By Emilie Totten

Despite having the same end goal, marketers and sales departments tend to be in conflict because their short-term objectives differ. Marketers are focused on creating campaigns that will generate new leads, and sales teams concentrate on making sales. In a controversial article for CBS News about why sales teams get annoyed by their marketing colleagues, industry expert Geoffrey James lists several top frustrations for sales reps, including:Read More

By Emilie Totten

LinkedIn is still probably the top social network for financial services firms. In general, social media provides a unique opportunity to educate customers and engage with them. It’s also a good way to learn about investor behavior. While your company probably has a page set up, are you making the most of what the platform has to offer? Here are some tips for connecting with customers on LinkedIn:

Aim for informational and consumable content
LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for thought leadership, so it’s unwise to use it for self-promotion. The idea is to build your brand as a company that’s in the know, not advertise, Corporate Insight suggests. Instead, the materials you post should generate conversation and engagement. Posts in the popular “listicle” format can provide engaging content in a way that’s also easy and quick to consume. Your customers are busy people. Providing information that is easily digestible is valuable to them. Also consider visualizations, such as infographics and graphs.Read More

By Emilie Totten

Just a few years ago it was rare to find financial services firms in the social sphere at all; now some companies are even creating content that goes viral. To make compulsively shareable content in the financial services realm takes a lot of creativity, but some companies are starting to figure out how to make it work. In late June, following one of the worst Q1 GDP reports in the last 50 years, J. Lyons Fund Management released a tweet with a table of GDP data it had collected, and it quickly went viral, The Reformed Broker noted.Read More

By Emilie Totten

The financial services industry changes quickly. Investors and their expectations are evolving. Here are three things investors are looking for in a wealth management firm:Read More