As a marketing tool, e-newsletters are an inexpensive and relatively easy way for financial advisors to brand their practices, but they can also leave advisors wondering if clients even read these things.
Absolutely, says Karin Mizgala, CEO of Money Coaches Canada, a national network of fee-only financial planners. She is often surprised by how many prospects tell her they’ve been reading her e-newsletter for years before making any contact. “You would not believe how many times we’ve heard that,” she says. “You think that people are deleting it.”
Here are some tips to ensure that clients don’t hit the Delete button on your e-newsletter:
>Make your subject line sing
Clients are fickle about what they’re going to read and they take only a moment to decide if your e-newsletter is worth opening, says George Torok, a marketing specialist in Burlington, Ont. That’s why it’s important advisors come up with something that will draw the reader in, he says. “You want a title like ‘Snakes on a Plane.'”
>Get cozy with your content
Save the dry, lingo-heavy financial analysis for in-person meetings with clients who appreciate that approach, says Mizgala. E-newsletters are just not the place to flex your in-depth financial savvy muscle. Instead, she suggests using stories and conversational language to connect with your clients. “They really want to know that we understand them and feel their pain and share their worries,” she says.
>Break it up
Using white space, bullets, boxes, pull-out quotes and pictures make for a more visually interesting read, says Mizgala, who has learned some tricks of the marketing trade through trial-and-error over the years. She recommends advisors look to popular magazines for inspiration.
>Test it out
Have another set of eyes read the newsletter before you send it out to clients, suggests Torok. It sounds so simple, but it’s a step some advisors clearly miss, he says: “People will make mistakes. It’s normal.” By having an assistant or colleague look over the content before sending it out, advisors can avoid possibly embarrassing mistakes.
>Double up
Getting in the e-newsletter zone is easier when advisors work on more than one publication at once, Torok says: “You build up steam.” This doesn’t mean that an advisor has to completely finish a year’s worth of newsletters at once. But getting a few started at one time makes subsequent publications easier to pull together, he says.
>Aim for regularity
One of the biggest mistakes of e-newsletter newbies is being too ambitious and setting themselves up with a grueling publication schedule. It’s better to start off slow and predictable — with quarterly publication, for instance — than to promise your readers weekly hits and then fail to deliver, Torok says.
>Be patient
Unseasoned writers often believe that whatever they publish will warrant immediate discussion and action. Not so, says Mizgala. “You might find that nothing develops.” That doesn’t mean the medium isn’t worthwhile. Again, she points out that many clients followed her for years without her knowledge. “It’s like knowing that there’s a friend out there and that a hand is reaching out to them,” she says. “It’s up to them to reach back.”
IE