The world of influencer marketing can be confusing, especially in a dynamic market like South Africa. While it offers numerous benefits, such as reaching new audiences and building brand loyalty, the …
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In an era where digital marketing has become the cornerstone of business growth, HVAC company owners across the United States find themselves at a crossroads. The relentless evolution of Google’s search engine guidelines, including the rollout of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) and changes to Local Services Ads (LSA), has left many feeling overwhelmed and sidelined. Despite meticulously optimizing their online presence, businesses now face the stark reality that agencies can no longer guarantee top search result placement due to Google’s ever-shifting algorithms. Moreover, with Bing experiencing a modest 8% increase in usage, the question looms large: where do HVAC companies turn when digital channels become increasingly congested?
Back to Basics: The KISS Principle
In the face of these challenges, a return to simplicity—Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS)—emerges as a beacon of hope. As a marketing agency versed in the intricacies of both digital and traditional marketing strategies, we’ve observed firsthand the digital dilemmas plaguing the service industry. Yet, amidst this digital desert, there lies an oasis of opportunity that transcends the need for sophisticated gadgets or search engines.
Traditional Marketing: The Unseen Advantage
Enter the realm of service history stickers and refrigerator magnets—unsung heroes of the marketing world for service-based businesses. These tools embody the essence of line-of-sight marketing, offering a direct and obstruction-free path to brand visibility and customer engagement. Consider the tale of an HVAC company that secured a significant job, not through online ads or social media campaigns, but through a simple service history sticker placed on a furnace. The homeowner, having worked with the company for years, didn’t hesitate to call upon them when it was time to upgrade their system. This decision was made in a moment of need, without a single Google search, illustrating the profound impact of physical marketing tools in a digital age.
The Power of Service History Stickers
Imagine an HVAC company that lands a significant contract, not through digital ads or SEO, but thanks to a service history sticker placed on a furnace years ago. This sticker, detailing the company’s contact information and service history, stood as a silent yet persuasive marketer. When the homeowner faced the inevitable need to upgrade their system, the choice was clear. This scenario underscores the enduring value of traditional marketing tools, which can outperform digital strategies in visibility and immediacy.
Refrigerator Magnets: A Subtle Reminder
Similarly, refrigerator magnets offer a unique blend of utility and marketing prowess. Consider our Cooking Conversion magnet, a practical kitchen tool that also serves as a subtle advertisement for your HVAC services. By providing value beyond mere branding, these magnets ensure your company remains top of mind, ready to be called upon when the need arises.
Beyond Digital: Embracing Comprehensive Marketing Strategies
There are many statistics that indicate that while digital marketing excels in reach and precision, traditional marketing methods boast higher levels of brand recall and trust. For HVAC companies, this suggests a balanced approach—leveraging the best of both worlds—may be the key to enduring success. By integrating service history stickers, refrigerator magnets, and targeted direct mail campaigns with digital strategies, businesses can enhance their visibility, foster brand loyalty, and generate leads more effectively.
An Easy Path Forward for HVAC Companies
As Google continues to redefine the digital marketing landscape, HVAC companies must adapt by embracing a holistic marketing strategy that includes both digital and traditional elements. By doing so, they can ensure that their brand remains in the direct line of sight of their customers, ready to be the first choice in times of need. Remember, in a world saturated with digital noise, sometimes the most straightforward solutions yield the most significant impact.
Engage, Connect, and Grow: Your HVAC Business’s Journey Begins Here
In closing, the journey of navigating the digital marketing maze and harnessing the power of traditional marketing tools is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of HVAC businesses. By staying true to the KISS principle and leveraging the tangible touchpoints of service history stickers and refrigerator magnets, your company can achieve unparalleled growth and brand recognition. Let’s embark on this journey together, transforming challenges into opportunities and visions into realities.
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The Gist
- More money, more pressure. Marketers face budget challenges despite increased investments, needing innovative strategies.
- Gain approval. Prioritizing key business metrics can help gain leadership support for larger budgets.
- Drive efficiency. Utilizing martech with solid data foundations can enhance efficiency and drive ROI.
Despite a stubbornly challenging economic climate, UK marketers have reasons to be optimistic. According to the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising’s (IPA) quarterly Bellwether report last quarter, businesses stepped up their investment in marketing, with 26% reporting increased marketing budgets.
Yet, marketing teams remain under pressure. The IPA’s report does not reveal by how much businesses increased their marketing budgets, but based on Plinc’s research of 200 senior customer marketers, it’s still not enough.
Our research revealed the most prominent concern for all senior customer marketing professionals remains “the ability to prove the value of customer marketing to protect and increase budget.” They report this as more important than their ability to understand and respond to customer behavior.
This situation is not only restricting marketing teams’ capabilities. It’s also harming business growth. According to 68% of those who participated in the same study, the resources and funds available to their departments are preventing them from supporting business growth. It might also impact customer experiences, as more time spent on reporting to justify budget allocations can result in less time spent focusing on the customer.
As such, despite last year’s budget increases, now is not the time for marketers to rest on their laurels and assume budgets are safe. Marketers need to rediscover innovative ways to make the most out of their existing budgets, protecting and increasing investment for next year and beyond. Here are my three suggestions as to how they can do that.
Related Article: For Real? Which Half of My Marketing Budget Is Wasted?
Marketing Budgets Tip No. 1: Prioritize Important Business Metrics
The primary reason that marketing teams suffer from insufficient budgets is a lack of interest from leadership teams. According to our research, four in every 10 senior marketing professionals believe that their senior leadership did not value, held reservations about, or felt indifferent to customer marketing. Gaining their approval is, therefore, crucial for marketing teams to increase their budgets.
The best way for them to do this is to focus on reporting the metrics that matter most from an overall business perspective. To senior leadership teams, this means drawing the link between marketing activity and incremental revenue changes.
As it stands, very few marketing teams are doing this. Our research revealed that only 26% of marketing teams report incremental revenue change in line with campaigns. In some sectors, like ecommerce and travel, this fell to a mere 20% of marketing teams that reported this metric.
As such, marketers must focus reports on the KPIs that matter to their businesses if they’re to demonstrate their team’s worth and stake claims to larger marketing budgets.
Related Article: The One Marketing Metric That Keeps CMOs up at Night
Marketing Budgets Tip No. 2: Driving Martech With Solid Data Foundations
Marketing teams also need to learn how to do more with less: fewer people, less time and less budget. The only real way that they can do that is by improving their efficiency through innovation. This is why martech is becoming one of the most important elements of any marketing strategy today. It is also why solid data foundations have never been more important — they are what enables the technology.
Simply put, to use martech effectively, businesses need to be able to unify, analyze and activate their customer data from a range of online and offline sources — ideally without increasing the pressure on human resources. This can transform a struggling marketing team into a powerhouse with real-time omni-channel agility.
If a marketing team has unified its data and established a solid foundation for its martech, it can also begin to think about exploiting AI. This can help them in a variety of ways, including the optimization and personalization of customer communications. It can also enable them to support other teams by predicting customer behavior and suggesting appropriate “next best actions.”
At a time when budgets are insufficient, marketing teams will not want to “rip and replace” their existing technology stacks. Instead, they will prefer to fix their core data foundation to create more progressive long-term martech strategies that will help them focus on areas where they can improve the fastest while delivering the best ROI for their businesses. This will help them to show leadership teams their potential while working with limited resources.
Related Article: A Definitive Checklist to Reduce Marketing Technology Sprawl
Marketing Budgets Tip No. 3: Deliver Value to the Wider Business
As data has become more important to serving an overwhelmingly online customer base, the responsibilities of customer marketers have broadened. Marketing teams are often the primary custodians of customer data. And that makes them the facilitators of their companies’ overall customer data use.
Marketing teams today need to think more about how they can enable other departments to improve their operations using customer data. It’s not only about marketing anymore. If data is made accessible to all stakeholders — technical and nontechnical — then the entire business can make better decisions based on it. As such, they need to make important decisions about how data is collected, stored and analyzed that will affect their wider businesses.
In doing this, customer marketing teams can prove their greater value outside pure marketing activity. This will provide them with solid evidence of their value to present to leadership teams when the time comes to fight for their budgets.
