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For instance, methods involving a personal touch, including in-person meetings (85%), annual client reviews (84%), phone calls (81%) and annual one-on-one meetings (76%), were
the four most common answers among advisors. By comparison, less personal methods such as podcasts (80%), press releases (72%), conference calls with the entire client base (72%) and webinars (69%) were more likely to be listed as “not important.”
This pattern of favoring personal over impersonal communication methods carries over to the marketing tools favored by most RIAs. The most popular tool, namely client appreciation events (40%), is the top technique (after referrals) that advisors plan to use in 2017 (see the graphic in the previous section). But it seems many RIAs plan to use techniques they feel aren’t necessarily all that important. For instance, nearly half (47%) of advisors plan on using email campaigns in 2017, but just 12% believe they are very important
tools. Meanwhile, twice as many advisors (34%) expect to use direct mail than the 16% who believe it is a very important tool.
Advisors do appear to forgo tools they are least in favor of, however. For instance, the tools most likely to be deemed “not important”—podcasts (77%), blogs (69%) and mass media advertising (65%)—are all at the bottom of the list of marketing techniques advisors expect to use this year.