We’ve all heard the phrase “work smarter, not harder.” For financial advisors looking to make the most of their email marketing efforts, automated email workflows can convert leads into clients, increase engagement with current clients, and give a personalized experience to each of your recipients.
But what is an automated email workflow, and how can financial advisors utilize them? → Use this quick guide!
Creating and maintaining prospecting email workflows that convert your leads into clients entails:
- Nurturing leads
- Email campaigns
- Trigger responses
- Workflows
- Segmenting
Read on for tips and best practices in regards to email marketing for financial advisors.
What is email marketing automation?
According to HubSpot, email marketing automation is “the practice of executing automated, personalized, and contextual email campaigns to improve accuracy and impact as well as save you time.” By automating a series of emails triggered by other actions or a set timeline, financial advisors can move leads through the sales funnel and ideally convert those leads into clients by the end of the campaign.
This is achieved by a series of pre-written emails distributed at predetermined intervals and/or specific actions taken by that user. For example, an email marketing automation may begin with a welcome email. The next email in the series can vary based on whether the user opened an email, clicked on a link, or even if they took no action at all.
How to use email marketing automation software?
The use of email marketing automation software is necessary to establish an automated email campaign. There are many platforms available, varying in price and capabilities.
Pro tip: Try to strike a balance between paying for more than you’ll need, but also think about future growth and don’t start too small.
Ideally, find a platform that will grow with you. For financial advisors, utilizing a platform with at least the following features listed below is recommended.
Lead Management/Nurturing
If your list of leads is simply a spreadsheet with some emails and names on it, advisors are likely missing out on opportunities to nurture leads in a way that converts. Leads are ever-changing, and without tracking their behaviors and interactions with your outreach attempts, it’s impossible to know where they stand as a prospect and how to best approach them in the future. With an email marketing automation platform, that lead is followed through the sales funnel and sent messaging that is specific to where they are and their needs.
Email Campaigns
The ability to reach out to leads with multiple different campaigns running simultaneously is a must-have for financial advisors. By automating campaigns, they can have continuous communication without manually sending emails, which can be time-consuming and ineffective. Additionally, the use of email templates can save time by allowing for customization without starting from scratch, while still having a professional and consistent look with maximum functionality across channels and devices.
Trigger Responses
Rather than having only a predetermined set of emails going out in a specific cadence and order, trigger responses allow for the next outreach to be determined by a user’s action in real time. For example, if someone clicks on a link about estate planning, the automation platform can be set up to trigger an email with a white paper on estate planning in real time, also moving them to a different workflow for that specific product to increase the chance of converting that lead into a client.
Workflows
Mentioned briefly above, an email automation workflow is a determined series of emails that are sent in a specific sequence, often based on a specific timeline, or triggered actions taken by a lead. At any time, certain actions can remove this lead from a workflow, such as that lead converting into a client.
This level of automation ensures that the correct messaging is reaching the right person at the right time, and not sending confusing messaging, such as a sales-focused message to an existing client. Instead, that new client can be moved to an onboarding automated email workflow to welcome them and walk them through necessary setup and orientation processes.
Segmenting
Without the ability to segment your audience, you’re assuming that all of your prospects are interested in the same financial advisor products and services, and that the same language and imagery will appeal to everyone as well. However, we know better, and you can do better with your financial advisor automated email campaigns.
By segmenting your audience into like characteristics such as age, assets, and even what content they have viewed from your previous email campaigns, you can show your prospects that you know them and their financial needs and interests.
What are the best practices for converting prospects with automated email workflows?
Collect and maintain accurate information for prospects
The more information you collect from the start, the better able you are to segment and personalize email content to that prospect.
Establish email campaign goals
Without clear goals, it’s nearly impossible to make necessary adjustments as well as determine your automated marketing email campaign’s success. These goals should be easily defined, measurable, and realistic.
Adapt and improve
While it may seem tempting to “set it and forget it,” automated marketing email campaigns need to be monitored, and often tweaked for optimal results. This can range from adjusting the trigger responses, timing of workflow emails, and even adjusting content if the campaign isn’t performing as expected. The key is to give the campaign time to work, but not be afraid to make changes if it’s not working.
Customize each message
When it comes to financial advisor email content within automated workflows, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. As mentioned above with segmenting your audience, it would be remiss of financial advisors to only send generic and vague email marketing when they have the tools at hand to reach prospects with specific, targeted messages that appeal to their specific needs.
Start small
While automated email marketing workflows can become very complex, don’t let that keep you from getting started. Even the most intricate automated campaigns usually start with just a few emails in the workflow and eventually grow with the campaign itself.
Reaching out to a digital marketing agency can remove the headache of getting started with automated email workflows, so don’t be afraid to reach out for support from professionals.
We are here to help you reach more of your target audience.
