Financial Adviser Challenges – How to Attract the Millennial Market

Financial Adviser Challenges – How to Attract the Millennial Market

Millennials are fast becoming the dominant generation in the workplace, and this means that their financial responsibilities are shifting. As with any of the previous generations, it’s important to understand and address the unique challenges that this generation faces. For financial advisers, this means getting to grips with what this generation is all about rather than - as the media often does – portraying them as a fascinating and incomprehensible other. They’re not aliens – they’re your market.

How Can You Build Relationships with Millennials as a Financial Adviser?

The key here is to present services as something that meets the key pain points of this generation, and to do so through the media this audience best connects with. As a financial adviser, you need to communicate with this market on their own terms, selling your support rather than dictating a product list of solutions. You need to create content about your services and products, specifically in terms of how they can help this generation reach goals that are important to them or overcome challenges specific to them and promote them through media that they utilise and respond to. This means stepping out of the traditional, corporate personality of a financial adviser and using video and mobile channels, casual yet professional interaction through social media, and making your responsiveness a priority.

The Millennial generation is the first to grow up with the internet, which has made online media a priority. It’s the fastest way for a client to get the information they need to solve a financial issue, and the fastest way to measure one financial adviser against another, so it’s important to market yourself effectively online and stay up-to-date with the latest digital marketing techniques.

Again, this is not about selling a product or ensuring a product reaches Millennials who are looking for financial advice – it’s about connecting with clients by developing solutions and building a long-term relationship that helps achieve particular goals. Due to their unprecedented access to information, Millennial clients are more likely to want to play an active role in their investments and have more control than previous generations – and they’re looking for a partner who understands that. For example, many Millennial investors want to ensure that their investments aren’t just rewarding, they want their money to support companies with good environmental or social track records.

It’s no secret that marketing to Millennials is something that a very traditional and conservative industry like financial services is going to struggle with – but it’s a challenge that financial advisers and other financial professionals are going to have to overcome if they want to make an impact. As always, the key is knowing what your target market needs and rising to the occasion.

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