If you’re like most advisors, you focus on Americans age 55 and up. That’s because this group makes important money decisions for themselves and others. It’s one reason product solutions offered by the financial services industry tend to target people nearing retirement, or who have already retired.
On the other hand, workers in their 20s, 30s and 40s are in the process of accumulating wealth. While some may not view planning and investing for retirement as important, a recent study shows that quite a few are making it a priority.
Expanding your client base to include younger adults can be worth the effort. Here are seven steps you can take to attract and engage them.
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1. Understand Your Younger Client Audience
Americans of all ages are undergoing a financial awakening. Millions who are sheltering at home are unemployed and focused on recovery. Many are re-evaluating financial goals they have set.
For advisors, this period of reflection is your opportunity to reach out to younger families interested in securing their financial futures.
To be sure, Generation X (ages 40 to 55) and Millennials (ages 24 to 39) want to avoid living through another crisis like our current one. Fortunately, unlike baby boomers, they have more time to make up any financial losses or shortfalls.
2. Weigh the Variables
A key element of retirement planning is preparing for unknowns, such as the possibility of long-term illness.
But for both Gen Xers and Millennials, another important aspect will be managing a transfer of trillions of dollars of wealth from previous generations. Some adults under 55 will stand to inherit from their parents or grandparents. In addition to retirement planning, including information about annuities, wills, trusts, and estate plans would be relevant to this group.
3. Tailor Your Younger Client Marketing
Millennials in particular seem to suffer information overload more than any other age group. They are constantly being bombarded by content. In order to grab their attention, it’s best to use thought-provoking marketing tactics.
These days, demographic information targeting specific audiences is more plentiful than ever. Thanks to millions of online transactions, big companies accumulate data providing great insights into people’s behavior. They track and analyze customers’ lifestyles, desires, and buying patterns.
Interestingly, direct mail can impact millennials the most. Did you know 92% reported they were influenced to make a purchase because of a relevant message or invitation delivered to them via a direct mail campaign?
4. Establish Your Credibility
By using social media and online tools such as webinars, you can share your knowledge with tens of thousands of Gen Xers and Millennials in your area.
Some topics will appeal more to younger audiences than older ones. However, many are applicable to everyone in the workforce today. These include taxes, savings, long-term investments, college for their children, life insurance, holistic financial planning, and debt management are applicable to most people in the workforce today.
5. Fine-tune Your Approach
As Forbes and other experts have noted, Millennials reject traditional advertising.
Adults born after 1981 – the year IBM notes the first portable computer was introduced – are digital natives. They’ve lived their entire lives online. So if you can bring them into a more intimate setting where they’re comfortable and can evaluate your expertise, you may build a stronger rapport with them than you do with older clients.
6. Keep it Real
Always remember that no matter their age, people do business with advisors they like and trust. They gravitate to those with whom they share similar interests, ideals, and values. Therefore, the more clearly you can get across to them what you stand for, the easier communicating with them will be.
Break down for your audiences why they should follow your advice. Be sure to put it in context by sharing examples and client scenarios. Support your points with compelling stories. And keep in mind both Gen Xers and Millennials will want to know not just what you do, but why you do it. What’s more, Millennials need to feel you really care about them.
7. Make the Effort
So, if you want to grow your client base by prospecting among younger adults, it’s going to be an ongoing process. For advisors who approach them with a sincere interest in their lives and a genuine desire to help them make sound financial decisions, working with this group can be highly rewarding.
Want to learn about how to use virtual seminars, events, and digital appointments to connect with a younger audience? Visit WebinarConnect for information on how our system works to seamlessly translate webinars into business opportunities for you. Or, contact us to get started today!
