Asset managers too can benefit from taking a closer look at established and new online marketing tools (including those beyond the website and newsletter). In HANSAwelt, adisfaction CEO Stefan Swertz outlines a few ideas.
Asset management is a conservative business. Integrity, prudence and discretion are what count. The same goes for communication: serious, carefully considered and rather quiet. By comparison, the world of online marketing seems colourful, fast and loud. So whenever I talk to asset managers about the opportunities online marketing offers beyond the website and newsletter, I almost always hear the same question, accompanied by a sigh: “Is this really necessary?”
The answer is yes, if the measure supports the overall impression of integrity that the company and its people convey, underlines their expertise and makes the company more likeable. Any tool that can help influence these factors in your favour deserves a cost-benefit assessment. This openness pays off, as the following examples show.
Many people think setting up a corporate blog is too much effort. Yet many companies constantly produce high-quality material, such as market outlooks, analyses of commodities, indices or shares, and investment strategies, which can be turned into valuable blog posts in no time. A blog fulfils important tasks. Internally, it helps the company affirm what it stands for, and externally it helps position it. It signals a willingness to engage in dialogue with potential clients and other stakeholders, and it gives Google something to feed on, so your website is more likely to be found for relevant search queries.
Asset managers cannot avoid the issue of interaction either. So ask yourself whether your website is set up for dialogue. Anyone can list a phone number and email address. Widgets with a chat function, for example, are a smarter solution: they pop up when someone visits your website and invite the user to start a conversation. If the visitor responds, an employee receives a message and can reply.
While we are on the subject: more than half of all website visits already come from smartphones and tablets. So if you have not yet optimised your website for mobile devices, you should do so urgently. This step saves not only your website’s design, but also your ranking on Google. The search giant downgrades websites that are not optimised in its results.
Social media is a tricky subject. In all likelihood, no prospect or client will seek a dialogue with you on Facebook. The same goes for Twitter. But Twitter can serve other purposes, such as dialogue with journalists and other multipliers, which can indirectly lead to greater media presence and, in the medium term, to more success in winning new clients.
If you would rather spare yourself the effort of building your own social media profiles, you can also consider a “piggyback solution”. Some financial media profiles have a large reach that you can tap into through content partnerships (joint webinars, expert interviews and so on). In short: asset managers too can benefit from taking a closer look at established and new online marketing tools (including those beyond the website and newsletter). I am sure there are untapped opportunities for your company in this area as well.
