Establishing a digital presence and being availableonline means you must fully embrace technology. Fortunately,there are many new ways to accomplish this, thanks to an array ofresources offered by financial experts and third parties.

Plus, by employing digital technology, you can track and measurein real time which marketing strategies are producing the resultsyou want and where you need to make adjustments.

“People are expecting to interact with technology in all aspectsof their lives. The best advisors have incorporated it into theirofferings — and marketing is no different,” Jessica Liberi, vicepresident of product development for financial software makereMoney Advisor, said.

The move to digital marketing by FAs has been evolutionary andcontinues at a steady but relatively slow pace. “Financial advisors have been looking into onlinemarketing, including social media, to target younger prospects,and we've seen a lot of advisors adopting tools like video,”Isabella Fonseca, a senior research analyst at Aite Group, anindustry research firm, said. “More and more have been madeavailable. But the adoption [of them] isn't as mature” as thetechnology itself.

In fact, “If advisors don't have a strong digital presence andautomation that people have come to expect, [their] firm may not beseen as modern or as capable as a competing one,” Marie Swift,president/CEO of Impact Communications, said.

Being Social Savvy

Social media is at the heart of most financialexperts' digital-marketing efforts. By picking up informationposted by investors on their social networks (Facebook, Twitter andthe like), advisors can find out what's happening in prospects' andclients' lives.

In partnership with Hearsay Systems, Raymond James is evenproviding dozens of “Social Signals” to its independent andemployee FAs to keep them up to date on important personal eventsthat have financial implications for their clients — a newmarriage, job change, relocation, birth of a grandchild, etc.

Advisors receive alerts about such happenings when they'reposted by members of their social network. “All these representmoney in motion and an opportunity for advisors to educate peopleon [investments] they might consider that [could] come with thechange,” White explained.

Advisors can also check investors' social media postings. “Thisisn't stalking. People are communicating these things throughsocial media. It's just being disciplined around listening forwhat's happening,” the CMO said. “Technology is just extending whatadvisors have always done to market their practices.”

More Automation, Video

Marketing automation software can also push out messages to lotsof people. It is often used for scheduling communications withprospects at specific intervals, such as daily or weekly, and at aset time of day.

Marketing to existing clients is a strong way to employ digitaltechnology, too, and automation lets advisors do “micro-targetedmarketing,” Pershing's LaHuta said. Account aggregation, forinstance, can be doubly useful with its holistic view of a client'saccount, including assets held at other firms or cash flowing intocredit union accounts.

“The advisor might say, 'I see that you just sold your house.What do you have in mind for investing that money?'” LaHutaexplained. “The technology of account aggregation is a fantasticmarketing tool to find opportunities to increase wallet share.”

Video is another important marketing tool, of course, and smartadvisors increasingly are featuring it on their websites. But theproductions should never be dull, MacKillop of First Ascent said.“Typical ones are of people standing woodenly in front of a camera.You need to give someone more of a feeling rather than [sharing]facts and figures,” he said.

The use of new technology should not replace traditionalmarketing methods, such as seminars, experts say. But as digitaltechnology is applied more frequently to all aspects of anadvisor's practice, it is reasonable to expect that the practicewill evolve widely into one with a hybrid business model, or whatis currently referred to as a bionic advisor.

The key is to find the right balance of digital advice and humanadvice, Swift said. “The future is already happening around us. Butadvisors shouldn't be scared by the way technology is enhancing theclient experience.”

To be sure, some industry leaders have no fear. Next year, forexample, Carson will offer what he calls “a half robot/half human”advisor, as well as a “100% digital experience.”

“The next generation is going to judge who they do business withpurely on value. The relationship is important but not nearly asimportant as it used to be. That's now table stakes,” Carsonsaid.

By year-end, Raymond James plans to launch its Connected Advisordigital advice platform for clients with lower asset levels andless complex investment needs. “We're taking parts of theclient-advisor relationship that are more commoditized [to use inConnected Advisor] but making sure the advisor is still front andcenter for more sophisticated advice like financial planning,”White explained.

Announcing the platform in January, Raymond James described itas focused on “robo-advisor-like technologies.” While White sayshe's “not a big fan of the term 'bionic advisor' because it feelslike the technology is becoming a more important part of therelationship,” the chief marketing officer acknowledges that“there's something [to the concept]. But we're using technology toenable the advisor, not disintermediate them.”

As helpful and ultimately cost-effective as digital technologymay be, many advisors remain hesitant to use it for marketing andother purposes.

“That resistance is foolish because advisors need to keep upwith the times. Eventually, they're going to exit the business orsell it, and embracing digital solutions will help them build valueand equity in the firm,” Swift said.

But advisors should always keep this in mind: “It's important torecognize the need for the human touch,” MacKillop said. “Clients'fundamental desire is to have an emotional connection with thepeople they're working with.”