Due to the competitive nature of the financial services industry, content automation has become a strategic priority for many.  With a finish line goal to improve scalability, risk management and brand compliance, the race is on to improve marketing and sales operations.  The challenge firms face is knowing how to approach content automation.  Is it better to build or buy?  What are the differences between the leading vendors, and their approaches?

In 2017, we commissioned some research on how asset managers are automating content production.  The research found 3 common models: Fully outsourced, DIY, and hybrid.  Here’s a brief description of each and the pros and cons.

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By Kim Rebecca

Automating the quarter-end production of fund fact sheets and other marketing materials can be a life saver for marketers. It dramatically reduces errors and improves time-to-market. However, convincing your organization to get on board with an automation initiative isn’t always easy. Making a solid business case to leadership and key stakeholders is essential. At most firms, the IT group is often the hardest to convince, but their buy-in is absolutely critical. You simply cannot move forward on this type of project without dedicated resources from IT. The IT manager will want to be sure that outsourcing a solution to a vendor is the right move and that dedicating resources to an automation project is a good investment. So, how should you present your case to IT decision makers?

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I recently completed an RFP that posed this question:

“Describe the factsheet production cycle and timeline for your most efficient client and your least efficient client.”

This got me thinking: What really drives efficiency in marketing document production?  Over the past 25 years, I have seen just about every variation on technology and process models that can exist to support factsheet production. I’ve seen firms that have embraced technology and process to improve their efficiency ten-fold. On the flipside, I’ve seen firms that seem to do everything in their power to undermine the efficiency of a technology or process they’ve paid good money for.  (more…)