Gone are the days when marketing and technology existed separately. Today marketing and technology are interconnected and encompass many different marketing strategies.
Marketing assets such as websites and social media platforms, and their sub-assets such as blogs, podcasts, videos, and newsletters all delivered by MarTech software solutions. Marketing utilizes technology on a daily basis and requires many platforms in order to ‘get the job done’. Marketing is no longer a ‘set it and forget it’ approach; marketers who try to operate on the ‘slow and steady wins the race’ philosophy need to decide if they are actually participating IN the race.
Just like in the fable of the tortoise and the hare, the financial services industry (tortoise) has lagged behind in using MarTech solutions for not only marketing their company, but their sales force included. This is expected to change drastically throughout 2020 according to IDC which predicts financial services will occupy the number one space in industry technology spend. Due to increased budgets, MarTech spending will increase simultaneously as other IoT (Internet of Things) services are integrated into already adopted systems such as CRM (Client Retention Management Software). In this space, marketing departments may not have the bodies or the budget to develop solutions on their own, which is why MarTech solutions are being developed and upgraded at an astonishing rate.
Regardless if you’re part of a big corporation or a smaller RIA firm, MarTech is what helps separate you from your competition. MarTech spend is directly tied to AUM growth .
As pointed out in the August 2017 CMO Survey, Highlights and Insights Report traditional advertising spend (radio, TV, print with no internet delivery) has decreased in comparison to digital spend (MarTech) which was an average 14-18% higher in 2017 than 2016. The average yearly marketing budget reported by CMOs participating in the survey was 6.9% of overall corporate budgets. With marketing dollars directly linked to revenue, MarTech must be at the forefront of any business strategy.
The good news is that as MarTech evolves, more affordable solutions are available. While those solution providers that are ‘to market’ continue to develop additional features, digital marketers continue to demand solutions to keep up with the public’s desire to engage. Financial services regulators are finally embracing the ‘brand of the individual advisor’ by allowing interactions with clients and prospects via social media, blogs, podcasts, and content marketing. It is these MarTech solutions that is helping to drive individual advisor production and your company’s bottom line through client interaction delivered via technology . No longer can the focus only be on the corporation’s marketing; all the players need to be allowed to come the game.
The bad news is that if your company doesn’t spend on MarTech, marketer compensation, or multiple content marketing avenues, your competition will leave you in the dust as they acquire more clients, reach more prospects, and position themselves as experts through the use of marketing software.