Your future clients are spending more and more time online, researching and searching for investment solutions. How can you reach investors in our “digital first” era?
The process is called Inbound.
What is Inbound?
Inbound is the sales and marketing strategy consistent with this universal new investor behavior. It provides a step-by-step guide for the strategies and tactics you need to align with how buyers make decisions today.
Inbound is the roadmap for how to grow a business in a digital world.
What Inbound Isn’t
Before exploring the fundamentals of Inbound marketing and sales, it’s important to understand what Inbound is not.
Contrary to what most people think, Inbound is not a passive approach where you sit back and wait for people to come to you.
Inbound is not the opposite of outbound.
Inbound is an active framework that includes all the tactics and strategies needed to align with the digital buying process of today.
The Outbound Call in the Inbound Process
Inbound tactics could include an outbound call to a prospective investor. When following an Inbound strategy, however, that “outbound” dial is not made until after the prospect has provided digital signals of their interest in your firm or product:
When considered in this context, that outbound dial is under the umbrella of an Inbound strategy.
Inbound is the roadmap for how to grow a business in a digital world.
Three Phases of Inbound for the Asset Management Industry
Inbound divides into three phases:
Attract
The goal of the Engagement Phase is to attract and meet your future clients through digital channels and begin an online conversation. You achieve this by demonstrating that you understand their problem or need, that you may have the potential solution, and that you offer materials to help them along their buyer's journey.
Key to this process is an upgraded website engineered for visitor interaction. Tools to drive traffic to your enhanced website include:
Convert
Your goal is to convert a new website visitor or contact into a lead.
Fundamental to this process is exchanging your valuable content for contact information. Online conversion tools include:
A call-to-action is often an online graphic or button such as “Download our FREE White Paper” or “Attend our Webinar.”
Clicking on a call-to-action may send a website visitor to a landing page with additional information on the content.
The landing page should include a form that a visitor fills out, providing contact information to access the premium content. The form should be brief and easy to complete. Smart forms can customize which data points are requested or even fill out the information automatically for a visitor.
Educate
The Due Diligence phase begins with education. You teach your future clients how to solve their problem before you engage them with your solution. Once they’re educated, you make it easy for them to evaluate your products and services. You help them determine if what you offer is a good fit and a solution to their problem.
Evaluate
After facilitating their education, you help your potential future clients evaluate your investment options as they complete their due diligence.
You may consider adding a password-protected, advisor-only due diligence portal to your website. This portal may include portfolio detail as well as completed due diligence questionnaires. The portal may include a library of videos from the management team explaining your investment process or providing deep dives on specific investments.
Your goal is to enable visitors to complete their entire due diligence process online, a welcome service to any allocator. This also accelerates the steps to an allocation. This frees the sales team to focus on their highest-value activities, answering questions and advancing relationships with those most likely to invest.
Invest
At the start of the Inflow Phase, your job is to make it easy for your client to invest with a user-friendly online investment process. The investor welcome process should be “high tech” as well as “high touch” and personal.
Then, your mission is to make sure your investors have a great client experience so you retain their assets.
Retain and Refer
The asset retention process starts with the basics, including updates on your funds with in-depth communications in good times and challenging times.
Then you continue with thought leadership, insights, and practical tools.
Success in the Inflow Phase may lead to additional allocations or commitments to other funds or strategies you offer. The greatest success is when the client becomes an advocate and refers like-minded colleagues and additional business to you.
Implementing Inbound
The basics of Inbound are straightforward. However, implementation can be complex. Designing and executing the right Inbound strategy for your firm and team will take time but is worth the commitment.
The right process and strategy is just the first step.
Next Steps in Your Digital Transformation
You have multiple opportunities to learn more: