Asset managers are expanding their marketing budgets while allocating more money to digital initiatives such as lead generation and customized email marketing campaigns, according to a new report by Cerulli.

Asset managers are expanding their marketing budgets while spending more money on digital initiatives such as lead generation and customized email marketing campaigns, according to a new report by Cerulli Associates.

"Technology is a big part of marketing today, from lead generation efforts to predictive analytics to customized email marketing campaigns," said Pamela DeBolt, associate director at Cerulli.

In one such example, United Capital, the US RIA, linked up with tech firm Vestorly in May to help its advisors share “meaningful and personalized” content with clients and prospects. April Rudin chief executive and founder, The Rudin Group, believes that United Capital has become a role model and first-mover on a few fronts: digital/targeted marketing and next-gen (see more here.)

Based on findings from Cerulli's digital strategy survey, the top initiatives for asset managers of all sizes are around website improvement and CRM enhancements.

"Expansion of digital technology is driving organizational change for almost 70 per cent of asset managers," DeBolt said in the firm's report, US Product Marketing and Sales Organizations 2014: Strategies for Maximizing Distribution through Digital Marketing and Technology.. "Some of these changes include hiring employees with the necessary skillset to keep up with the changing technology, combining functions, and reorganizing for better creativity and flow of responsibilities."

She added that large firms are paying to move data from one department to another, cautioning that investing in these technology projects is expensive and thus "profitability evaluation is critical."

On a similar note, Fidelity Institutional Wealth Services' latest RIA Benchmarking Study found that a meager 5 per cent of RIAs feel advanced in the areas of marketing and business development, even though for a majority this was a top priority in 2014. According to that study, RIAs today spend on average 2 per cent of total revenue on marketing and business development (not including staff). One in three plan to keep growing this spend consistently over the next five years and 39 per cent said they will allocate their marketing and business development budget so that it “always keeps pace with business growth.”