A new podcast service for financial advisors aims to help planners start their own series and grow their business.
Many advisors and marketing experts view podcasts as an effective means of attracting prospective clients and enhancing relationships with existing customers. But audio shows require technical knowledge and time to acquire the skills and record the episodes. Public relations agency
Audio programs featuring advisors and wealth management entrepreneurs like Michael Kitces, Dasarte Yarnway, Ric Edelman, Emlen Miles-Mattingly, Josh Brown, Jean Chatzky and others underscore the power of the new medium. Still, only a sliver out of the hundreds of thousands of advisors nationwide have launched podcasts, according to FiComm CEO Megan Carpenter. The agency received about 150 submissions for a podcast award it launched two years ago — an amount that underscores how many "amazing" podcasts there are in an industry that is also "still so early in the process" of adopting the medium, she said in an interview.
Despite their ubiquity among the general population, there is "a lot of misunderstanding in the advisor community" about podcasts, Carpenter said. Advisors can deploy the podcasts to convert cold leads — potential customers who never expressed interest in a product or service — or for uses among existing clients, such as explainer episodes on one topic or another.
"What we've experienced on behalf of advisors is how transformative it can be for their business in so many ways," Carpenter said. "One of the stories that we hear the most from advisors who have really successful podcasts is that it really increases scale in their business."
The workshop, which will kick off with its first cohort on Feb. 17, costs $1,999, and the "AmpliFi" resources and consultation are $3,700 per month, according to FiComm Head of Advisor Growth Marketing Candice Carlton. FiComm will lead those two parts of the new podcast partnership with ProudMouth, while the podcast firm will manage the fulfillment stage in the middle. The price for those advanced sessions will vary by the number of episodes, but most advisors will record about two for $2,500 a month, said co-founder Matt Halloran. Podcasts provide an "intimacy" that's missing from other types of marketing such as cold calls or emails because people listen to them while cooking, driving or working out, he said.
"You're looked at very differently than just the person who picks up the phone," Halloran said. "That's really, really powerful. It's opt-in marketing. Instead of another push, they're opting into your leadership."
Advisors and wealth management firms with long-running podcasts said that the medium can be useful for building an advisory business. Advisor Luis Rosa of Henderson, Nevada-based
"You get to speak to your target audience as a trusted source and grow this list over time. It helps with search engine optimization. It helps build credibility with prospects," Rosa said. "It's a long game. You won't necessarily have people reaching out right away, but your impact goes beyond what you can see (downloads don't tell the whole story)."
Podcasts "are game changers for a financial advisor," according to Larry Sprung of Hauppauge, New York-based
"The families we are looking to work with already know, like, and trust us more as a result of the show," Sprung said. "The families we currently work with have a better understanding of who we are, and what we are about and receive a great deal of educational content from us. We have the opportunity to meet and speak with great people who may have not spoken to us without having the show. The show has provided the opportunity for us to shine with our guests, and some of them have become clients as a result."
Wealth management firm Carson Group's "
"Podcasts are a unique marketing channel because, specifically in the advisor space, they fit into two areas of the marketing funnel," Allen said. "The most natural fit is at the top in the brand awareness space. Podcasts are great for increasing awareness of your personal and professional brand and telling your story to a broad audience. The second is lower in the funnel as a client acquisition and relationship building tool."
Since launching in 2017, ProudMouth has produced more than 6,500 episodes for advisors, with an "influence accelerator system" that the firm credits for amassing several millions of dollars in new business. Beginners in ProudMouth and FiComm's new service signing up for the "zero to launch" workshop will start by getting tutorials, coaching and assets like a logo for their podcasts, along with recording their first episodes and trailers. For advisors seeking to take their shows to the next level, ProudMouth will give them an experienced co-host and feedback throughout the process, along with creating content tied to the episodes. In the ongoing "AmpliFi" service, FiComm will focus on driving conversions of listeners to clients by providing resources and consultation, including one media pitch about the practice every quarter. In addition, FiComm is hosting
The strategic partners are trying to assist advisors in avoiding "podfade," which occurs when a podcast either stops recording or never gets off the ground, said Carlton.
"A lot of advisors are thinking about podcasting, wanting to podcast, having a lot of ideas to podcast, without knowing how to get started," she said. "Our goal is to really be an end-to-end solution for these advisors."
