Has the glory and glitz of gorgeous websites, viral podcasts and vanity videos distracted us from the proven promise of outbound marketing?

Inbound Marketing’s Appeal

Inbound marketing feels good! It’s permission-based and non-invasive, meaning people choose to interact with us. And it makes us all stars — who doesn’t get a boost seeing their perfectly filtered headshots on brilliant ads and invitations?

Inbound marketing is sexy. It lures customers to us through platforms, content and experiences, making us feel attractive, desirable. Close your eyes and conjure your favorite websites, reflect on your recent social media interaction, or imagine yourself speaking at a convention podium. It’s all heady stuff.

Inbound marketing takes many forms (blogs, ebooks, whitepapers, etc.), surfs various channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) and appears at popular events (trade shows, podcasts, webinars, etc.) but it essentially serves one purpose — to attract people to us.

Constant Contact compares inbound marketing to a guest at a party who “gracefully joins in with an easygoing nature, serving refreshments, and slowly works to build trust with everyone present before engaging in conversation.”

Underrated Outbound

Outbound marketing, however, was described in that same article as a partygoer who “interjects into conversations, disrupting the light-hearted atmosphere.” If you had to choose, the article continues, you’re probably more likely to engage with the “graceful” partygoer. Ouch!

Outbound marketing is a strategy where you proactively reach out to prospects — often through traditional channels — to get them interested in your product or service. The goal is to push your message to prospects, rather than to pull them to you.

Outbound marketing can feel more challenging and uncomfortable than inbound, but done right, it can make you a popular partygoer.

Let’s reconsider that “interjecting” partygoer. How many times have we been at an event where we felt disengaged, perhaps even bored with meaningless conversation and superficial interactions? But then the life of the party walks in, locking eyes with us, connecting with us about topics that matter, making us feel like we’re the only person in the room. That’s what outbound done right feels like.

Get Personal

When you invest in learning a person’s circumstances you can have meaningful conversations. That’s one of the reasons referrals so often convert to clients: you know that prospect’s problems before you meet them and you show up with custom solutions.

Retail marketing has known this secret for years. Retail giant Target made news more than a decade ago when it successfully predicted which customers were pregnant and sent coupons on related items. Urban legend has it some of these women discovered they were pregnant because of Target! And, of course, since then we’ve all happily shared enough personal data with Amazon that it can tell us when to repurchase our vitamins and suggest the pant size that will fit us best.

What might have seemed creepy to GenX is an expectation for younger generations. In a 2024 article, Forbes reported that 81% of customers surveyed prefer companies that offer a personalized experience, and 70% say it’s important for a company to know who they are and their history. According to Hubspot 94% of marketers say personalization boosts sales, and 72% of them use AI for personalization.

Advanced Tech for the Personal Touch

It might feel counterintuitive, but the best tech creates opportunities for personal interaction. Because it can quickly and accurately assess data, AI can suggest people who match everything from your hiring criteria to your love connections. And because AI efficiently and painlessly performs tedious tasks like these, it keeps your calendar clear and your attitude positive so you can pleasantly engage with those people.

Financial advisors like the personal interaction and selective nature of referrals but often need to add more quality clients quicker.

Imagine a world in which you want to find and buy a home, but there is no Zillow, RedFin, Realtor.com or multiple listing service. There are no listings; shopping is entirely word-of-mouth.

To find a home for sale, you constantly network with your friends to see if they know anyone interested in selling their homes. Or you knock on doors of houses you like to see if the owners are looking to sell. Or you network with professionals — buddy up to those who sometimes work with homeowners preparing to sell their homes — like painters or handymen, to get a lead or two.

Insane? Absolutely.

But this is business-as-usual for the wealth management industry.

Financial advisors and business development professionals have had no listing service like the MLS, so they make cold calls and spend endless hours networking and courting professionals who might have a lead for them.

It’s wildly inefficient. One study shows that it costs more than $28,000 on average to get a single, qualified $3 million prospect to sit for a pitch. If the closing rate is a very respectable 33%, that’s more than $80,000 in acquisition cost. If that account generates $15,000 a year in margin, the payback period is more than 5 years!

Is this any way to run a business?

The Financial Planning Association says that to become a successful financial advisor you should spend an average of 60 percent of your time on client service: meeting with clients and managing their finances. Client service provides value by ensuring your customers have a positive and satisfactory experience, leading to increased customer loyalty and advocacy, as well as referrals. And it’s one of the reasons most financial advisors say they joined this industry.