Final Thoughts
The news that marketing budgets are largely increasing again is good. But the evidence shows that it’s still not enough.
Instead of sinking under pressure, marketing teams must see this as an opportunity to improve their efficiency and set a new course for the future of their operations. Many inefficiencies remain in marketing processes today, and now is as good an opportunity as any to set them straight and optimize marketing activities.
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Advisors with a defined marketing strategy falls to the lowest rate in five years (20% in U.S.), yet confidence in meeting practice goals remains high
Less than half of U.S. advisors currently use or plan to use generative AI for marketing, compared to 56% of Canadian advisors
NEW YORK and TORONTO, Feb. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — As macroeconomic volatility has led to an influx of investors seeking financial advice, advisors are increasingly looking to next-generation technology such as generative AI to address their marketing challenges and meet the increased personalization expectations of prospects and clients, according to global Fintech leader Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR) annual financial advisor marketing survey.
In its fifth year, this annual survey evaluates North American registered financial advisors’ sentiment and activities around digital marketing strategies, shedding light on the successes and challenges that advisors are facing. According to this year’s survey, advisors are now more than ever struggling with their marketing efforts due to a lack of time and expertise needed to build a successful strategy, yet many are finding success in building their practices through a personalized content approach and leveraging next-generation technologies such as AI to reach their prospective and current client base.
Frequent, Meaningful Communications Serve as Drivers for Advisor Growth
As investors demand a more high-touch experience from their advisors, financial advisors who communicate more frequently with their clients are found to be far more confident in meeting their practice goals. Sixty-eight percent of U.S. advisors who communicate at least quarterly with their clients are confident in meeting their goals compared to 51% who communicate with clients annually or less frequently. Similarly, U.S. advisors who are personalizing their content marketing are more confident in reaching their practice goals (71% compared to 62%), and have almost double the rate of being “very confident” in reaching practice goals next year (30% vs. 18%).
Those who are personalizing their content are also more likely to:
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convert social media leads to clients (45% vs. 34%)
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use generative AI (50% vs. 38%)
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spend more time on marketing efforts (an average 2.5 vs. 1.9 hours a week)
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have a defined marketing strategy (32% vs. 10%)
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generate more website leads (an average of 3.3 leads person month vs. 1.9)
An important element in an advisor’s growth strategy is personalized educational content that forges deeper relationships and helps clients achieve their unique goals, and yet many advisors find challenges in developing and sharing personalized education. The top reasons that U.S. advisors don’t share educational content with clients are that they’re not sure how to best go about it (49%), don’t find enough time (46%), perceive a lack of interest from clients (44%), and run into compliance issues (34%). To overcome these challenges, many financial advisors are leveraging innovative technology solutions. The survey found that over half (56%) of Canadian advisors are currently using or plan to use generative AI in digital marketing strategies compared to 43% of U.S. advisors.
Advisor AI Usage and Perceptions
The top use cases for AI among North American advisors include generating personalized content, developing personalized marketing campaigns, automating administrative tasks and communications and segmenting clients and prospects, highlighting how generative AI is a key tool in enabling advisors to engage with clients in more meaningful ways while lowering their operating costs.
Along with generative AI, advisors are also looking to ramp up their investments in social media for digital marketing, with 57% of Canadian currently or planning to invest in social media marketing compared to 43% of U.S. advisors. This is likely because Canadian advisors are placing a greater emphasis on attracting Millennial and Gen Z clients compared to their U.S. counterparts. Canadian advisors have also been more successful in converting social media leads to clients (44% vs. 39% of U.S. advisors), with LinkedIn and Facebook being the top two social media platforms for lead conversions across North America.
“An advisor recently told me she no longer competes only with other advisors when building a sustainable practice with younger clients, she competes against TikTok influencers as well. 2023 was the year of generative AI, and tech-savvy advisors can break through the clutter as they develop use cases to better personalize their content and communications for multi-generational clients,” says Kevin Darlington, General Manager, Head of Broadridge Advisor Solutions. “However, many concerns and questions remain around the technology, so advisors should understand the risks and opportunities to leveraging generative AI in a digital marketing strategy to remain compliant while attracting prospects. Similarly, social media has become a popular tool to attract the next generation of potential clients and should be harnessed effectively for lead generation.”
