How Tech Can Add The Human Touch To Fund Marketing
Technology is changing everything in business. And the fund marketing sector is no exception.
In fact, some are warning that technology is chipping away at the bedrock of fund marketing – human interaction – and that steps must be taken to stop this.
So, is technology going too far? Does there need to be more focus on actual one-to-one interaction?
Or, is technology now so capable and pervasive that we should put our trust in its vast ability to reach a new generation of investors in new ways?
Actually, I think this is a false choice. It seems to me that technology and people can work together perfectly, with tech adding to the quality of human interaction and helping firms to raise investment.
Let me explain…
Technology brings prospects closer
Buyers in any sector now expect more relevant and personalised messages. The old ‘spray and pray’ approach of sending out regular mass communications with little or no thought to individual recipients simply doesn’t work any more.
And this is precisely why savvy fund marketers are using technology to find out more about their customers. Tech makes it easy to track digital interaction, which produces a huge amount of data about what your prospects do and don’t like and the type of message that works best with them.
You can then use this data to understand your prospects better and send messages and develop content that you know will resonate. This helps you connect much more effectively with your target market.
And you should concentrate on quality over quantity. Well-timed messages that are sent with an understanding of each recipient’s preferences will have much more effect than more frequent communications that have little or no insight.
It’s all about trust
Trust is still a big problem in finance. Many people don’t trust financial institutions and are wary of investing. That’s a challenge for anyone in fund marketing.
But trust can be built – and a crucial part of this is human interaction. Because, although people may well have little trust in a faceless institution, they are ready to trust an actual person who is giving advice that’s both helpful and relatable.
And this is why it’s so crucial to use technology to aid this type of interaction, rather than replace it. Technology is there to facilitate, rather than replace, human communication. Because, the more you know about a prospect the more likely you are to send messages – and have actual conversations – that connect with their wants and needs.
Tech can build a bridge between marketing and sales
Another big advantage of marketing technology is that it can bring marketing and sales together. Too often these departments operate as independent silos within a firm, which is ridiculous given they both have the same ultimate aim of raising assets. But the presence of technology makes this even more stupid, as there is so much information from data analysis that needs to be shared across the two teams.
So, by involving both marketing and sales in the whole process – and sharing data insights – then everyone is on the same page and is working together towards the same goals.
A golden age?
To conclude, marketing technology is not there to take jobs and turn funds into faceless, robotised institutions. Far from it, as – when used properly – tech humanises the marketing process, enabling you to connect and engage much more closely with your audience, whether that be a few hundred or a few million.
The sheer analytical power offered by technology means we can now understand what potential investors want from us, which gives much more insight into the type of message that will resonate. And, in turn, that enables a one-to-one conversation at the end of the sales process that is based on solid marketing intelligence, which is exactly what potential investors want and need.
I believe we are in a golden age of fund marketing, where technology is helping us to get closer to investors than ever before – and that can only be good news in terms of raising and retaining assets.
If you want to find out how ProFundCom can help you use digital marketing to raise assets schedule a demo here