Four meetings a year with each focus advisor, according to Fuse Network Research. That’s all you get — maybe a couple of face-to-face, a video call, or two. Now spread that thin coverage across 325 advisors per wholesaler. The numbers just don’t work.

But some firms have found a better way. They’re mixing old-school wholesaling with digital signals to spot which advisors actually want to talk right now. It’s not rocket science —  it’s just paying attention to what advisors do online.

Getting Past the Basic Numbers

Email opens? They don’t tell you much, especially since Apple’s privacy changes messed with tracking. Link clicks? It’s better, but it’s still just the starting point.

The real story emerges in how advisors interact with your content. Some will spend 30 minutes reading your market commentary. Others sit through entire webinars, not just logging in and walking away. A few will dig deep into specific investment strategies, clicking through page after page.

Watch these patterns long enough, and they start telling stories. When an advisor digs deep into content about your small-cap strategy, they’re probably thinking about making a change. When they stop opening everything you send, you might have a problem brewing.

Learning from Resistance

A firm we work with stumbled into this by accident. Their wholesalers hated the idea of digital marketing to their best advisors. “We’ve got those relationships covered,” they said. So, they tried it with their B-list advisors instead.

A funny thing happened — those B-list advisors started asking for meetings. They came to the conversations already knowing the firm’s strategies and were interested. The wholesalers who fought digital outreach started asking for it.

Building Something Better

The trick is watching how individual advisors behave over time. Some will show clear buying signals before they ever mention it to your wholesalers. Others might be drifting away while still taking the occasional meeting. You can’t spot these patterns with spreadsheets and gut feel anymore.

Smart firms run their digital outreach like a continuous conversation. Regular emails build the base, but real growth needs more. Launch targeted content campaigns that nurture existing relationships and attract new advisors. Think white papers on emerging market trends, portfolio construction guides, and market commentaries that advisors can’t get elsewhere. Gate your best stuff — when advisors download it, you’ve got a warm lead and valuable insight into their interests.

Mix in social updates, timely webinars, and strategy deep dives. Some content goes to everyone. Save the special analysis and institutional-quality insights for registered users. Then, track how each advisor — new or existing — responds across these channels.

This matters most for boutique firms. They’ll never match the big players’ wholesaler headcount. But they can spot opportunities faster and move on them before the giants even notice. Better yet, they can attract new advisors who might never have found them through traditional wholesaling alone.

Making Technology Work For You

The right technology stack is crucial for making this work. We use HubSpot as our marketing automation platform and partner with them — but whatever platform you choose needs to show your wholesalers what matters. Build one dashboard that highlights which advisors are poking around your content, sitting through webinars, and showing genuine interest in specific strategies.

Score the behaviors that matter. An advisor who downloads three papers on your emerging markets fund matters more than someone who opens two emails. Set up your platform to flag these patterns. Your wholesalers should know instantly when an advisor’s behavior changes.

This also helps fix the territory planning headache. Instead of randomly picking which advisors to visit, your wholesalers can focus on the ones showing actual interest. It’s like having a tip sheet for your sales team.

Getting Started Right

Pick three wholesalers who like trying new things. Give them 90 days to test this approach with a small slice of their territory. They’ll figure out what works, what breaks, and what needs fixing.

Your marketing automation needs to track:

• Meeting requests and conversations
• Content downloads and reading time
• Webinar participation (not just registration)
• Website navigation patterns
• Engagement frequency and timing

Loop in compliance early. They’ll sleep better knowing everything’s tracked, and you’ll avoid headaches later.

Turning Digital Into Dollars

Digital engagement isn’t just about sending more emails or creating better websites. It’s about spotting which advisors are ready to talk right now. Your wholesalers still build relationships; digital just helps them know where to focus first.

Some firms still treat digital as a separate channel from their wholesalers. That’s missing the point. Every digital interaction is a chance to make the next conversation more productive. Every piece of content is a chance to answer questions before they’re asked.

The pressure to do more with less isn’t going away. But we’ve found a better way to handle it. Digital engagement doesn’t replace your wholesalers – it just helps them work smarter. The firms that get this right aren’t just surviving with fewer resources. They’re finding opportunities they would have missed otherwise.

Ready to Transform Your Wholesaler Impact?

Schedule a 60-minute strategy session to learn how digital engagement could work for your firm. We’ll analyze your current approach and show specific ways to help your wholesalers connect with more advisors. Book your strategy session now

Dan Sondhelm helps boutique asset managers grow. He’s CEO of Sondhelm Partners, where he shows firms how to stand out and get noticed in crowded markets.