Your experience may be typical.
Your inbox is jammed. And you have a spam filter that bars
many emails from ever reaching you (sometimes ones you’re
expecting).
Those are the Cons.
What about the Pros?
The good news is that email marketing is inexpensive,
fast, and easy to carry out. And it can be more effective
than any other marketing channel available today if you’re
smart.
Being smart is to be strategic.
And for email marketing for financial services to be strategic
means to be sure you have everything in place so that your
email message is welcome.
Email Marketing Basics For Financial Advisors
And Other Financial Service Professionals
Email Marketing can be as easy as 1-2-3.
Email Marketing Step #1 - Start Out With Your Best
List
“Best” means a list where you already
have a relationship with the people in it. Yes,
that would be your own list in your financial advisory practice.
If you don’t have e-mail addresses for the clients
and prospects in your database, you may be able to collect
them. Encourage the prospects you encounter at:
- a trade show,
- an association meeting, or
- on your web site
to give you their e-mail addresses along with permission
to send them email.
Where you don’t have email addresses, offer
an enticement -- perhaps an article, tip sheet,
insider’s checklist, an ezine, or access to a restricted
area of your web site in exchange for their e-mail addresses.
A Word of Warning: Remember always to get their
permission to send email to them.
Email Marketing Step #2 - Grasp What Your Target
Audience Wants From You
Email marketing isn’t any different from direct marketing
offline for financial services professionals.
Knowing the problems, frustrations, and the trends buffeting
your prospects’ lives along with their desires is
vital to email success for your financial services practice.
Email Marketing Step #3 - Develop A Can’t-Refuse
Offer
That’s exactly how Bob Hanson, Jr., increased the
responsive of an email list by 350 percent over the usual
lead-generating emails the firm sent out.
Best Practices To Make Email Marketing
More Effective For Financial Services Businesses
The financial services industry has been one of most successful
categories for email marketing.
It’s Not About Snazzy Effects
Unlike what you may imagine, though, it’s not about
glitz and Flash. What’s most important is developing
content that will be valuable to your list, or a selected
portion of your list.
It’s About Sending The Right Message
To The Right People
Segment your list so that your message resonates with your
chosen group of prospects or clients.
What could it be?
Your target segment will tell you. You could send tips
for retirement planning or even ideas for looking at their
healthcare options in the light of their total financial
picture.
Here's another example: According to information from a
Forrester Research report, Schwab “generates trades
and contact with its investment consultants through emails
it sends when the value of a customer’s portfolio
changes.”
For More Effective Email Marketing
Coordinate With Other Marketing Channels
You may see a lift from a direct mail communication, for
example, when you follow up with an email. This synergy
can multiply results! Or how about following up an email
contact with a prompt phone call.
Use The Speed and Ease of Email To Test
Your response is almost immediate and it’s relatively
inexpensive. What can you test:
- a segment of your list,
- a list you’ve acquired in a joint venture,
- your subject line, or
- your offer.
You won’t know for sure unless you
test.
P.S. Remember, including a P.S. at the end of your
email can pay off. It provides a last chance in
your email marketing message to reinforce your offer and
leave your prospects with a durable message. And it’s
a final place to put a link to more details or your sign-up
form on your website
For more information about email
marketing for financial services contact Bob Hanson by email
or call Bob at 617-901-6886.
