It's time to reach the next generation

If you’re tired of being asked to complete online surveys for anything from your last visit to the supermarket to the experience of buying a new car, you probably wonder where this information ends up.

Data is now likened to gold – well, actually it’s probably more valuable than gold! But it does have a role to play in helping you plan your business marketing. When I read about the findings from a few surveys pertinent to how financial advisers can reach upcoming generations, I thought I’d share some of the findings with you in the hope it might help with your marketing segmentation.

The data on financial planning

The first is a Roy Morgan research project[1] about who is buying financial advice in Australia. This survey considered the responses from 50,000 consumers, including 34,000 who had superannuation or invested in managed funds.

Unsurprisingly, the younger generations rely to a large extent on their employers for wealth management products, generally via superannuation. Also no surprise is that Baby Boomers are more likely to rely on a professional adviser (39.9%), with Generation X next at 27.5%.

But if your focus is on the future, it’s the millennial generation you need to be seriously thinking about reaching sooner rather than later.

According to Business Health, the Australian market is very similar to a US study they reported on in a recent newsletter. Business Health quoted findings from TD Ameritrade’s Institutional 2018 RIA Sentiment Survey that showed over the next five years an expectation that the “senior” clients of advisers will reduce by around 30%. Looking forward it is expected that this loss will be recovered from the younger generations, but now is the time to start planning for this transition.

Research conducted by Business Health on the Australian market uncovered the following:

• 55% of advised clients are aged 60+ years
• 45% are already retired
• ‘Range of Services’ is currently the second lowest of nine Key Performance Indicators assessed by Business Health’s CATScan client survey diagnostic
• One in three principals are looking to broaden their suite of solutions in the next 12 months.

So, the most important question that arises from these findings is, “what should you be doing now to reach the younger generations?” Business Health has made five sensible suggestions in their article, the last of which I will address.

Start marketing – now!

2023 will be here before you know it so the time to start reaching out to Millennials is right now.

I’ve been reading up on marketing to this generation – believe me there’s a lot of material on this topic. I know time is precious for you so I will condense it as follows:

Life moves fast for everyone, but for Millennials life can be a blur. Everyday questions demand instant answers via Google. Decisions are made based on “word of mouth” via social media. Millennials rely on social media for almost everything – including learning – and that’s something that pops up in almost every piece of research about this cohort – they want to learn so they can make informed decisions.

However, just like every other person when it comes to money, the issue that ranks the highest on their “must have list” is trust - none more so than in the financial services industry. No surprises there.

So when it comes down to marketing to Millennials, the key driver for you is to start building trust with members of this younger generation. The best way to do this is to share your knowledge. Be the source that they turn to when it’s time for a discussion about money and how they can best use it to achieve their life goals.

Four years for a business is not a very long time so as each year passes by and you haven’t put in place a regular communication strategy to reach out to this interested (and huge) market, is an opportunity gone begging. Your marketing plan must include new and more regular communication.

It’s now 2019. Do your own research on what makes Millennials tick, develop your Millennial marketing persona and begin the conversation.

[1] http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7605-who-uses-financial-advice-professionals-201805250240