Many wealth and asset managers depend on email to stay connected with investors and financial professionals.

The issue is that they don’t know how to write emails that people want to read.

This simple guide offers tips on developing email communications that recipients will engage with and act on.

The Issue With Most Asset and Wealth Manager Emails

Financial professionals believe they have to sell their services and solutions through email marketing.

The issue: When you sell too much and too hard, people stop paying attention.

They don’t want to be sold to. They have too many media options, and promotional emails simply aren’t going to make the cut today.

So, they stop opening and reading, and may eventually unsubscribe, which could reduce the number of emails delivered because your provider may lose trust in your email content.

This article presents a simple approach for financial firms to improve their email engagement.

The Key to Creating Emails Investors and Financial Professionals Want to Read

If you want people to engage with your emails, they must present information that is:

• Interesting
• Valuable
• Educational
• Entertaining
• Thought-provoking
• Unique.

In short, selling or sharing a lot of data.

Do the following to create emails that have these characteristics:  

• Write like how you speak, in a conversational tone. Develop content in a voice your reader will understand. For instance, if you’re writing about retirement income solutions, make sure the content is written in a way a financial novice grandparent will understand. If you’re writing for financial professionals, a more sophisticated tone is likely warranted. Your goal is to make the reader feel like they’re in a one-on-one conversation with you.
• Focus on what the readers want to know, not necessarily what you feel compelled to say. You might want to focus on your fund’s performance, but your readers care more about how the solution fits into their portfolios. They won’t take the time to read about your performance until they get the answers they need.
• Offer a fresh perspective on something people are likely already thinking about. There is a lot of AI-rehashed content about most topics. People are far more likely to respond to unique viewpoints about topics they already care about.
• Include stories in your emails. People love to read about people like themselves. Client success stories can make obscure or complex financial topics understandable, relatable, emotional, and human. Just make sure you respect client privacy and stay compliant.
• Incorporate brand personality into your email newsletters. Too many financial industry email newsletters are bland. A little personality will help them stand out in people’s email boxes.
• Write compelling subject lines. Something as simple as an intriguing question or a statement about a life benefit of investing could get people to read.
• Make your emails exciting to read. Let people discover new things throughout the entire email to keep them reading to the end.
• Stay genuine and authentic. People will be turned off if you try to copy another firm’s email style or content. It just won’t ring true to your financial brand.
• Go deep. Many experts believe the only way to be successful in email is to be brief. However, if you have a great piece of in-depth content, it could be worth testing in email. If recipients care about the topic and your material is superior and informative, they will likely be open to making a time commitment. Or consider including links to several blog posts on a common theme, such as retirement planning, to demonstrate expertise and depth of knowledge to people seeking help.
• Push out emails consistently. Sending sporadic newsletters isn’t enough to build a readership habit. Aim to send three to four emails per month. Repurpose your content into videos, short blog posts, and infographics to maintain the email cadence. Also, use the same content in multiple emails, since it’s unlikely everyone on your list has read it all.
• Segment your emails. Are you targeting different investor types, perhaps preretirees and retirees? Maybe you want to connect with different types of financial professionals, such as brokers and certified financial planners. Segment your emails so the content is appropriate for each audience. Nothing is more off-putting than an email full of material that does not apply to you.
• Automate your emails. One of the biggest barriers to delivering consistent, personalized emails is the effort required to develop, review, and send them. Adopting a tool like HubSpot can streamline your email development, approval, delivery, and analytical review. In addition, it can help you integrate all your marketing and sales efforts, including social media and lead generation.
• Get compliance involved early in the email development process. Nothing is more frustrating to financial marketers than developing an amazing email, only to have it quashed by compliance. That’s why it’s critical to involve compliance early in the email development process to ensure they are okay with the financial concept it addresses, even before putting words and imagery to it.
• Get professional email marketing support. You’re an expert at finance, not marketing. Contact the experts at Sondhelm Partners to find out how we can help you take your email marketing to the next level.

Leveraging these simple tips from Sondhelm’s email marketing experts will help more people connect with your content.