SEMINARS ARE BACK The State of Seminar Marketing Services for Financial Advisors 2018
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RESEARCH
SEMINARS
ARE BACK
The State of Seminar Marketing Services
for Financial Advisors 2018
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent
1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
2 MARKET TODAY
4 DIRECT MAIL
7 DIGITAL MARKETING
CONTENTS
9 SUCCESSFUL SEMINARS:
THE BIG PICTURE
13 ADVISORIST REPORT
METHODOLOGY
32 CALCULATING THE TRUE
COST OF SEMINARS
48 CONCLUSION
TABLE OF
1
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Over the past 10 years the steady decline of qualified prospects
showing up to Retirement or Social Security themed seminars has
caused many financial advisors to turn to other methods to grow their
books of business. However, in the past 3 years, enterprising advisors
and mavericks have taken to digital marketing to resurrect this once-
abandoned source of qualified prospects.
If you want to grow your business quickly In this report, we examine the critical
with little effort, there are few techniques factors that go into the planning,
more powerful than doing seminars. Yes, marketing, logistics, management and
it’s that simple. Seminars remain a time- presentation of a successful seminar.
efficient, business-building tool for financial We also give you a close-up look at
advisors. It’s one of the easiest, most time- three top companies—each
efficient and cost-effective means to: representative of a different business
model:
Reach large numbers of qualified Digital Marketing/100% Done-for-You
prospects in your area with the assets
and net worth to benefit from better Digital Marketing/Done-with-You
financial planning. Direct Mail/Digital Hybrid
Qualify a large group of people at Marketing/Done-with-You
once.
This report will help you better
Educate people to financial strategies understand the range of options
for social security, retirement available in 2018 as well as trends in
planning, taxes in retirement and the profession. It will equip you to
more. select the best strategy and tactics
based on your wants, needs,
Present yourself as an authority and experience and budget.
knowledgeable resource, in short a
trusted advisor.
Open the door to building a
professional client-advisor
relationship.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent
2
MARKET TODAY
Putting on a seminar in 2018 is about so much more than getting “butts
in the seats.” You need quality as well as quantity. More specifically, you
need people who are ready and able to invest in what you have to offer.
You need affluent prospects to register clients and growing your financial
for your event. And you need those services business should be easy.
registrants to show up at your seminar. And yet, experienced advisors who
But speaking to a packed room of people have been doing financial seminars
who came for the free dinner is not a for years report that breaking through
sign of a successful seminar. the competition and marketing
effectively across multiple media
You need attendees to set appointments channels is challenging.
to discuss their financial needs and learn
about specific financial products that You too may be sensing that your
can help them best manage their assets target market is tougher than ever to
in retirement. And ultimately, you need to reach. Perhaps the total number of
convert your appointments into new qualified prospects showing up at
clients. your events is down. It may be that
you’re attracting plenty of people, but
At the end of the day, your return on with a lower net worth and fewer
investment (ROI) is measured in terms of investable assets than you would like.
the number of new clients you acquire Or you’re closing fewer new clients. Or
and the amount of new dollars under maybe it’s all of the above.
management.
But before you decide that seminars
According to the Pew Research Center, don’t work in 2018, you need to
roughly 10,000 Baby Boomers reach consider all the variables (e.g.,
retirement age every day, and this rate logistics, management,
will remain steady until 2029. With so marketing, presentation skills, follow-
many potential retirees, finding new up and nurturing) that go into putting
on an event. You then
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent3
need to weigh each according to your Let’s get started.
ability to perform that function in house,
your penchant to control (micromanage) We’ll begin with reviewing what has
the activity and your willingness to been the long de-facto standard of
outsource the work to someone who financial seminar marketing: Direct
knows the marketing and event-planning Mail. Then we’ll share how the
business. evolution of direct mail to digital is
making an impact today.
If you are looking to use seminars more
effectively to increase the rate of your
business’ growth, understanding how
each of these variables contributes to
your seminar success will help you
better determine 1) any tactical changes
you should make and 2) the seminar
marketing model that best matches your
needs.
And if you’re a new advisor wondering
how to get started with financial
seminars and examining your options,
you need a quick overview of the critical
steps to grow your practice using
seminars:
Building interest and booking
registrations
Getting people to attend the event
Presenting yourself as a trusted
advisor
Setting appointments at the event
and during the weeks after
Following up and nurturing prospects
pre- and post-event
Getting prospects into a conversation
and closing new clients
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent4
DIRECT MAIL
For as long as financial advisors have been doing seminars,
direct mail has been the backbone of their marketing effort. In
fact, financial advisors, as a group, have been slow to move
away from the traditional direct mail model.
But in most cases the days of 3% to 5% response rate are a distant
memory. Many advisors will tell you that their numbers are down and
continuing to decline. In part, you can attribute the decline to an
increasingly sophisticated consumer who is more skeptical and less
receptive to run-of-the-mill creative. And that’s especially true of
affluent consumers—the market you need to reach.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent5
If you want to stay with direct mail, you need to select a vendor that can
cut through the junk mail and capture the attention of your target
market. That’s going to require:
A highly targeted list— A great invitation— A great offer—You
Spend a lot of time Whether you use a need an offer people
discussing the postcard, a letter or an can’t refuse…or at
mailing list with your elaborate wedding-style least one that they
direct mail company. invitation, your mailer will seriously
You need to needs eye-catching consider. There are
understand how they visuals and a many ways to hook
target quality buyers, compelling message. people with your offer
and for the best You have only seconds and just as many
results share a profile to connect with a opinions as to what’s
of your best prospect before your best. Your venue and
customers…the ones invitation becomes seminar topic are part
with the greatest “junk mail.” Even if you of that offer; most
lifetime value. don’t pay for a direct mail events are
completely custom still dinner seminars,
package, you need a which helps to boost
design, a headline and attendance.
copy that is 1) uniquely
your own and 2) tailored
to your seminar.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent6
Calculating Your Direct Mail Response Rate
Understanding direct mail today can be confusing and difficult. On the one
hand, the DMA Response Rate Report shows direct mail continuing to
outperform digital channels (social media, paid search and display ads). On
the other hand, you and other advisors may be seeing dwindling returns. What
should be your baseline?
