Complete Inbound Marketing Platform for Advisors Emerges as FMG Suite acquires Platinum Advisor Strategies and Marketing Pro

Complete Inbound Marketing Platform for Advisors Emerges as FMG Suite acquires Platinum Advisor Strategies and Marketing Pro

Most successful financial advisory firms I know are always looking for opportunities to grow their businesses. Historically, the vast majority of new business generated by advisors has come from referrals, however, things have changed over the last several years. Some former referral sources, such as CPA firms, banks and other intermediaries are becoming competitors. New digital advice platforms are reaching out directly to consumers. New technologies are allowing financial advisory firms that were traditionally tied to a specific geographic area to now compete nationally. All of this means that advisors will have to work harder to acquire new clients in the years ahead.

One proven source of new business across many different businesses is inbound marketing. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, inbound marketing seeks to attract new clients through relevant and helpful content and by adding value at every stage in your client’s financial journey. The goal of inbound marketing is to attract potential clients through social media channels, blogs, search engines and other digital means. If you can create relevant content that addresses the needs of your ideal client, you can establish trust, build a reputation for credibility, and thereby attract qualified prospects.

Many inbound marketing experts will tell you that there are four phases of inbound marketing: attract, convert, close, delight. There are a number of firms serving financial advisors that can help with one or more phases of this process, but very few have been able to build and offer a single platform that can provide a total inbound marketing solution.

For instance, HubSpot, a powerful well-known inbound marketing platform, is one option for advisors, but it is not configured for the needs of advisors (much like a generic CRM software is not usable for advisors without significant customization). But according to FMG Suite CEO Scott White, “If you give a financial advisor HubSpot, they won’t know what to do with it.” So, White’s firm set out to build the “HubSpot for Advisors” and with the acquisitions of Marketing Pro, a platform founded by Peter Montoya in 2006, and Platinum Advisor Strategies, a firm founded by Thomas and Robert Fross in 2009, it appears that FMG Suite is close to realizing their goal.

DETAILS OF THE TWO ACQUISITIONS

FMG Suite, founded by Craig Faulkner in 2011, has created a loyal following by providing websites and content marketing to advisors. According to White, there are currently over 50,000 financial advisors using the platform. The firm has historically focused their sales strategies on the independent financial advisory market, but they are now focusing resources on growing their enterprise client base.

Many advisors are eager to market their services, but they often struggle with how best to deploy their marketing resources. Advisors also struggle to create good, meaningful content to keep their inbound marketing machine humming along. To help solve these issues, FMG Suite recently acquired Platinum Advisor Strategies and Marketing Pro.

Platinum has for many years provided high-touch marketing and practice management support to advisors. With the addition of Platinum, FMG clients will have access to branding and logo services, weekly email newsletters, quarterly print newsletters, checklists and invitations for over 100 different client appreciation and educational events, as well as services and content. Notably, the acquisition of Platinum will allow FMG to provide personalized consulting services to advisors. Most importantly, advisors will have access to a marketing specialist/coach who can help them brand everything and implement a strategic marketing plan.

The addition of Marketing Pro further enhances the FMG Suite Platform. Marketing Pro includes regular economic updates, weekly market commentaries, timely social posts, a full print library (greeting cards, postcards, letters, etc.), a retirement newsletter, financial articles, an annual tax guide and 4,000 + pieces of additional content. According to White, “Marketing Pro has the largest library of compliant content in the industry and they are a leading provider of highly engaging, just-in-time content and tools that advisors need to distribute it.”

By the end of the year, when all three platforms are expected to be fully integrated, FMG Suite will offer a fully integrated inbound marketing platform that includes social marketing, email marketing, print marketing, events marketing as well as web design, branding, and strategic marketing coaching. The platform currently integrates with Redtail CRM, and a number of other CRM integrations are in the works.

MORE INNOVATION IN THE WORKS

According to White, the firm will continue to innovate. To cite just one example, FMG is currently working on an Alexa integration. This will allow advisors to send voice commands such as: “Send an educational piece on Roth IRAs to the Smith household” or “Show me a report of all the people who engaged with our marketing collateral today.”

White also made it clear that FMG Suite will further expand through acquisitions as opportunities arise. With the backing of a $4 billion private equity fund, they are looking for additional growth opportunities.

It appears to me that the acquisition of Platinum Advisor Strategies and Marketing Pro are good ones strategically. If the seamless integration of these products into the FMG platform can be achieved as planned and on time, FMG will be will positioned to gain additional market share. If they can deliver on their plans to continue innovation with voice commands and other newer technologies, they are sure to further enhance their standing with advisors.

Joel Bruckenstein
Joel Bruckenstein
Joel P. Bruckenstein, CFP®, is Publisher of the T3 Tech Hub (formerly the T3 newsletter) and the producer of the Technology Tools for Today (T3) Advisor Conference, the only annual technology conference for independent advisors, as well as the Technology Tools for Today (T3) Enterprise Conference. He also hosts other technology summits in partnership with thought leaders in the financial services industry (e.g., Brian Hamburger of MarketCounsel) and his own by-invitation-only fintech summit every summer. In 2020, Bruckenstein will produce for the first time a new one-day intensive called T3 Cyber University. Bruckenstein is an internationally acclaimed expert on applied technology as it relates to the financial service industry. He is the co-author of three books: Virtual Office Tools for a High Margin Practice, Tools and Techniques of Practice Management, and Technology Tools for Today’s High Margin Practice. Bruckenstein’s monthly technology columns appeared in Financial Advisor magazine and Financial Planning magazine for many years. In addition, he works in tandem with industry influential Bob Veres, publisher of Inside Information, to produce an annual technology survey for the financial planning community. Bruckenstein accepted the fifth annual Leadership Award bestowed by Bob Veres' Insider's Forum, a conference that brings together the leading figures of the financial planning profession during a main stage presentation at the Insider's Forum held September 6-8, 2017 in Nashville, TN. Bruckenstein has for more than twenty years advised financial service firms of all sizes on improving their technologies, processes and workflows. For more information about Joel Bruckenstein and the services his firm offers, please visit www.JoelBruckenstein.com.

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