The US firm recently set up a platform to help advisors in its embrace to develop their marketing communications work in a more systematic way while also customizing the experience for firms and clients. Work was in play before the pandemic, but the crisis will accelerate the need for firms to raise their game in coming months.

Hightower Advisors, which is launching a marketing platform to help advisors ramp up business, argues that too many industry professionals don’t take a systematic approach to their marketing communications – a missed opportunity, particularly in a pandemic lockdown.

Last month the US firm rolled out its “Engage” marketing platform in partnership with the marketing tech firm Snappy Kraken. Hightower advisors who use Engage can tap into a curated suite of original, customizable marketing campaigns – spanning blog posts, email newsletters, video content, social posts, guidebooks and infographics. The platform’s interface meshes with Clear, Hightower’s advisor platform, and Salesforce.

Some wealth management firms affiliated with Hightower have run good marketing communications while others only do so sporadically, Abby Salameh, chief marketing officer at Hightower, told Family Wealth Report recently. 

Work on the Engage platform began last September; the need for firms to significantly boost business and client engagement at the present time is undoubtedly going to galvanize advisors, but the pandemic wasn’t the reason why Engage is being launched, Salameh said.

As and when economic recovery kicks in, the advisors who have got their marketing communications in good shape will benefit the most, she continued. Advisors can prepare for how to engage with centers of influence, plug into networks and get workflows in place.

“It has actually been a really busy time [for advisors]. They are grateful and thankful for our support [with Engage],” she said. “Advisors know that what they are sharing with clients has been built especially for them. And we are able to look at the marketplace to identify the demographic groups that are the most important for us to target.” Salameh gave the case of wealth advisors who have identified dentistry business owners as clients. “We can help at the enterprise level,” she said. 

A big virtue of modern technology in marketing and communications is that advisors can figure out how well campaigns work and what their RoI is – contrasting with the scatter-shot approaches in the past when it was hard to identify how much of a dent a campaign would bring, Salameh said.

The rollout is part of a broader range of support that Hightower gives wealth management firms in its network, such as on cybersecurity - a big concern at a time when everyone is working remotely and more reliant on domestic technology than before, she said.

The move is also an example of how Hightower battles to keep a competitive edge in a space that sees it come up against rivals such as Dynasty Financial Partners and Focus Financial Partners.   

Growth and efficiency
Turning to other matters, Salameh said Hightower has a “very robust pipeline” of firms that it is in contact with regarding potential acquisitions. That speaks to how wealth management sector M&A remains a busy area, as firms chase economies of scale amid rising regulatory costs and client expectations, as well as by a desire for some wealth business owners who are near retirement to sell up. 

“The [pandemic] crisis has brought a lot of inefficiencies to the surface, such as a lack of investment,” she said. 

Yesterday Hightower announced that it has made a strategic investment in Osborn Williams & Donohoe, a $1.4  billion advisory group based in Cincinnati, Ohio, serving entrepreneurs, businessmen and businesswomen, medical professionals as well as other high net worth individuals and their families.