staff and define what success looks like so each member knows and understands their role. If the only goal you set is to delight your guests, you’re on the right track. Remember that this is not a one and done event in the same way that you are not a one and done advisor. Be a great host, show the value of your work, and your clients will talk positively of you.

Client Event Examples

This is not an exhaustive list of every possible client event but we hope this will give you ideas for what your community will enjoy. Remember that you want to choose an event activity that will fit your goals. If you want people to be socializing and talking, don’t choose an event where they’re encouraged to be quiet or not speak.

You will also want to think about what your attendees have in common. If there’s a common thread between them, there may be a unique opportunity to personalize the event. As a host, you want to create an atmosphere that will lend itself to open conversation, making memories, and having your guests inviting friends to the next event. Choose wisely! There are more event ideas in the PDF download.

• Dinner & Dancing
• Golf Excursion
• Hawaiian Luau
• A Day at the Races

Client Event Follow Up

Before the end of your event, be sure to thank your attendees for coming. Once your event has concluded, handwrite a personal thank-you note to each couple who attended. If you are writing to a referral, be sure to mention the name of the friend who brought them and thank them for attending.

Do not procrastinate and wait until weeks have passed to send out your thank-you notes. You want the event to still be at the top of their mind. If that means writing some of them in advance, take the time to do it. If you are following up with a phone call, be authentic and personal. Track how your communications go and benchmark them against your other events.

Once you’ve completed a number of events, you will have an idea of how to test and tweak your event planning to reach more people and position yourself positively with your clients and prospects. For a more thorough guide to client appreciation events, be sure to download the Tucker Advisors Client Appreciation guide shown below.

If you are looking for more ways to market your financial advisory practice, see this presentation from Tucker Advisors CMO Justin Woodbury.

If you would like more information on digital marketing strategy, visit here.

For Financial Professional Use Only. NOT INTENDED FOR VIEWING OR DISTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC. Insurance-only agents are not licensed to offer investment advice.

WILL I HAVE TO BECOME A FIDUCIARY? 

By Sam Deleo
Tucker Advisors Senior Content Specialist/Editor

If you’re a financial advisor, you have likely heard about the Department of Labor’s recent fiduciary rules. The larger question for the industry as a whole remains, where will these rules take us next?

The word “fiduciary” refers to any advisors who must legally prioritize their clients’ interests above of their own. When advisors are not fiduciaries, they follow what is called the “suitability” requirement, which is basically an ethical call to follow the same prioritization of interests.

According to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) website, the identification of a fiduciary follows ERISA standards and the five-part DOL test, based on the assumption that anyone who offers investment advice for a fee, commission or other compensation, will be regarded as a fiduciary.

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Referral Marketing Guide

Five-Part Test for Status as an Investment Advice Fiduciary

For advice to constitute:

“investment advice of a fiduciary, a financial institution or investment professional who is not a fiduciary under another provision of the statute must:

1. 1. Render advice to the plan as to the value of securities or other property, or make recommendations as to the advisability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities or other property,
   2. On a regular basis,
   3. Pursuant to a mutual agreement, arrangement, or understanding with the plan, plan fiduciary or IRA owner, that
   4. The advice will serve as a primary basis for investment decisions with respect to plan or IRA assets, and that
   5. The advice will be individualized based on the particular needs of the plan or IRA.”

The DOL text goes on to say that a “financial institution or investment professional that meets this five-part test, and receives a fee or other compensation, direct or indirect, is an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA (Title I) and under the Code.” Additionally, “Title I of ERISA and the Code each contain provisions forbidding fiduciaries from engaging in certain specified ‘prohibited transactions’ involving plans and IRAs, including conflict of interest transactions, unless an exemption applies.”

While this update has not enforced any further regulation on the financial industry, many believe that day is coming. We recently interviewed Lloyd Domingos, Senior Director of Operations for Tucker Asset Management, about the current regulatory landscape and what he sees unfolding as we move forward.