The DMA reports that the response rate for house lists is anywhere from 3%
to 5%. It’s important for you to remember that when you’re prospecting for
seminar attendees, you are looking for new clients. You are not mailing to a
house (client) list. Prospect lists typically have a response rate between 1%
and 2%. If you set your expectations on a 1% return, you’re being realistic.
Anything higher is a bonus.
While interest and use of digital marketing
is trending upward, direct mail is far from
dead. Here’s what you can expect:
Between the creative (design and
copywriting), printing, list and postage,
you’re going to pay more for direct mail.
Expect to pay about twice as much for
high-quality direct mail that converts
and delivers targeted registrants.
At the 1% response rate, you’ll need to
mail 10,000 pieces to get 100
registrants.
However, direct mail responders are
more likely to attend your seminar. On
average only about 15% to 20% are no
shows--particularly when doing the
traditional dinner event.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent7
DIGITAL MARKETING
Although the term “digital marketing” has been around since 1990, it
took almost 15 years before businesses started looking seriously at the
possibilities to reach their markets online. Since then, a constant stream
of new tools have, in effect, turned all our websites, blogs and social
media into traffic sources in the hands of savvy digital marketers.
Although financial advisors have been slower to embrace the digital movement,
these marketers report that their business in digital marketing campaigns for
seminars is escalating. If you are among the financial advisors considering digital,
here are a few things you should know:
The entry point for a digital marketing campaign is decidedly lower
(about half) than traditional direct mail.
In addition to being cost-effective, marketers can design digital
campaigns to be more interactive (thus engaging a prospect). By
driving prospects to a landing page, it’s easy to deliver content in
digestible chunks and include links to video and downloads.
For all its bells and whistles, digital marketing is first and foremost
about strong marketing. The most sophisticated algorithms and
tracking filters are worthless without a compelling message that
causes people to take action.
Digital marketing is highly responsive. You can begin to see results
within minutes of initiating a campaign. It’s trackable and measurable,
and targeting strategies and content can be tweaked mid-campaign.
Digital marketing is also highly scalable. In other words, digital
campaigns can be optimized on-the-fly to achieve the results you
want.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent8
The two primary traffic sources for prospects: It’s the profile of your best
targeting prospects for your financial client. Once a marketer understands
seminars are paid search and social the demographics of your clients with
media (i.e., Facebook). the greatest lifetime value, they can
target more people just like them.
Paid search are the little text
While we’ve defined direct mail and
ads that come up every time
digital marketing as separate concepts,
you run a search on Google,
they are not necessarily mutually
Bing or Yahoo. Digital
exclusive. In fact, multi-channel
marketers develop proprietary
marketing is an important trend
algorithms and search term
because it offers more ways for your
strategies to put ads in front
message to be seen and more
of your target audience. For
opportunities to engage your
example, if someone is
prospects. Don’t be surprised to see
searching for “Annuity
more hybrid marketing strategies that
comparison”, they may see
combine direct mail and digital
offers for annuity quotes or
marketing tactics.
advisors who sell annuities.
Though able to scale quickly,
registrations from digital marketing
Social media ads methods lead to a lower show up ratio,
take advantage of but offer many attractive remarketing
tracking filters to opportunities.
zero in on the
demographics that best
identify your ideal customer.
If you’re still on the fence about the
viability of Facebook, consider that
according to the Pew Research
Center almost two-thirds of U.S.
adults are on Facebook, and the
fastest growing demographic for the
past five years has been adults 55+.
While digital marketers can use their
proprietary algorithms and tracking
filters to target affluent prospects, you
hold the key to identifying your best
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent9
SUCCESSFUL SEMINARS:
THE BIG PICTURE
As critical as it is to get the right message in front of the right audience
at the right time, a seminar event has many more moving parts. Your
success depends on consistently professional execution at all stages of
planning, logistics, management and presentation.
Here are a few of the questions to consider:
Who is Your Target Audience?
Between algorithms, filters and demographics, marketers can identify the affluent
prospects in your community. But do you want prospects with $250,000 in assets or
$1 million? Only you can answer that question, and the place to look is in your client
files.
The strategy, known as account-based marketing, is built around a profile of your
best clients. The trick is to identify any patterns: similar demographics, similar net
worth, issues that attracted them to your seminar, financial products they
purchased. If you consistently sold this client profile in the past, it’s probable that
you can close a higher percentage of similar prospects.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent10
Are You Building Rapport?
Once a prospect registers for a seminar,
it’s important to send confirmation
emails and reminders as the day
approaches. You can’t sell a no-show.
As the advisor, you can use phone calls
and follow-up emails to start building a
relationship days before the seminar.
