The typical advisor receives between 11 and 25 marketing or sales contacts per day from product providers and distributors, like mutual fund companies, insurance providers and broker-dealers.
And, according to a new report from Practical Perspectives, most of it is falling on deaf ears.
The report, titled “Marketing Effectively to Financial Advisors – Insights and Opportunities 2016,” finds that most advisors do not devote considerable attention or time to marketing or sales communications from product providers and distributors.
“Advisors consider the marketing outreach they receive from product providers and other sources to be useful but most don’t have the time to digest the messages given the sheer volume and other day-to-day priorities,” said Howard Schneider, president of Practical Perspectives and author of the report, in a statement.
More than 1 in 2 advisors (53%) review 10% or less of the marketing outreach directed to them, according to the report. This is also reflected in the limited time spent each day reviewing marketing communications, with nearly 6 in 10 advisors (57%) spending less than 15 minutes in total reviewing the multiple communications directed to them, according to the report.
The report is based on input from nearly 750 financial advisors – including full-service brokers, independent brokers, financial planners and registered investment advisors – gathered through an on-line survey conducted in March.
“Providers are spending countless resources on outreach each year to build awareness, loyalty and sales … The struggle is how you get your communication to stand out and attract the attention of advisors in a highly cluttered environment with so many firms competing for the chance to connect,” Schneider said in a statement.
RIAs appear to spend the least time on marketing outreach, whereas wirehouse advisors appear to dedicate more time, the report finds.
According to the report, roughly 26% of RIAs devote less than five minutes each day to the marketing communications they receive. Meanwhile, the report finds that nearly 3 in 10 wirehouse advisors spend more than 30 minutes each day on outreach directed to them.
“This likely reflects the greater volume of outreach wirehouse advisors receive and different forms of contact, including in-person meetings,” the report states.