1. Could you give a brief summary of what the current regulations mean for advisors?

Lloyd Domingos – Basically, the current rule, in a nutshell, would force insurance-only agents to act as fiduciaries—not get paid as a fiduciary, but to have the obligation to act as one. So basically, they’re going to turn you into a fiduciary whether you like it or not. But, if you don’t get your Series 65, you’re not going to get paid as a fiduciary. And you could potentially write less business, because clients will perceive that you’re not a holistic advisor, that you don’t perform the complete duties of an advisor in an all-encompassing way for your clients. Now, they haven’t begun enforcing the new definition of “fiduciary” as part of the rule. But that is supposed to begin on Dec. 20, 2021.

2. What does the IRA rollover exemption mean for advisors?

Domingos – This doesn’t mean that you can no longer roll over an IRA. But, if doing so would earn you money, you will likely need additional disclosures, documentation, policies and procedures, and annual review requirements. Again, this action cannot just help your pocketbook, it has to be in the best interest of the client.

3. How do you interpret the DOL’s “best interest” standard?

Domingos – It has to be the very best interest of the client. It can’t just be the “suitability requirement” anymore. It can’t be an action that is very good for the client, but not “the” best. Who is going to determine what this best interest is? The SEC? The client? The DOL? We don’t know that yet.

4. What are the key points advisors need to beware of in order to be in compliance with the present definition/regulation regarding IRA rollovers?

Domingos – I thought RIA in a Box provided a good summary of these points:
The new prohibited transaction exemption, which was affirmed by the Biden Administration on Feb. 16, 2021, “provides RIA firms with two options as relates to IRA rollovers:

1. Provide only general investment education regarding rollovers. Here, the RIA firm would not need to avail itself of the new prohibited transaction exemption; or
2. Provide investment advice regarding rollovers that affects compensation. Here, the RIA firm would need to utilize the new prohibited transaction exemption, with requirements including advice subject to the ‘Impartial Conduct Standards’ and a series of other disclosure, documentation, policies and procedures, and annual review requirements.”

5. There has been a lot of talk in recent years of potential new regulations for advisors, which some say could happen by December 2021. Could you comment on some of those possible changes?

Domingos –  I don’t want to speculate too much here. But the path the industry has been on over the last five to 10 years has definitely been one of more regulations, more processes and more standards to follow, not less. So, if anything, my opinion is that it will get harder to do business and not easier.

6. What do you see as the key areas of concern for advisors moving forward?

Domingos – Familiarize yourself better with the definition of “fiduciary” so you know it backwards and forwards, because it’s your livelihood. And take steps, whatever you deem necessary for your practice, to ready yourself for what might be further regulation, or at least more explicit regulation.

7. Why do you think the regulatory environment has changed and may continue to evolve?

Domingos – While many investment advisors and insurance agents truly have the best interests of their clients at heart, unfortunately, there have been the Bernie Madoffs of the world that have heightened the regulatory environment. That story, because of its sensationalism in the media, became somehow representative, when in fact, it really isn’t at all. But that’s just kind of the nature of how many of us react to big media stories like this, so people also likely expressed concerns to government agencies that they might not have expressed before, as well.

8. Are there steps that advisors can take now that will safeguard them from the potential new regulations?

Domingos – I don’t want advisors to think that if they get a Series 65 that it will cure all ills, but having a Series 65 means that you are already held to be a fiduciary in the eyes of the SEC. And most of these regulatory standards are part and parcel of what you already do, because you’re already held to that standard. Most Series 65 advisors’ compensation is fee based. That appeals to consumers, and rightfully so. If the consumers’ balances grow, so does the compensation for the advisor, because their fees are proportionally based on the client balances. But if the balances decrease, so does the balance for the advisor. So, everyone is in step. Neither party benefits while the other doesn’t. There’s a direct correlation.

9. What are the consequences of an advisor simply doing nothing now and waiting to see what happens?

Domingos – Worst-case scenario, you could find yourself going out of business. This could be the precursor to even more extensive regulation. Again, that’s why the Series 65 is important.

10. What assistance is out there for advisors who want to be prepared moving forward?

Domingos – There are educational materials and courses out there that advisors can find by searching online pretty easily. As an example, for advisors who qualify, Tucker Asset Management regularly hosts Series 65 Training Courses that advisors can take. We provide the classes and we pay for many of the costs associated with obtaining the Series 65 license. There is help out there for advisors.

We acknowledge that this is far from a comprehensive summary of the current regulations in our industry, and encourage you to research these issues on your own. It will be time well spent for your business.

We plan to closely follow this fiduciary definition and the regulations that may affect it later this year. Ignoring these issues as a financial advisor is no longer an option. The consequences can dramatically affect both the ways we do business and the potential success of those efforts.

Notes

For more information or assistance about fiduciary regulations, email Kori.Brooks@TuckerAM.com.

Sources:
1. The U.S. Department of Labor
2. RIAinaBox.com
3. ThinkAdvisor.com
4. MSN.com

– For Financial Professional Use Only. Insurance-only agents are not licensed to offer investment advice.

How to Track Your Direct Mail Campaign Digitally

By Jordan Collins
Tucker Advisors Senior Digital Marketing Specialist

Table of Contents

Click the links below to jump to a page section specific to your needs.

“What gets measured gets improved”

How to track direct mail

What are my options:

1. Tracking Links
2. QR Codes
3. Telephone Number Tracking
4. Landing Pages & Forms

Why Track Direct Mail Online?

“What Gets Measured Gets Improved”

Peter Drucker, an Austrian-American management consultant and author, once said “what gets measured gets improved.” He understood that for something to get better, first, you needed to know how it was doing. When you have a marketing effort that leads to an increase in sales, subscriptions, or transactions, it is obvious that something went right, but what about when you don’t see results? How do you know what is pushing your business forward?

When it comes to traditional marketing efforts like radio, television, or mail, it is hard to know whether it is money well-spent or just brand awareness to a target audience. Many businesses have started using comment cards and surveys to try and crowdsource this information. You’ve probably seen them asking, “how did you find us.”

While it is a good practice to be surveying and understanding your clients, it is not a good practice to be unaware of where your business is coming from.

Many marketing services will tell you about how many people in your geography they can reach, what they can put in their mail, and prospecting lists targeted at your industry, but how many really educate you on the data? When you spend a lot of money with a company and it doesn’t translate into business results, it’s time to go deeper and find growth opportunities. If you don’t have any reliable information to rely on, how will you ensure that your future marketing efforts succeed?

How to Track Direct Mail Digitally

To track direct mail, your call to action needs to capture some piece of information. One of the simplest ways to do this is to have a tracking link. A tracking link is a web address with unique values that signal where the call is coming from. By this, I don’t mean the current physical address of your caller, I mean what campaign, mailer, or outreach provided them the information to get in contact with you.

What if someone is calling you instead of using email or social media?

There are phone services available that can provide you with information on a lead’s name, phone number, location, and some of the offline marketing pieces they have interacted with. The key takeaway here is that there is more information to dive into than ever before.

Tracking Links

When it comes to tracking data online, there are a lot of options. In this section, I’ll give you two options, with the first being the simpler of the two.

If you’re looking to dip a toe into capturing information but don’t want analysis paralysis, use bit.ly to create branded links. You can create a free account and start seeing how many clicks a link is receiving (or visits seeing as you can’t click a print piece), where the clicks are coming from geographically, and what medium is driving people to your site. Is it through someone typing it directly, from email, or another channel where the link was shared? With Bitly you can also subscribe to get added functionality like creating custom links that don’t say “bitly” in them. I would suggest this for the financial advisor on a budget who wants to know how their campaign is performing.

The second method is using Google’s URL Builder. This powerful tool integrates with Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager to pull your data into one platform (Google Analytics) for comparison from campaign to campaign. There’s an ocean of information about all three of these products so we will try to briefly give context to Google’s URL Builder and then explain how that folds into Google Analytics.

The URL Builder allows you to take the page you want to send visitors to then add a source, medium, and more identifiers so you can differentiate visitors by where they see your link. This way when they visit, they are immediately signaling to your system where they came from. Doing this allows you to identify, compare, and contrast where your traffic is coming from and decide what drives the most traffic and what doesn’t. This takes the mystery out of where your leads are coming from. With that in mind, you need to be sure you are training your staff to interpret the tracking information. This way you can have a larger discussion on the data with those who are working with it hands-on.