And for those attendees who don’t set
an appointment immediately, you can
What’s Your Ideal Venue?
nurture the relationship with follow-up
emails, occasional phone calls or an
Should you hold your seminar in a
automated drip campaign that keeps
restaurant or an educational venue
you and your message in front of
(e.g., library, community center or
prospects for weeks, and even months.
college facility)? It’s an important
question that seminar planners have
strong opinions about. A restaurant
can create a social atmosphere that
makes it easier to build a rapport with
attendees - you're paying for dinner,
after all. On the other hand, an
educational venue may lend gravitas to
your presentation and position you as a
trusted advisor. There is no one, simple
answer.
If you’ve been doing seminars in your
geographic area for a while, review
your results. The answer may show up
as a pattern in your data. Similarly,
your marketing firm may be able to
help you determine the best choice in
your region.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent11
What’s Your Risk?
Because it only takes one failed
campaign for your cost per lead to
skyrocket, it’s important to know what
guarantees are in place. Most
companies offer some sort of
registration guarantee in the event the
number of registrants falls short. But
how many insulate you when bad
Are You a Strong Presenter and Closer?
weather cancels your seminar? Or
when your registrants become no-
Good presenters educate their
shows? Or guarantees your success in
prospects; they help them make
closing a client? Check your
educated buying decisions. They avoid
guarantees carefully. And if you’re
the hard sell and present themselves as
required to meet certain criteria, make
trusted advisors. Start with good
sure you comply.
content and a well-organized
PowerPoint presentation. Then
practice...practice...practice.
What’s Your ROI?
Closing is how you seal the deal. If you
can’t close, you have no return on your This is the bottom line…the one
investment. If you’re afraid to ask for number that matters most. Ultimately,
the business or unsure how to present your return on investment is not the
the offer, find an experienced coach or number of registrants, the number of
mentor who can show you how it’s buying units in attendance or even the
done. number of appointments you set. ROI
is the number of new clients you close
and the amount of new money you are
managing (AUM).
That said, ROI is something of a
numbers game. It’s important that you
know a few key performance
indicators. These are averages based
on years of industry experience and
data and numbers you want to achieve:
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent12
Direct Mail for Financial Seminars What’s Your Biggest Challenge?
KPIs
Knowing much of what goes into a
1% response rate from a cold list successful seminar, conduct a quick
(number of registrants) self-assessment. Ask yourself:
80% to 85% attendance for dinner What’s your toughest task?
events, which is the primary venue
direct mail companies promote.* Is it getting harder to get in front
of enough quality buyers?
50% of buying units (households) set
appointments Are the logistics and operational
Source: Advisorist.com
tasks a strain on your small staff?
Are all the many details diverting
Digital Marketing for Financial too much staff time?
Seminars KPIs
Are you a poor presenter?
45% to 55% attendance for
Are you a weak closer?
educational seminars, which digital
marketing can fill with highly
Are you getting too many no-
engaged prospects looking for more
shows and not enough leads?
than free food. Attendance at digital
dinner events is the same as direct
mail--80% to 85%.*
70% of attendees are buying units
50% of buying units (households) set
appointments
40% to 50% should close
Source: Advisorist.com
* There’s basically no difference in attendance rates
between digital dinner and direct mail dinner, and the same
is true for digital educational and direct mail educational.
The distinction is traditional direct mail houses rely on
dinner events, while highly targeted digital marketing can
bring quality prospects to educational events.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent13
ADVISORIST
REPORT
METHODOLOGY
We start each Advisorist Report project with
general research on the topic. This provides
background information. But more importantly,
it helps us identify key players in the field—
companies that we believe our readers may
either be looking at currently or should know
about for future reference.
Once we have identified the companies we plan to
include, we begin our due diligence. Our research takes
us first to the company websites. Second, we scour the
web for secondary sources and articles in order to
develop a well-rounded impression of the company.
We’re looking for features, benefits, strengths,
challenges and first-hand experiences.
Much of this research helps us prepare questions for the
extensive interview process that follows. We talk with
top executives (CEOs and director-level), record the calls,
request backup information. Often we make “secret
shopper” calls to test a company for ourselves. Our goal
is to fully understand each company’s process and
methodology as well as what it means to their clients in
the financial industry: value proposition, benefits, return
on investment.
Then comes the writing and, if necessary, we go back to
the companies for clarification on a point or backup
documentation. Our objective is to provide a report that
helps you, our readers, make informed decisions.
In the spirit of balanced reporting, we are presenting the
vendors in alphabetical order.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent14
“We try to accommodate our business to the advisor’s preferences.”
At A Glance
RME360
Tampa, Florida
888-210-6361
http://www.rme360.com
RME360 is a data-driven direct response marketing company offering its SeminarSuccess program to financial advisors who
want results and a company that can accommodate their wants and needs. RME360 combines its experience in direct mail
with digital marketing expertise to offer a unique marketing experience that is easily customized to a client’s requirements.
Years in Business: Jorge Villar co-founded Response Mail Express in 1995, rebranded as RME360 in 2014. The parent
company, LeadingResponse, has 36 years delivering data-driven direct response solutions.
Company Size: More than 100 people
Target Clients: Clients range from financial advisors new to the seminar business to old pros who know exactly what they
want from their seminar marketer.
Reach/Campaigns: Markets more than 1000 campaigns a month
Standard Marketing Programs: RME360 will create a marketing program around an advisor’s seminar topic. If the advisor
needs help selecting a seminar topic, RME360 can provide a list of hot topics based on the consumer response data
RME360 tracks on every event it promotes.
