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Marketing to Advisors: Are you Wasting Their Time?

by Mike McLaughlin

120 minutes.

That's how long I sat in the waiting room at Dr. Bernaski's office last week waiting to get a physical. With only one copy of Sports Illustrated at my disposal, it goes without saying that a nice chunk of my time ended up being wasted. Not even the outdated WebMD brochures held my interest.

So, as I sat in the office getting my blood pressure up in advance of my physical, my thoughts turned to the only logical topic: asset management marketing. Ok, not really. But I did get there eventually. Here's why.

120 minutes.

The amount of time I waited to see the doctor is exactly how much time the average financial advisor spends interacting with asset management firms each week. This includes wholesaler visits, searching for content on Web sites, everything. With such a limited opportunity, the last thing firms can afford to do is annoy advisors with information they don't need.

Of course, most Marketing teams ignore this, as the industry floods the average advisor with 500+ messages annually. Not surprisingly, direct mail gets trashed, e-mail gets deleted, and advertisements get ignored. As two advisors we interviewed for our latest whitepaper stated:

• "Any mail I get from mutual fund companies goes straight into the garbage." - Wirehouse Advisor, Chicago
• "I love getting stuff via e-mail. It is so much easier to delete e-mail than throw out paper." - Independent Advisor, Los Angeles

In the end, only 25% of advisors give firms' marketing efforts any weight when making investment decisions. Not good.

Firms need to change how they spend their valuable marketing dollars. It is no longer about barraging advisors to get a sliver of their attention. This approach succeeds only in turning firms into Dr. Bernaski, who so skillfully wasted my time last week.

The key lies in constantly remembering that advisors care most about themselves, not your firm, your products, or what you have to say. Understanding this can help Marketing teams make the most of that 120-minute window of opportunity advisors give them each week.

As for Dr. Bernaski, his window with me has officially closed. Good medical references are welcome.