But surveys show that most financial advisors spend too much of their time on tedious activities like administration and prospect development.

If you want to reallocate more of your time to client service, leverage new technologies to automate labor- and data-intensive tasks like prospect development.

WEALTHAWK’s AI-powered algorithms scrape vast sources of data to detect your best prospects — people who’ve received a monetary payout from a recent liquidity event and need immediate financial advice.

You became a financial advisor because you enjoy client service and excel at human interaction. Advanced technologies excel at detecting and sorting digital information, so spend your time serving your clients and let us manage your data!

Come hunt with us!

There’s some hand wringing around AI replacing us, so let’s explore.

By popular request WEALTHAWK now offers creative insights for financial advisors

As much as our customers love our platform, they like customized solutions even more and often ask us to go well beyond our core services to take on special opportunistic projects.

Some requests push us to think outside our platform, and those are the challenges WEALTHAWK thrives on. For example, a wealth management firm in Southern California asked us to investigate potential opportunities surrounding the recent demise of First Republic Bank. Our research showed that First Republic wealth clients were anxious about this turmoil and reconsidering their advisory relationships. These people would be ideal prospects for our customer, but how would we identify them? Further research indicated that banking clients tend to consolidate mortgage accounts and wealth relationships, so we pulled First Republic mortgage data for our customer’s region, cleaned it up and delivered it in a useful format that enabled them to classify and customize outreach to these ideal prospects. Within six months they had onboarded clients representing more than $2.4 million in annualized revenue!

Projects like this are so gratifying for us that we’re now offering Solutions as a Service! We help our customers with:

Client Acquisition — We understand the challenges of organic growth that financial advisors encounter. So we leverage advanced technology to achieve their goals, improve operations, and help them stay competitive, ensuring they make informed decisions when it comes to technology investments and implementation.

Data science consulting — Our expertise in data analysis, machine learning, and statistical modeling enables us to guide financial advisors and their firms toward the best path to optimize their operations. We use predictive AI to identify opportunities, provide insights, and assist in making proactive decisions.

AI development — Our team analyzes customer needs and builds complete, customized systems to address them. We construct chatbots and virtual assistants that can handle client inquiries, provide support, and assist with routine tasks, reducing our customers’ workload and offering their clients 24/7 support.

Trusted advisors are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and feel a sense of purpose in their work, according to a study by the Center for Customer Insight. This is likely because trusted advisors are focused on building long-term relationships with their clients and helping them succeed. Contrast that with someone who instead prioritizes transactional sales and meeting short-term targets.

What are the hallmarks of being a trusted advisor?

1. They’re more likely to close deals. When clients trust you, they are more likely to buy from you. This is because they know that you are not just trying to make a sale, but that you are genuinely interested in helping them succeed.
2. They have more satisfied clients. Clients who are satisfied with their trusted advisors are more likely to stay loyal to them and continue to do business with them in the future. This can lead to increased revenue and profitability for your business.

Trusted advisors are successful because they prioritize the following:

Long-Term Relationships: Trusted advisors focus on building long-term relationships with their clients. By establishing trust and providing ongoing support, they create a foundation for lasting partnerships.

Client-Centric Approach: Trusted advisors prioritize their clients’ best interests above all else. They take the time to understand clients’ needs, goals, and challenges and provide personalized solutions.

Trusted Source of Advice: Clients see trusted advisors as experts in their field and rely on their knowledge and guidance. Trusted advisors offer unbiased advice, drawing from their expertise and acting as a valuable resource for clients.

Enhanced Client Loyalty: Trusted advisors foster strong client loyalty through their commitment to client success. By consistently delivering value, building trust, and providing personalized solutions, they create a loyal client base that is more likely to stay engaged and seek their advice over the long term.

Reputation and Referrals: Trusted advisors develop a strong reputation in their industry and are known for their expertise and the positive outcomes they deliver. This reputation leads to increased referrals from satisfied clients, helping to grow their business organically.

Greater Influence and Impact: Trusted advisors have the opportunity to make a significant impact on their clients’ lives or businesses. By providing holistic guidance and tailored solutions, they help clients achieve their goals and overcome challenges.

Personal Fulfillment: Being a trusted advisor often brings personal fulfillment through the meaningful relationships built with clients and the positive impact made in their lives. Trusted advisors can derive satisfaction from helping clients achieve their objectives, seeing their progress, and contributing to their financial, professional or personal success.

Being a trusted advisor is about developing a deep connection with clients, offering valuable guidance, and becoming a reliable source of support — some of the main reasons people choose wealth management as a profession.