Pricing: RME360 offers a wide range of pricing strategies designed to accommodate client requirements: price per prospect
(direct mail), price per responder (registrant), flat rate pricing to match advisor’s budget. RME360 also offers a special
introductory program to help advisors test the RME360 model (must commit to doing 3 events over 3-6 months).
Guarantees: RME360 offers a registration guarantee for its price per respondent model—calculated based on the cost of a
single registrant multiplied by the shortfall. The company notes that they typically overbook registrants to help ensure they
meet advisor’s registration number.
Strengths: In addition to years of experience in both direct mail and digital marketing, RME360 tracks client feedback and
marketing results. Stored in a 5-million record database, RME360 uses this information to identify both trends and best
practices.
While RME360 has its roots firmly entrenched in the direct mail business (23
years), it stands apart from the traditional mail house. Most direct mailers provide
creative (design and copywriting), buy mailing lists, print your invitation and put a
stamp on it. But at the point where the competition thinks it’s done, RME360 is
just getting started.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent15
RME360 is less task-oriented and more Compare a client’s geographic location
about response rates and delivering and prospect demographic data with
higher returns on investment than the its database to recommend a venue
average mail house. To that end, RME360 type (i.e., restaurant vs.
has developed a 5-million record library/community center) and often a
database that tracks virtually everything specific location.
in terms of the seminar marketing
campaigns the company has run during Recommend popular or trending topics
the past several years. It’s using that to advisors who are unsure what
information to constantly hone, tweak seminar presentation they should be
and improve its ability to promote giving in their community or what topic
financial seminars as well as to share might yield the highest return.
best practices with its clients.
Help financial advisors get started—
whether they are new to the business
The RME Approach
or new to seminars. RME360’s data
suggests that it takes three seminars
While RME360 is not a seminar event
to hone the process. It offers a low-
planner and does not deliver turnkey
priced entry point for a new client who
seminar marketing packages, it is set up
will commit to three seminars over six
to accommodate a wide range of client
months.
needs.
By tracking customer feedback and the While RME360 is prepared to give its
results of promotional efforts, RME360 clients exactly what they want, it will make
feels it’s in a position to recommend a recommendations and suggestions based
number of steps financial advisors can on its experience and data. But at the end
take to improve their chances of success. of the day, the choice belongs to the
Using its proprietary data, for example, client.
RME360 can:
Direct Mail as Placement Marketing
Set a number of parameters that are
RME360 believes in the power of direct
shown to yield success based on
mail. It feels that the 55 and older
geographic region and market.
audience typically targeted for financial
RME360 can build a client-specific
seminars still prefer a tangible invitation
formula for seminar success that
to a digital ad. And while RME360 prefers
factors in creative, type of mailing
the depth and control over demographic
package, demographic selects, venue
selection offered through mailing lists,
type, day of the week and time.
there is also the issue of self-selection.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent16
As RME360 explains: When direct mail strongly that your universe of qualified
lands in someone’s mailbox, it will be prospects is greater with a hybrid direct
seen and it will be handled. Before it can mail/digital marketing program.
be designated “junk mail” and tossed,
virtually every invitation has a chance of
Have It Your Way
breaking through and engaging the
recipient’s interest. Direct mail is about
RME360 doesn’t specialize in turnkey
putting the right message into the hands
seminar marketing programs, but rather
of the right people. Digital marketers can
can accommodate most client requests.
put out the right message, but they have
It can:
to hope that the people targeted to see
their digital ads self-select and recognize
the offer as appropriate for them. Promote the seminar topic of your
choice.
Multi-Channel/Multi-Touch
Offer multiple pricing structures: 1) pay
For the past year and a half, RME360 has per prospect, 2) pay per responder or 3)
supplemented its direct mail with digital. flat rate based on the advisor’s budget.
The company still feels strongly that they
get a higher net worth individual with a Deliver all-direct mail promotion, all-
higher purchase intent through traditional digital promotion or its unique hybrid
direct mail. They feel more in control of direct mail/digital promotional
their ability to target highly qualified program.
prospects using the demographic data
available through mailing lists. RSVP Service, Follow-Up and Nurturing
Digital marketing, however, provides Because RME360 wants its clients to
multiple touchpoints in terms of multi- receive the maximum response from its
channel (reaching people on multiple marketing program, it encourages
social media sites, blogs, websites, etc. in advisors to take advantage of the
order to reinforce a message) and multi- company’s SeminarRSVP call center
touch (increasing the chances that the service. This center is staffed 24 hours a
message will be seen by the same person day to ensure no inbound call is missed,
several times). RME360 has figured out which is critical given the number of
that by supplementing its mail drops with registration calls that come in after hours.
digital advertising it can bump the
response rate to direct mail. The SeminarRSVP call center is staffed by
experienced, professionally scripted staff.
While RME360 will conduct all-digital No calls go to an answering service.
marketing programs, the company feels Registrations are immediately logged into
the secure, online RMErsvp website where
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent17
advisors have real-time access to Coaching
registrants’ contact information. RME360
strongly encourages advisors to call RME360 provides a number of coaching
registrants and follow up with letters and options. Each month, RME360 calls its
emails prior to the seminar in order to top producers to learn about their most
start building rapport with prospects successful techniques. RME360 then
early in the process. And similarly, to shares these best practices and other
nurture relationship with both registrants research information with all its clients in
and attendees who didn’t immediately set the form of white papers, trend reports,
a follow-up appointment. seminars and webinars.