With this new information in hand for your next campaign, you’ll make better decisions based on the efficacy of a marketing channel and waste less ad spend. In direct mail, they’ll sell you on how many houses there are to send to, but tracking the responses can get tricky. Creating trackable URLs will give you the transparency you’re looking for.

QR Codes (With Trackable Links)

QR codes have been around for a long time but up until 2021, they’ve rarely been adapted. People don’t use them and haven’t wanted to learn. Created in Japan in 1994 they were produced to help the auto industry work more efficiently. In 2002, mobile phones were release with the ability to read these “quick response” codes. Now anyone with a mobile phone could visit a website, use a coupon, or gain admittance to a show with the scan of an image. In 2020, QR code adoption expanded immensely with the world adapting to Covid-19 and the need for touchless transactions. Because of this many have been forced to learn how to use QR codes through visiting restaurants and attending public events.

The great thing about QR codes is the amount of access they offer. Without having to type, you can instantly scan it with your mobile device’s camera and you’re on your way. Creating a QR code for your marketing campaign is incredibly flexible and simple. So easy that you can right click a page or image and instantly be given the option to create a quick response code.

When using a QR code, create your tracking link first. This way it will register with your tracking when someone scans the QR code. If you are looking to get more specific with your QR code creation, Google a QR code generator and customize it. This way you can get all the bells and whistles, the ability to track it, and a high-res file to add to your print materials. Now that you have your materials ready, all someone needs to do is look at your mailer, scan the code, and you’ll see it on your end.

Call Tracking

While some will respond to your marketing campaigns with emails and other electronic messages, some will prefer to just give you a call. Call tracking software matches incoming phone calls and texts to your marketing channels and tactics. This measures whether you are spending your money wisely or if shifting your spend could result in more leads. Call tracking uses a unique phone number that forwards calls to your main phone number.

To use this effectively, you’ll need to use a third party like Callrail or Call Tracking Metrics.

You can add these tracking phone numbers to your print campaigns, website, or other materials to get more insight into who is calling, where they’re calling from, and how they’ve interacted with your materials in the past. If you decide to do call tracking, be sure that you set up your tracking phone number with your local area code. Many people will not answer a phone number calling them from out of town or outside their contact list. Another tip is that if you don’t have a lot of calls coming in, paying to track the information may not be necessary. If you’re receiving a high volume of calls, then you’d likely want to take advantage of something like this.

Landing Pages & Forms

If you use a third party for landing pages like Leadpages or Clickfunnels, you can collect data and make customized pages independent of your website. These services deliver analytics on page views and other key metrics. Receiving a page view is comparable to receiving a click on your trackable link. It means someone who has received your information from a marketing campaign is checking out your information. This is where it is crucial to differentiate your marketing campaigns and their channels to make sure when you look through the data, you can deduce what’s working and what isn’t.

Forms that you can embed and integrate into your website will come with analytics about how many form fill-outs you’ve had. This is another good way to see how successful your campaign is. According to WPForms, the median conversion rate on a form is around one in five. The highest success-rate forms had only five fields. Adding more fields or requiring a phone number made many of these statistics go down in efficacy. If you’d like to see more statistics to inform your form creation visit here.

Why Track Direct Mail?

You’ve read on how to track direct mail digitally but you may have wondered, why track direct mail in this way? The answer is that when you are paying companies for advertising, they can’t guarantee results. What can they guarantee? The answer is detailed data. While it would be great to measure each campaign purely through sales, not all campaigns lead to sales. If you’ve done direct mail, bought a list, or done a social media campaigns that didn’t pan out, why do you think it didn’t work? The clues to why it didn’t work are in the data. You want to use services that allow you to see behind the curtain. We live in a time where you can get live, transparent information on how your content is performing. Traditional marketing like direct mail can be held to the same standards as a Facebook or Google campaign if you set it up with tracking, but many don’t know that it is an option. If you are able to use tracking links on each of your different offerings and campaigns, you will see a more complete picture of where you should be spending to make more money.

