Traditional financial services firms have to build digital channels that put the purchasing power in clients’ hands, even if it means fewer visits into branches and advisors’ offices, according to Larry Lubin, president and CEO at Toronto-based BlueRush Media Group Corp., who spoke to an audience of financial services marketing officers at the Digital Marketing for Financial Services Summit in Toronto on Thursday.
Specifically, Lubin discussed the lessons they should take from the marketing practices and service offerings of financial technology (fintech) companies. One key element of that offering is having clients buy investment products while on their personal devices without having to make an appointment or go into a financial services firm’s branch.
“The new point of sale is the customer — whenever and wherever [he or she is],” he said.
Lubin indicated that the websites of large financial services institutions have the tools that could lead to product purchases, but don’t go far enough in producing successful transactions.
“Even the calculators on your websites stop short of getting [clients] to do anything [if] they’re going in for a mortgage or an investment,” said Lubin.
The reason for this is because the major financial services institutions are determined to preserve their legacy structures, according to Lubin, who spoke of the ongoing debate in the financial services sector as to whether automated investment management services could replace traditional financial advisors.
“We shouldn’t fear [automation],” he argued. “I think we have to [determine] how does the human augment that [automated experience]? As humans, we do still want connections but it’s not that [automation] is not a good idea.”
Fintech and human interaction can actually be combined into one experience for clients and the role of client-facing employees can be enhanced by technology and new marketing techniques, Lubin suggested.
When a client does choose to step into an advisor’s office or a bank branch, the firm’s employees should have access to the technological tools that will modernize that interaction. Advisors and customer service representatives should be using touch-friendly tablets, as opposed to paper-based material, so employees can interact with clients and use the technology and the firm’s website to share information, he said.
Traditional financial services firms must also do a better job of using their data on clients to produce more meaningful promotional materials, such as personalized video marketing, which Lubin described as a growing marketing strategy trend.
“Financial services is about numbers and I am interested in numbers about me … vs a bunch of stuff about some random product,” he said.
Some financial services firms, including Winnipeg-based Investors Group Inc., are producing videos that are targeted to their clients. The videos refer to the client by name and can serve different purposes.
For example, Lubin presented a video that is narrated by an Investors Group advisor to thank her client for attending a review meeting. The video also serves as a reminder to the client of the topics that were discussed during that meeting.
This is one way in which a client’s data can be used to produce a personal story for each individual that will demonstrate the value of the service that the advisor and the firm provided to the client, according to Lubin.
Photo: Bloomberg