The Number of Advisors with a Defined Marketing Strategy Reaches Lowest Level in Five Years
The number of advisors leveraging a defined marketing strategy has fallen due to the number of challenges that advisors face when it comes to marketing. Nearly all advisors (99% of U.S. and 98% of CA) find marketing activities challenging. The top two challenges North American advisors face include finding time for marketing initiatives and sourcing the right expertise. However, having a defined marketing strategy can help ease these pressures.
The number of U.S. advisors who have a defined marketing strategy is at the lowest level since 2019; 20% in 2023 compared to 28% in 2019. Similarly, only 21% of Canadian advisors report having a defined marketing strategy.
Despite a decline in advisors with a defined marketing strategy, those who leverage one are significantly more confident in meeting their practice goals over the next 12 months (83% and 89% of U.S. and Canadian advisors, respectively, compared to 62% and 61% of U.S. and Canadian advisors without a defined marketing strategy).
Seventy percent of U.S. advisors with a defined marketing strategy saw an increase in inbound requests in the past 12 months compared to just 44% of advisors without a defined marketing strategy. For Canadian advisors, the difference was nearly double – 63% of those with a defined marketing strategy saw an increase in the number of inbound requests compared to 32% of advisors without a defined strategy.
“We conduct this survey annually to analyze how advisor behavior is evolving with the changing financial advice landscape. There is a direct correlation between advisors who spend more time on their marketing efforts, their levels of confidence, and the number of prospects they attract,” adds Darlington. “It simply shows that devoting the right amount of time to create a defined strategy drives measurable results, helps advisors map out their time commitment and allocate the appropriate resources before they set out to engage in marketing. Advisors should leverage the right tools and technology that can save them time, resources and allow them to be intentional with their efforts to get the highest ROI.”
Read the detailed insights from Broadridge’s fifth-annual financial advisor marketing survey here.
Methodology
The Broadridge survey was conducted by 8 Acre Perspective, an independent marketing research firm. A total of 403 U.S. financial advisors across primarily IBD and RIA channels completed the survey, which was fielded from October 20-November 15, 2023. A total of 131 Canadian financial advisors across primarily IBD and Regional Full-Service Brokerage channels also completed the survey, which was fielded from October 25-December 4, 2023.
For further details on survey methodology, please contact a Broadridge media representative.
About Broadridge
Broadridge Financial Solutions (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader with over $6 billion in revenues, provides the critical infrastructure that powers investing, corporate governance and communications to enable better financial lives. We deliver technology-driven solutions to banks, broker-dealers, asset and wealth managers and public companies. Broadridge’s infrastructure serves as a global communications hub enabling corporate governance by linking thousands of public companies and mutual funds to tens of millions of individual and institutional investors around the world. In addition, Broadridge’s technology and operations platforms underpin the daily trading of on average more than U.S. $10 trillion of equities, fixed income and other securities globally. A certified Great Place to Work®, Broadridge is a part of the S&P 500® Index, employing over 14,000 associates in 21 countries.
For more information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com.
Media Contact:
Matthew Luongo
Prosek Partners
+1 646-818-9279
mluongo@prosek.com
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SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc.
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Kevin O’Leary, renowned investor and star of “Shark Tank,” has challenged Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk‘s controversial assertion that working from home is “immoral.” O’Leary, who oversees a vast business empire consisting of 54 companies, has expressed his support for remote work and rejects any notion of immorality associated with it.
Musk, the influential figure behind Tesla and Twitter, recently launched a scathing critique of remote work, questioning its ethical implications. He argued that while some individuals enjoy the luxury of working from home, essential workers like delivery drivers and factory employees do not have the same privilege.
O’Leary countered Musk’s notion that remote work is a moral issue. In an interview with CNBC, he bluntly stated, “No” when asked whether working from home is unethical. O’Leary’s stance on this matter aligns with the preferences of a significant portion of the American workforce. A recent study by McKinsey & Co. revealed that 87% of employees in the United States would opt for flexible work arrangements if given the opportunity.
