So what happens after your event?

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At the Financial Broker conference last week, lots of people remarked to me how good it was to be out at an event again. For some, this was the first time in a busy room again… For some others, they have been running webinars for clients during Covid, but are now back setting up face-to-face client events again. These have been delivered by interesting and expert speakers, covering valuable topics for their clients. However one area that can always be improved is in the whole area of follow-ups – what happens after the event. Here are a few thoughts on maximising the impact of your event, to really ensure that it was worth all of the effort put into it.

 

Prepare in advance for afterwards

You know who your speakers are and you know the topics that they will be presenting. You may also have any presentation slides in advance.  So it’s relatively easy to have a few of the main follow-up assets fully or mostly prepared in advance. If these are left until after the event, they often get forgotten in the rush to get back to urgent client work. You can have the following prepared and ready to go,

  • A page or blog post on your website dedicated to the event. This should have a link to a recording of the event or snippets from it, that can be accessed via a completed form – this way you get to see who is downloading it and is interested in the topic. As part of this access to the event content, encourage the user to sign up for your newsletter / other events so that you can then stay on their radar into the future.
  • An email to attendees, thanking them for taking the time to attend and linking through to the event page on your website. Better still, prepare this in your newsletter software where you can track who opens and clicks on your email.
  • An email to people who couldn’t make it, advising them that there’s a recording (or snippets) available via the link to the event website page. As above, do this in your newsletter software.
  • If you happen to have any other relevant content on the topics covered on the webinar (whitepapers, blog articles, podcasts etc.), insert the links to these too.

When you prepare this in advance, you can be ready to go immediately after the event has finished and while it is still fresh in people’s minds.

 

Get active on social media

Then it’s time to get out and let the wider world know about the value you add to your clients. Publicise the success of your event on social media, leading people to the event page / blog on your website. Of course, once they are here, they may want to watch a recording of the event – to do so, they have to fill out your form, give you your email address and enable you to include them in your expert communications going forwards. Now you’re using your event to draw prospects to your business…

 

Review the analytics

After all of this, you’ll have pretty rich data. This will include,

  • How many people attended the event
  • Who they are
  • Who interacted with your emails
  • Who liked / commented on your social media posts
  • How many / who requested the recording
  • Some advisers have also sent out very brief post-event surveys, checking the pieces that people got most value from and seeking general feedback. This is more data to consider.

It’s one thing having all of this data, the important task is to use it. Block out an hour or two in your diary maybe a week after the event to go through the analytics. Was the event a success? What could be done better in the future? Most importantly, are their specific individuals who really engaged with the content and who might welcome a follow-up call?

 

Follow up

Where it makes sense, follow up with those individuals who were very interested in the topic. It’s quite possible that they are mulling over an issue in that space? Reach out with the offer of a remote follow-up conversation – this will enable each of you to see if there is something to explore a bit more, without investing much time in doing so. This might be where your event leads you into a wider planning conversation with a prospective client…

 

Next time you’re running an event, invest a little time in post-event activity. It will be worth the effort.

The Financial Broker market in Ireland today

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We were delighted to be asked by Brokers Ireland in 2022 to complete an extensive research project to develop a future-facing view of what the Financial Broker sector will look like in 2030. The primary purpose of the research was to inform Brokers Ireland as to how they can shape their objectives and support services to consolidate and grow their positioning as the leading representative body for Financial Brokers in Ireland, and indeed as the voice of the sector.

A secondary piece of work was also commissioned to extract the key learnings from this report, with a view to helping Financial Brokers prepare your own businesses for the future.

The research methodologies included focus groups with Financial Brokers, interviews with senior executives from product providers, interviews with other service suppliers to the sector and interviews with experts from five developed markets outside of Ireland – namely the UK, USA, South Africa, Australia and Canada. This was further supplemented by structured consumer research and online survey research carried out with Financial Brokers. Extensive desk research was also carried out to build out a comprehensive view.

Over the course of the next year or so, we will share the key findings from this research, beginning below with a piece about the advice market as we see it today.

 

A market in rude health

Financial Brokers in Ireland are the dominant distribution channel and source of financial advice and personal financial products for consumers in Ireland. When investment-only business is excluded, the channel currently commands an estimated market share of 74%. This is a significant increase on the Financial Broker market share that had fallen to 54% before the financial crash in 2008. Financial Brokers have demonstrated your resilience and value to consumers over the last 15 years.

The overall personal finance market in which Financial Brokers enjoy a commanding position has been very buoyant in recent years. The market experienced growth overall of 23% in 2021, which continued with further growth of 23% in the first half of 2022.

 

The changing role of the Financial Broker in Ireland

While the core role of Financial Brokers as the primary source of expert and independent financial advice in Ireland continues, several factors have fundamentally changed the business models for many of you. These changes have been largely positive and have enabled you to grow more sustainable and valuable businesses. They include:

  • The growth of trail commission as a mainstay of the remuneration model of Financial Brokers.
  • The negative deposit rates (that are currently inching upwards again), offering good opportunities to Financial Brokers to offer better saving and investment alternatives.
  • The growth of financial planning as part of a deeper service proposition.
  • The impacts of COVID, which resulted in Brokers embracing process improvements in the shape of remote meetings with clients, the use of digital signatures etc.
  • The upskilling of Financial Brokers in the form of professional education qualifications and the use of technology in areas such as future cash flow planning.

The general opinion among interviewees is that Financial Brokers simply have a better value proposition than other channels such as banks, direct sales forces and online providers. Your personal touch, your independence and your comprehensive offerings enable you to stand apart. The resilience and adaptability of Financial Brokers was also remarked upon on numerous occasions by interviewees. A recurring theme was that the future of Financial Brokers constantly seems to be threatened by some external force, but you continue to manage hurdles in your path, survive threats that you face, and ultimately thrive.

 

The Financial Broker market globally today

Generally, across the world, the independent financial adviser markets are in rude health. Several common themes emerged in relation to those markets today.

  • Reaching the non-advised community is the biggest challenge facing the sector globally.
  • There is an ongoing drive for increased proficiency and upskilling globally within the profession.
  • The older age profile of advisers and the challenge of bringing in new blood is an ongoing concern in all markets.
  • The enormous and disproportionate burden of regulations and compliance requirements that are faced by often “micro-businesses” is a significant issue for the sector.
  • All markets are experiencing an ongoing drive for increased transparency for the benefit of consumers.

Next month, we will set out a summary about the expected evolution of the market over the next 7-10 years. Following that, in each of our subsequent newsletters, we will share one of twelve action areas for Financial Brokers to prepare your own businesses for 2030. These action areas are also contained in an information guide that Brokers Ireland have produced for Financial Brokers.

We hope you find this research interesting and thought-provoking.