Could coronavirus be driving a growth in new financial advisory clients?

Many financial and professional services have assumed an inevitable downturn in business and cut back budgets accordingly. However, some advisory businesses are seeing an increase in new business enquiries, writes Kat Mitchell.

Demand for financial advice rose 24% in April at global financial advisory group deVere.

According to Nigel Green, founder and chief exec of the group, the coronavirus outbreak is serving as a wake-up call to many people to ensure that they become financially secure.

DeVere also polled their clients as to what they expect. 72% of their clients polled said they felt the world has changed permanently since the outbreak and this will bring opportunities for some companies.

DeVere were not the only financial advisor to say they are seeing an uptick in business.

According to a survey by wealth manager Sanlam, nearly half of UK adults plan to sort out their personal finances due to the virus outbreak, with 13% of these people planning to seek a financial adviser for the first time.

Will the big boys clean up?

With the world looking very uncertain right now it can be tempting to financial advisers to cut back on their marketing efforts and rely solely on referrals to bring in a share of this new business.

However, with many reaching out for advice for the first time they may turn to the press and online searches when considering which advisory firm to choose.

You may think that this means it is inevitable that they will turn to the big players who have the money to be spending on large marketing and PR campaigns, but this is not necessarily the case.

The coronavirus outbreak has seen and increasing shift from consumers with more looking to buy locally and support their local economy. Recent research from the Centre for Economics and Business Research says that 60% of people are planning to buy more products and services locally to help the local economy in the longer term.

How can I be part of this?

By engaging in local PR and marketing, even the smallest of financial advisers can make sure they are attracting more than their fair share, as well as attracting customers who may previously have been getting advice further away from home.

However, as with all marketing and PR campaigns, done incorrectly you can do more harm than good.

For those who do not have dedicated marketing resource in house, there are many agencies and contractors they can turn to for advice.

I have written a guide to selecting the right PR and marketing agency here.

Content is a key part of a strong marketing campaign. I have written a guide to copywriting, what it is, and how you can find someone to help you do it. You can find that here.

At Brandon Consulting Services integrated marketing campaigns are our bread and butter. We love the excuse to pull together a piece of content and make sure you get the best bang for your buck by combining it with our PR and other marketing communications services.

Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help you.