If your site is struggling for traffic, be sure to see our piece on organic and paid traffic strategies here.

If you would like more information on digital marketing strategy visit here.

For Financial Professional Use Only. NOT INTENDED FOR VIEWING OR DISTRIBUTION TO THE PUBLIC. Insurance-only agents are not licensed to offer investment advice.

Keys to Preparing for ‘The Great Wealth Transfer’

By Sam Deleo
Tucker Advisors Senior Content Specialist/Editor

Nearly $70 trillion. According to research firm Cerulli Associates, that’s how much wealth aging generations like baby boomers will transfer to their children and grandchildren in the next two decades or so. This figure represents the largest generational inheritance of wealth ever, which some are now tagging “The Great Wealth Transfer.”

The effects of this massive transfer will introduce new challenges for financial advisors. Gen Xers, millennials and members of Generation Z think differently about money than their parents and grandparents. The methods advisors use in serving this new client base will need to adapt, also.

In addressing this subject, we won’t be so bold as to offer specific recommendations in this space because the challenges are still so new to both this potential client base and advisors alike. We simply want to introduce some methods that advisors may want to consider now and moving forward.

There are many generalizations we can make about younger generations that are as unfair to them as the stereotypes leveled at previous generations. Instead, let’s talk about prevailing tendencies that may or may not exist in the younger folks you might meet as prospects:

They might not be rebellious, but they likely won’t be traditional or “establishment,” either; They might not be impressed by your marketing efforts simply because they’ve already seen everything repeatedly, having been saturated with advertising, marketing and digital culture their whole lives; They might also be less impressed by your credentials and expertise, unless you can show them how your industry experience can directly impact their lives.

Additionally, more young adults live at home than at any point since 1969, according to Generational Insights, a leading research firm on generational demographics. This is not always by their design or preference, as they have weathered unique financial circumstances such as The Great Recession, housing slumps and aggressive valuations, as well as skyrocketing college debt.

Generational Insights summarizes younger generations’ view on experts like financial advisors as follows: Experts are teachers; Experts acknowledge the uniqueness of an individual’s situation; Experts guide, rather than seek to control; Expert’s resources should be available repeatedly, even long after a transaction has closed.

Financial advisors seeking to connect with younger generations would do well to emphasize both their personal characteristics as well as their professional traits. Younger people engage with personal details of people every day in social media settings. While it might be more appropriate to reveal such details in Instagram or Facebook than on LinkedIn, advisors should feel free to express their preferences when it comes to movies, music, sports and other media. What are your hobbies, collections, travel interests and outdoor pursuits? What interests inspire passion in you? You may not feel as comfortable about it yet, but younger people have seen information like this about others as long as they can likely remember.

We spoke with the founder of Generational Insights, Cam Marston, for his expert’s take on what it means to be an expert to younger people today.

“It appears to us,” said Marston, “that many experts in the financial industry who are age 50 and older have some expectation the methods and manners that worked with the parents and grandparents are going to work with the children and grandchildren. Unfortunately, that’s usually not the case.”

For starters, the parents and grandparents either missed the brunt of the Great Depression or had already secured careers and wealth by the time of the Great Recession. They experienced their share of market pressures, but they were different in scope than what young people face today.

“Keep in mind that for some members of this younger audience, like millennials, for instance,” said Marston, “there is still a stain on the financial industry because of the Great Recession. This event occurred right when many of them were trying to enter the work force and begin their careers. And, this new audience views a financial advisor as even more of a burden when they consider what ‘robo’ offers, where you don’t have to interact with a human to set up accounts or undergo the small talk that comes with human interactions. So, the question they ask themselves is, ‘Why should I work with a human?’ That’s why it’s so important financial advisors communicate with them on their level in the ways they prefer.”

What works for older clients, such as telling your story or presenting credentials and awards, may not elicit the same responses from younger prospects.

