Client-Centric vs. Investment-Centric Marketing at Asset Management Firms

By Emilie Totten

This post is an excerpt from our 2017 Roundtable Report: Trends in Asset Management Sales & Marketing. You can download the full report here.

At our private round table event this past May, roughly half the participants said their firms tend to be investment-centric, while the other half are focused on being more customer-centric. But the trend appears to be moving toward a more client-centric approach.

Firms that are investment-centric tend to let investment teams drive content. The messaging focuses on their investment strategies. One participant summarized this approach, “We’re definitely an investment-centric culture. It comes through in the way we talk about our strategies … which was always nitty gritty about the process, because the investment teams are driving that content.” Another participant pointed out the problems with that approach. She said, “We were very product-centric. It was all about the investment process. But people don’t care about that. Everybody’s got a core bond fund. Everybody’s got a large cap value fund. Everybody’s already got all this stuff, so what makes you different?”Read More

Account-Based Marketing for Investment Management Marketers

The following is a guest post by Candyce Edelen, CEO of PropelGrowth Financial Marketing & Content Strategy. This post originally appeared on the Propel Growth blog.

Account-based marketing (ABM) can be a powerful marketing strategy for the investment management or asset management industry. This is particularly true when investment managers target institutional investors or sell through intermediaries. Both of these client bases have complex decision processes that involve a number of influencers. Account-based marketing approaches can help investment management marketers improve marketing ROI and have a more direct influence on revenue.Read More

Key Findings from our Second-Annual Investment Marketing Roundtable

By Emilie Totten

In May 2017, we hosted a private roundtable, moderated by Candyce Edelen of PropelGrowth. At the table were 15 senior marketers from various investment management firms. This was our second annual event, with about half of the participants returning from last year. The participant firms included boutique asset managers, medium-sized regional and global investment firms, and 3 of the top 20 global asset managers. AUM for the firms represented ranges from $20 Billion to more than $2 Trillion. All of the participants serve multiple channels including institutional (trusts, foundations, pensions, corporations, etc.), intermediary and direct retail advisor channels.Read More

Content Automation: The Strategic Value of a Turnkey Implementation

By Emilie Totten

In a recent blog post by our CEO, he draws an interesting comparison between setting up a rock concert and setting up a content marketing automation solution for an investment management company. The point he makes in the post is that the critical behind-the-scenes logistics of an operation are often not fully realized or appreciated, even though they’re absolutely vital to the outcome.

Think back to a concert you attended where you arrived a bit early. The roadies can be seen methodically working to get all the equipment set up perfectly so that the band can just get up on stage, grab their instruments, and put on a great show. The roadies and logistics teams don’t get the attention from all the screaming, raging fans but they deserve some serious recognition (and pay) for the role they play.

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