RME360 provides an automated pre- Return on Investment
event follow-up process to confirm
registration and remind registrants with True ROI is highly subjective and
date, time and logistical information. And dependent on several variables:
for advisors that either don’t have the geographic location, financial products
time or staff to handle pre- and post- and services being sold, seminar topics,
event follow up and nurturing or want to experience and skill of the financial
outsource the task, RME360 does provide advisor, to name a few. For this reason,
an automated drip marketing system we ask each marketing company to
designed to deliver relevant financial for express ROI in their own way.
the purpose of nurturing attendees and
prospects. RME360 can provide follow-up “Being the first time ever hosting a seminar
emails, mail and phone calls. series, I was extremely nervous about the
entire process. I’m glad I put my trust in my
Registration Guarantee RME360 Marketing Consultant because
everything turned out exactly like he said it
RME360 offers a registration guarantee. would. I had two full seminar events and
This is calculated based on 1) the number even had to open up a third overflow date to
of registrants an advisor contracts for and accommodate the wait-list. But it didn’t stop
2) the cost per registrant. For example: there. Jeff was unbelievably helpful in
Let’s say you contract for 100 registrants preparing for the presentation and
at a cost of $70 per lead. If only 95 people appointment process. Without his guidance,
register for your seminar, RME360 will I’m almost certain I wouldn’t have had as
refund $350 ($70 * 5). There are a few much success.” Mike S., North Carolina
conditions that apply; discuss these with
103 RSVPs
RME360 in advance. The company
87 attendees
assures us that registration levels are
25 appointments
seldom missed and seminars are usually
12 new clients within 6 weeks
slightly overbooked (about 15%).
$2.32 million in new assets
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent18
“As a producer who does an average of 6
seminars per month and someone who’s
tried them all, RME360 is the only seminar
marketing company that consistently
delivers results, makes it easy for my staff,
and has the technology to support my
business. Following their strategy, I’ve seen
more FINANCIALLY QUALIFIED people in
the last 6 months than I had in the prior 18
months combined. In fact, my average
annuity case has increased by nearly
$27,000, and I’m on pace to eclipse $32
million dollars in FIA premium this year.”
Steve B., Arizona
Last 6 months:
1,746 RSVPs
441 appointments
129 new clients
$16.4 million in FIA premium
“I initially quit doing dinner seminars
because I was tired of feeding people, but I
decided to give it another shot after talking
with Mike at RME360. He brought up that
even the best salesperson will struggle
when presenting to unqualified prospects
and that sometimes marketing companies
don’t use appropriate targeting to fill
seminars. Man am I glad I listened. I had
three full seminars and generated more
than $65,000 in revenue from my last
campaign.” Rob T, California
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent19
“We’re on the same side of
the table as our advisors.”
At A Glance
Steep Digital
Englewood, Colorado
720-251-8897
http://steepdigital.com
Steep Digital is a Done-With-You marketing model designed to give financial advisors what they need most—large numbers
of qualified people to attend their financial seminars. The all-digital marketing and lead generation component is a turnkey
operation; Steep works with advisors to follow-up with registrants and post-event nurturing. Does not handle operations and
event planning.
Years in Business: Founded in March 2017 by Jonathan Musgrave. He has 10 years in marketing and digital marketing at the
FMO level: five years running a marketing group at one FMO and five years running his own FMO.
Company Size: 12 people and growing
Target Clients: Not designed for financial advisors planning on giving their first seminar. Clients are experienced presenters
with 4-5 staff who want to be in control of event planning. Their biggest challenge is filling the room with qualified people.
Ninety percent (90%) of clients come to Steep through a distribution partner (e.g., broker/dealer, FMO, RIA).
Reach/Campaigns: Currently doing more than 200 campaigns a month and expecting to spend more than $2 million on
digital advertising this year.
Standard Marketing Programs: Currently, social security is the only topic available to the individual advisor; 90% of business
comes through distribution partners for whom Steep develops marketing programs around new topics. These custom
programs are available exclusively through the distribution partners.
Pricing: Flat-rate pricing on social security marketing program only. Advisor pays flat rate for registrants: $5000 for 80
registrants over 2 nights; $2500 for 40 registrants for 1 night.
Special pricing on custom seminar marketing programs and discounted pricing on programs available through distribution
partners. Steep estimates its flat-rate pricing for registrants is about half the price of most digital marketing and direct mail
competitors.
Guarantees: Steep offers a registration guarantee on its 2-day seminar marketing package. Advisors receive a $500 refund if
Steep doesn’t deliver 80 registrants (choice of check or applied to next event). The company notes that they have a 96%
success rate delivering registrants (and actually averaging 40+ registrants more than the guaranteed number).
Strength: Provides a lot of custom digital marketing working primarily through their distribution partners (e.g.,
broker/dealers, FMOs, RIAs). Advisors who work with one of Steep’s distribution partners will have access to a wide range of
digital marketing campaigns (about 15 topics, currently).
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent20
Steep Digital was founded in March 2017 Steep Programs
by a marketer with 10 years of experience
Steep offers its clients three levels of
at the FMO level: five years as head of the
engagement, taking the names for these
marketing operation for an FMO and five
programs from Colorado’s majestic Rocky
years running his own FMO. After 10 years
Mountains:
at the FMO level, Jonathan Musgrave
decided to focus exclusively on all-digital Foothills—The turnkey, digital seminar
marketing for financial advisors. marketing that is the most accessible,
most cost-effective program. Flat-rate
Musgrave’s initial plan was for Steep to be pricing and registration guarantee. The
a boutique agency working one-on-one Social Security marketing campaign is
with about 15 clients to provide high-level, available to independent advisors. The
custom marketing. Within two months, 90% of advisors that come in through
however, he was at capacity and decided Steep’s distribution partners have
to change strategies and “chase a model access to marketing campaigns
that would allow us to scale.” The result is covering many more topics and a
a series of turnkey digital marketing different pricing structure.
programs.