The McKinsey study further emphasized the importance for employers to embrace technology, adopt policies and provide training to facilitate seamless integration of remote and on-site work. O’Leary shares this perspective, acknowledging the changing landscape of work and the need to embrace innovative practices.
See more on startup investing from Benzinga:
Speaking with CNN, O’Leary acknowledged the unique circumstances of Musk’s businesses, such as Tesla and SpaceX, which heavily rely on collaboration among engineers. He emphasized that this should not overshadow the success and viability of remote work in other sectors of the economy. Many industries have already embraced hybrid working models, and O’Leary argued that the pandemic has demonstrated the effectiveness of remote project management.
With his extensive business portfolio spanning various states and sectors, O’Leary revealed that 40% of his companies have permanently transitioned to remote work. He highlighted the financial benefits, noting that post-pandemic, these businesses are projected to generate a 20% increase in free cash flow. O’Leary sees this as evidence that remote work is not only effective but also cost-efficient, particularly in terms of reducing real estate expenses.
“Forty-four percent of our employees across our venture portfolio work remotely, and they ain’t coming into the office, period,” O’Leary said in a CNN interview in March.
For example, O’Leary has accumulated a nearly $50 million position in a startup called StartEngine. The platform allows anyone to invest in startups, including raising $15 million this year alone from retail investors. The startup has long touted the benefits of their work-from-home model. This allows them to recruit from anywhere in the world, save on costs and gives flexibility to workers looking for work-from-home positions.
But his support for remote work doesn’t mean he tolerates slacking off. With his strict standards, O’Leary emphasizes the importance of maintaining a strong work ethic, even when working remotely.
While this remote work arrangement may seem unconventional to some, O’Leary views it as a mutually beneficial trade-off. He states, “I call my employees 24/7. That’s the deal. If you don’t work in the office, I can call you at two in the morning if we have a crisis, and they’re gonna answer. That’s the way they’re used to it now.”
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In a 2019 interview with CNBC, before the pandemic reshaped work dynamics, O’Leary emphasized that he expects his team members to be responsive, even when they are on vacation. Given that his employees are dispersed across various locations, spanning the country and sometimes the globe, he recognizes the need for round-the-clock availability. The focus is on achieving results rather than adhering to a strict 9-to-5 schedule.
“Do I expect my employees to respond to me when they’re on vacation? 100%,” O’Leary asserted. He further emphasized that his employees are expected to fulfill their responsibilities, whether they work 24/7 or adopt alternative schedules, as long as the job gets done. This flexible approach aligns with the evolving nature of the economy, where rigid working hours are no longer the sole measure of productivity.
As O’Leary prepares for the 15th season of “Shark Tank,” he anticipates a wave in entrepreneurs seeking investment opportunities. The economic terrain, shaped by changing dynamics and limited venture capital availability, has led to an unprecedented influx of applications. O’Leary maintains an optimistic outlook, expecting a surge in deal flow, and eagerly anticipates securing favorable terms.
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This article Kevin O’Leary Challenges Elon Musk’s ‘Immoral’ View On Remote Work — ‘They Ain’t Coming Into The Office, Period’ originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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Running a one person business is challenging, but we’re here to help you. Tune into our video series, Solopreneur Office Hours, as our expert, Terry Rice, answers your most pressing questions.
Running a one person business is challenging, but it doesn’t have to be confusing.
In our new series, Office Hours for Solopreneurs with Terry Rice, you’ll get your most pressing business questions answered live while also learning from the challengees of your peers. Be sure to tune in on May 31st at 3 PM EDT as he removes all the guesswork around pricing, personal branding, selling your services and more.
Don’t miss out—register now!
About the Speaker:
Terry Rice is the Business Development Expert-in-Residence at Entrepreneur and host of the podcast Launch Your Business, which provides emerging entrepreneurs with the critical guidance needed to start a business. As the founder of Terry Rice Consulting he helps entrepreneurs make more money, save time and avoid burnout. He writes a newsletter about how to build your revenue and personal brand in just 5 minutes per week.
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