“Your ‘story’ remains effective with older clients,” said Marston, “but get out of your story and into the future with younger clients. They don’t want to know about you as much as they want to know how you can help them. So, it’s not just the future of the client, it’s, ‘Here is what I see happening if we work together.’ It’s a future focused with the advisor involved. Draw the picture of what the future will look like and then attach an emotion to this future: ‘This is going to be fun’; ‘I think you’re going to like what you’ll learn.’; ‘I think this will be an exciting experience for you,’ and so on.”

One of the biggest challenges facing financial advisors, Marston believes, involves the sales process. It should be a careful and deliberative process with clients of any age, but the way that process functions moving forward may change dramatically with younger prospects.

“Selling has always involved both emotion and logic. Now it’s generational, too,” said Marston. “When it comes to offering a sales pitch, my advice is to first create a picture of the future, with you the advisor as a part of that future. Second, sell in herds, that is to say, ‘Hey, I’d love the opportunity to tell you about what I do. Why don’t you grab a few friends, I’ll buy you all a round of beers and I’ll tell you about how my business works?’ It’s hard to isolate people alone in these younger generations, they’re often more comfortable in groups and with friends. Third, when given the opportunity, say something to the effect of, ‘Before I tell you what we do, why don’t you tell me everything I need to know about you?’ And in that moment of conversation, hopefully, that person feels heard, feels like you are invested in who he or she is. This then allows you to move on to telling them what you can do for them.”

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Using data that Generational Insights has compiled, we gathered a list of methods that may still be too new to call “best practices.” That said, here are:

5 Keys to Working with Younger Clients

1. Online Reputation

• The first step younger clients will take to learn about you is to search your name, business name and website online. Make sure you have put in the work for them to find positive results across multiple search engines and/or review sites.
• Maintain a presence on LinkedIn that is updated, followed by Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, in that order.
• If there are communications at this stage, present yourself as an information source, not a salesperson.
• If a “meeting” develops in this initial stage, keep it as informal as possible and don’t insist that it can only be in person.

For more information on building your online reputation, click here.

2. Key Considerations

• Gen Xers have weathered The Great Recession, a housing slump and massive college debt, so they remain highly suspicious of the financial market.
• They trust recommendations from their peers more than “experts.”
• Don’t take their casual attitude as a personal affront.
• Millennials use online and convenience financial services more than any other group.
• They are more likely to invest in their causes and beliefs than any other generation.
• They are comfortable in groups, value their peers and may post online about their interactions with you.

3. Introductions

• In general, be transparent and authentic. Don’t pretend to share their lifestyle and interests if you really don’t. You can be yourself and still be curious about them at the same time.
• For men, a collared shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a sport coat by your side is fine; Women can also dress business casual—comfortable slacks and a blouse.
• Ask them what you need to know about them and really listen.
• Get to your points without wasting time.
• Ask more questions.

4. Selling

• Avoid aggressive pitches and don’t pressure people for decisions.
• Instead, offer information, ask questions and wait for feedback.
• When explaining your suggestions, offer options.
• Show them where they can research your suggestions on the internet, but provide advice you feel they cannot find online, also.
• Consider offering free services for a limited time, or show how you are customizing your services to fit their needs.

5. Follow-up

• Be responsive to emails, texts and voicemails within 24 hours.
• Your ongoing service should match their initial experience with you.
• Be succinct in your messaging and ask them which they prefer: Email, texts, social media, etc.
• Don’t sign them up for newsletters or email opt-ins without their permission.
• Only reach out when necessary.

Thus far, we have largely discussed working with younger generations of clients as a future event. It’s not. The Great Wealth Transfer has begun and is in full progress.

You may have helped the parents and grandparents of today’s children. You might believe that, because of that service, new business is owed to you. But it’s not. The sooner you realize that, the better it will be for your bottom line.

Instead, embrace this new challenge of getting to know younger generations. What could possibly be more exciting than meeting the future in the form of bright, engaging young adults? It will be as much a new experience for you as it is for them. There is much to teach, and even more to learn.

Notes

For more information about generational demographics, please email Cam@CamMarston.com.

Sources:
1. Cerulli Associates
2. Generational Insights
3. F&G

– For Financial Professional Use Only. Insurance-only agents are not licensed to offer investment advice.