Fourteeners—This custom digital
Steep manages registration and works marketing program is for advisors who
with its clients to handle registrant follow want to retain control over the
up and nurturing. But Steep does not marketing campaign while working with
provide venue selection, event planning or a dedicated Steep digital marketer.
coaching on presentation, sales and/or Each campaign is developed around
closing skills. your specific messaging and branding.
Prospects are targeted using Steep’s
While Steep does not offer event planning, proprietary target filtering plus custom
it does recommend that its advisors break elements to reach specific groups you
with the traditional dinner seminar model want to engage.
and choose a neutral venue that reinforces
the educational value of the presentation. Front Range—The 100% custom
Steep says that while it might seem creative digital marketing option
counterintuitive, they find that the success designed for advisors looking to build
rate is higher and the cost-per-conversion their business online through blogs,
rate is lower when the venues are libraries, email campaigns, video, sales funnels
colleges and community centers. “People and more.
love to buy,” says Musgrave, “but they
hate to be sold. Education is the lubricant
between the two.”
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent21
Digital Marketing Strategy While the LinkedIn social network
attracts professional people,
Steep operates on three premises:
engagement is low.
First, that the biggest challenge for
financial advisors giving seminars is Facebook has more than a billion users;
filling the room…and filling that room 75% of Americans use it every day; and
with highly qualified people. the fastest-growing demographic is
people 55 and older.
Second, that digital marketing is not a
strategy or series of tactics off on the Using its proprietary traffic filtering
horizon. It’s here, and it’s here to stay. methodology, Steep can laser-focus on
the ideal demographics to fill financial
And third, while digital marketers may seminars with qualified registrants.
use a different tool set, they need to be
good marketers above all. Steep says its targeting is broad
enough to reach a lot of good
Steep runs 99% of its marketing on prospects. At the same time its narrow
Facebook. This is actually a change from enough to identify people who are in an
two years ago when Musgrave says he age and income/net worth bracket to
was spending about $40,000 a month on benefit from social security tips, taxes
Google traffic. Here are a few of the in retirement strategies, and financial
reasons Steep is focused on Facebook as and income planning.
its Number One traffic source:
For your ad to be displayed using pay Follow-up and Nurturing
per click (PPC) on a search network
When prospects click on a Facebook ad,
(e.g., Google or Bing), people have to
they are taken to a landing page where
first input a query that matches the
they can learn more about the advisor and
search term in the ad.
the subjects to be covered in the
upcoming seminar. Should they decide to
Financial planners need to recruit
register, they click a button and are
people from their community, and at
entered into a fully automated
any given time there are not enough
confirmation and follow-up funnel:
local people querying the appropriate
search terms.
Steep automatically sends out a series of
As a result, Steep doesn’t believe there between three and five customized follow-
is enough search-driven traffic to fill up emails:
advisors’ seminars.
1. Confirmation email within minutes of
registration
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent22
2. Reminder email the day before the Registration Guarantee
seminar
Steep’s value proposition is to provide
3. Reminder email the day of the seminar qualified registrants: 40 for a single
seminar and 80 for a two-night campaign.
4. Registrants who sign up early will They guarantee to meet that number with
receive reminder emails 10 and 5 days a $500 refund that can be taken either as a
before the seminar check or applied to the next seminar.
Steep reports that on average, its clients
Steep likes to include a little additional are running seminars eight times a year so
content to help keep registrant fully most prefer to apply the credit to their next
engaged. campaign.
Steep encourages financial advisors to Although Steep strives to deliver highly
start nurturing their relationship with qualified registrants, it does not guarantee
registrants prior to the event and the number of attendees. And the number
makes registrant contact information of registrants is a straight count; they are
available to advisors online and in real not calculated in terms of households or
time (as people register). Steep also buying units.
provides advisors with call scripts and
email and letter templates. Steep Distribution Partners
recommends that advisors:
As indicated above, 90% of Steep’s
business comes through its strategic
1. Call registrants within 24 business partners (e.g., broker/dealers, FMOs and
hours of the lead coming in RIAs). Steep works with about eight
distribution partners and is proud of these
2. Send a printed letter out to each relationships because it proves that these
registrant groups are comfortable trusting their most
valuable clients to Steep to provide
3. Make a second call the day before the marketing.
seminar
Steep designs most of its digital
Steep wants the advisor—not the marketing campaigns around the topics
marketing company—to be top-of-mind that its distribution partners request. The
with registrants. Advisors say that this messaging and branding is tailored to the
approach is helping them build rapport subject matter in a specific presentation.
with people and makes for a more friendly These custom marketing products are
environment at the seminar. available exclusively to the distribution
partner and its clients. Steep estimates it
has about 15 different marketing
programs it currently offers this way.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent23
While Steep follows the same Facebook “So we scheduled a two-night campaign.
target filtering, registration, follow- After his first night, he called me and said,
up/nurturing model for virtually all its ‘Jonathan, I just had my first event. I had 15
programs, there are variations available, different couples schedule appointments
including discount pricing to advisors with me, and I had them fill out an evaluation
coming to Steep through a distribution form and tell me how much they had in
partner. assets. And 7 of the 15 people have $1
million or more in assets.’ He was blown
Return on Investment away at the response rate that we got and
the huge difference in qualification level."
