How to overcome the challenges of engaging the next generation in 3 practical steps – Part 2

Close up blurred background view of excited African American male holding up keys to his first home.

By AdviceBridge

Following last month’s blog, which explored the disconnect between concern over intergenerational wealth planning and positive actions being taken to address the problems that advisers face, here are some practical ways to attract business from younger generations.

79% of advisers don’t have a differentiated sales and marketing strategy for younger investors

Only around a third of advisers surveyed for Schroders Adviser Report said they have a specific proposition that targets the transfer of family wealth to the next generation.

There are various reasons advice firms are reluctant to pursue the younger generation. For many, the main issue comes down to money. Advice firms don’t believe that young people will pay for advice and, on top of this, they don’t have enough money to make serving them profitable.

Traditional ways of working may make this true. The good news is that, if you’re willing to embrace new ways of thinking and adopt the right technology to help you service younger clients, this needn’t be the case.

#Investing has accumulated more than 5 billion views on TikTok

Evidence suggests that many young people are far more engaged with financial matters than you might think. For example, on TikTok, #investing has clocked up more than 5 billion views.

While it’s true that “investing” on TikTok and other social media platforms may not automatically correlate with financial planning per se, it is proof that many young people are interested in doing useful things with the money they have.

The TikTok stat proves how many are actively seeking online content about investing.

While you could sign up to a TikTok account and start riffing about the greatness of financial planning, the amount of content you may need to produce to gain momentum and the time it takes to create content that works could be more than you can handle.

TikTok aside, there are other ways to engage young people that won’t break you, or your bank balance. They could even prove beneficial for your entire client base, no matter their age.

1. Engage on social media

TikTok is just one platform you can use to promote your services and reach a younger audience. Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are all useful places to spread your message.

It costs nothing to post and, while there is the time factor to consider, once you have a message and a story strategy it shouldn’t take up too much of your time to schedule regular posts and start getting your word out.

Whichever social media platform you choose, make sure you’re using at least one to promote stories that your target market is most likely to respond to. And, above all else, keep your messaging authentic.

It’s not only young people who are obsessed with social media. Facebook, in particular, is popular with people in their forties and over.

2. Embrace email marketing

Most of us rely on email for work, but also for keeping up to date with family and friends.

In fact, since 2017, the number of emails sent and received globally has increased. According to Statista, around 306.4 billion emails were estimated to have been sent and received each day in 2020. And, by 2025, this figure is expected to increase to over 376.4 billion daily emails.

To determine how often to send emails to your list, simply ask subscribers how often they’d like to hear from you. Give them options, such as hearing from you monthly, fortnightly, weekly, or daily.

Generation X (those aged between 41 and 56), in particular, check their email regularly: at work, at home, on tablets and iPhones, and desktops.

Read more: How to engage Generation X: 6 ways to tap into their wants and needs

3. Develop a great digital experience through hybrid advice

The pandemic accelerated the speed at which the industry moved to embrace technology. While holding client meetings on Zoom is now the norm for many, don’t stop there.

Integrating digital client portals or client-facing apps can also help you more easily engage with younger generations.

The growing use of digital tools is changing how clients view their providers and many now expect their wealth relationships to become less personal, and certainly less face-to-face in the future.

Providing integrated digital financial advice will help you attract a younger client base and provide existing clients with highly customised advice more effectively.

With the right technology speeding your business processes up, you’ll have time to service more clients who are ready and willing to embrace this new digital approach.

Read more: The figures don’t lie: Why advice firms must provide all three engagement channels (adviser, digital, and hybrid) for all client types

The AdviceBridge platform can transform the service offering you can deliver to your clients.

How AdviceBridge can help

While younger clients may not be immediately profitable, the AdviceBridge platform uses automation to help you deliver personalised financial advice to clients in an efficient and cost-effective way.

The white-label app gathers personal and financial information from the client digitising many of the manual, time-consuming processes, allowing you to focus on the relationship rather than admin, research or reports.

The goals-based tools enable young, technology-familiar clients to see how altering their finances will affect them now and in later life.

With sophistication and detail, AdviceBridge shows the best way to invest across different tax wrappers, cutting fees, and saving tax.

Get in touch

If you want to find out how AdviceBridge can benefit your business and help you attract younger clients profitably, please get in touch. Email hello@advicebridge.com or call us on 020 3925 3850.