True ROI is highly subjective and
dependent on several variables: “He did another seminar the next night and
geographic location, financial products called me with the same story…just very
and services being sold, seminar topics, high average net worth."
experience and skill of the financial
advisor, to name a few. For this reason, “Since then, he's done four more campaigns
we ask each marketing company to with us. I met him a couple of weeks ago. He
express ROI in their own way. broke out of a group he was sitting with
having a drink and gave me a big hug. He
This is a brief case study Jonathan said, ‘Man, we were ready to toss in the towel
Musgrave shared with us: with digital. You guys showed us that our
first experience wasn't the best thing out
“We had a guy who is actually working with there. We're super excited to be working with
a competitor, and he was really skeptical you." Steep founder sharing success from a
when we started talking to him because he client
had had a bad experience. He felt he paid
more money than the value he got and that “I’ve been working with Steep for about two
he was actually doing better with direct months. I had previously gotten my feet wet
mail, even though his numbers were down. in the digital space with some other carriers.
He had higher quality. He felt that the What I found with Steep is we have a
majority of the people he was paying per tremendous quality of person that comes
head to attend were not qualified. He wasn't into the room. They have significant assets
happy." in all cases. They are the kind of people you
want sitting in your seminar. And the
“So when it came to us, he couldn’t numbers are phenomenal. Recently we had
understand how we could possibly do better 75% of 28 buying units want first
at a little more than half the price. We talked appointments. We turned around that
and eventually he decided to try us out for a evening and had 75% of 21 buying units want
campaign." first appointments. So they have been real
responsive.” Tom M.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent24
“Our first campaign was a tax class. I
believe we had about 25 units actually show
up in each of the classes. We’ve had great
success with it. We’ve extended that from
just the tax class to the social security
class. I believe we had to shut down the
marketing after about three days because
the classes got too full. We had to change
rooms to get bigger rooms. We also do a
retirement class with them as well….We will
be going all digital...We’ve just sealed a little
over $9 million in first quarter of `18 in
annuities only. That’s not including our
managed money.” Landon R.
“Initially we started with the Claim Plan
event back in February. We’d never done any
digital marketing...Our first event we had 98
total registrations, which is crazy. Probably
40 or 50 more than we thought we would
get. We had about 60% of the first night
registrations attend; the second night was
about the same….The appointments ended
up being just as strong as the traditional
dinner seminars we’d done in the past, if not
just a little bit stronger because they’re
there for the right reasons….The quality of
people were great. There’s a lot of assets
that came through the door, and we’re still
working with them right now.” Josh C.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent25
“We don’t clock out until
you have a client”
At A Glance
White Glove Workshops
Birmingham, Michigan
844-949-9497
https://www.whitegloveworkshops.com
White Glove Workshops is the turnkey, 100% Done-for-You outsourcing solution for digital marketing, event planning and
managing your financial seminars. It’s hands-free approach frees financial advisors to focus on the business of supporting
their existing clients, setting appointments and closing new clients. White Glove Workshops are risk-free: Advisors pay only
for the buying units (households) that attend a seminar. NEW: The company has recently added its White Glove DIY digital
marketing program—a highly competitive, flat-rate, pay-for-registrants model.
Years in Business: Founded in 2015 by Dean and Mike Thurman who are financial advisors with more than 25 years in the
business. Unhappy with diminishing returns from traditional direct mail, they built a digital marketing program to boost their
own business, then decided to open it to other financial advisors.
Company Size: About 100 people
Target Clients: New financial advisors who want to put all planning, marketing and logistics into experienced hands.
Established pros and those at the top of their game that want to dedicate their time (and that of their staff) to presenting to
and closing new prospects as well as supporting existing clients.
Reach/Campaigns: Has marketed and managed more than 5000 seminars in the last two years and helped educate 55,422
households (attendees) on financial solutions. White Glove partners with dozens of companies. In the first quarter of 2018, it
co-hosted webinars with almost 30 companies and attended and/or presented at 19 conferences.
Standard Marketing Programs: Social Security 567, Taxes in Retirement 567, and Retirement Income Planning 567
Pricing: No-risk; pay only for households (buying units) that attend your seminars. Pricing varies by program and venue.
White Glove discounts restaurant venues to help offset the cost of feeding attendees.
- Social Security 567: $175/household in restaurant and $200/household in educational venue.
- Taxes in Retirement 567: $225/household in restaurant and $275/household in educational venue.
- Retirement Income Planning 567: $225/household in restaurant and $310/household in educational venue.
WGW strives to work with any budget by targeting attendance based on the host advisor’s goals--Performance-based
pricing. To avoid any unexpected sticker shock, WGW typically hits the advisor’s request within 20%.
The new White Glove DIY program for the Social Security uses the flat-rate pricing model ($49 per registrant).
Guarantees: White Glove Workshops no-risk guarantees protect financial advisors in the event of severe weather, low
attendance and poor performance. This last, called the Success Guarantee, promises that if you have not booked a single
new client after purchasing 50 households and 120 days, White Glove will hold a new seminar event for you for free (certain
conditions apply).
White Glove DIY offers Registration Guarantee—returns $49 for each registrant that falls short of the advisor’s request.
Strength: White Glove enables advisors to simply select a seminar topic, geographic location and date/time for the event
and leave everything to the White Glove team until it’s time to meet your attendees and deliver your presentation.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent26
White Glove Workshops (WGW) was focus on other business until it’s time for
founded by financial advisors who your event. You can tend to the needs of
understand the challenges and pain your existing clients, meet with
points associated with planning, prospective clients, close new business in
marketing, logistics, managing and the pipeline and, if necessary, hone your
presenting financial seminars. They also presentation and closing skills.
believe they know where you should be
putting your time and energy— White Glove swings into action with its 10-
exclusively in business-building step process. An experienced team will:
activities.
1. Find and book a convenient and
They recommend that when you’re professional venue for your seminar (either
looking for seminar marketers you select restaurant or educational venue).
one that can provide a 100% done-for-
you turnkey solution. All you provide up 2. Build and execute a results-driven,
front is: digital marketing campaign using the WGW
proprietary algorithm built on analytical
data and client profiling strategies to
The geographic location where you
target your best prospects. AI helps the
want to hold your seminar
algorithm learn and constantly improve its
targeted prospecting.
The date and time you want to hold
the event
3. Provide a professionally crafted
PowerPoint presentation (White Glove is
Which one of the three high-
not a content provider; it has
converting seminar topics you wish to
arrangements with Broadridge and
offer (Social Security 567, Taxes in
Cohesion Wealth Advisors to offer their
Retirement 567 or Retirement Income
fully compliant presentation at deep
Planning 567) and whether you want
discounts).
to offer it at a restaurant or
educational venue.
4. Take and manage inbound registrations
by household (advisors pay for buying
Turnkey and Hands-Free units, not leads).
At that point, you’ve outsourced the
5. Initiate a series of follow-up emails to
logistical, marketing and operational
households, starting with a confirmation
headaches to your dedicated account
email. The CRM department sends
executive (who functions as your
reminder emails that include date and
personal success coach) and the team
time, driving directions, parking
at White Glove. You’re now free to
instructions—anything that makes it easier
for registered household to attend.
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent27
6. Follow up with reminder phone calls, guarantee we’ve found in the business.
and registrants can opt-in to receive text In fact, it protects advisors three ways:
messages, which generate a high
response rate. According to Attendance/Weather Guarantee—
ConnectMogul, 90% of text messages are Whether because of bad weather or
read within 3 minutes of delivery. unforeseen events (whatever keeps
registrants away from your event) you
7. Provide advisors with real-time access pay only for the households in the
to online check-in system that contains seats. You never pay for registrants or
registrant contact information. leads. You pay only for the venue and
don’t owe WGW a dime. And if the
At this point, the stage is set for the weather or situation is serious enough
financial advisor to: to close the venue, even that charge
goes away. And you still have access
8. Show up at the venue, present, meet to all registrant contact
attendees and set appointments. information (both attendees and no-
shows) at no extra charge.
9. Provide WGW with the attendee sign-
in sheet the next day. WGW only Attendance Guarantee—While similar to
charges for the number of households the weather guarantee, this protects
in attendance. you against no-shows. Even if WGW did
everything right and registered enough
10. Make payment AFTER attendance prospects to deliver the number of
is verified. household attendees requested, you
still pay only for households in the
No-Risk, Triple Guaranteed seats. You never pay for registrants or
leads. In fact, you receive all contact
How much is peace of mind worth to you?
information on registrants (both
For advisors that work with White Glove,
attendees and no-shows) at no extra
risk aversion doesn’t cost extra. It’s built
charge.
into the pricing strategy and reinforced in
the guarantee. Quite simply, WGW
Success (aka Skunked) Guarantee—
assumes the risk up front. You don’t pay
Because White Glove is committed to
anything until after your event, and you
your success, the company makes a
only pay for households in attendances.
special offer to help you close your first
You never pay for empty seats (no-shows).
client. If you have purchased at least 50
households and still haven’t picked up a
White Glove understands that one busted
client after 120 days, WGW will mirror
campaign can dramatically increase your
the seminar event for free (minus venue
cost-per-lead. Your no-risk protection is
cost). Some conditions may apply.
built into the most comprehensive
Copyright 2018 Advisorist. All Rights Reserved. No duplication in whole or in part permitted without expressed written consent28
Registration Guarantee—White Glove’s Top 10 states by average annual number of
registration guarantee is that you never tornadoes 1991-2015
pay for registrations--only the
Source: USTornadoes.com
households in attendance. And because
WGW only gets paid on households in Texas 146.7
seats, they strive to fill your event with Kansas 92.4
as many high-quality households as Oklahoma 65.4
possible. You’re guaranteed the same Florida 54.6
Nebraska 54.6
cost per attendee.
Illinois 54
Colorado 49.5
Iowa 49.2
If you wonder how important a weather
Alabama 47.1
guarantee may be to your bottom line, ROI Missouri 46.7
and cost-per-lead, here are some statistics Mississippi 45.1
on the number of severe weather events
around the country:
Top 11 states by number of hurricanes (from
Top 10 states by number of snow days Maine to Texas)*
Source: National Climate Data Center: NOAA, Source: National Hurricane Center: NOAA,
1981-2010 Climate Normals 1851-2004
New York 66.4 Florida 110
Vermont 54.4 Texas 59
Alaska 48 Louisiana 49
North Dakota 45.2 North Carolina 46
Michigan 44.7 South Carolina 31
Wisconsin 38.7 Alabama 22
West Virginia 37.7 Mississippi 15
Minnesota 37.3 Virginia 12
Wyoming 36.7 New York 12
Utah 34.8 Connecticut 10
Massachusetts 10
*Hurricanes have averaged 17.7 per decade
and 6 major hurricanes per decade.
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