According to British anthropologist Robin Dunbar, the number of relationships we can actively maintain is about 150. The number of acquaintances we have is many more. Those 150 relationships are categorised, or layered, with a small number – about five – in the tightest group, with progressively larger layers of very good friends, good friends, friends and so on.
We are good at subconsciously categorising these groups, to decide what information or news we share with each. This isn’t only dictated by their closeness to us, but also by historic relationships: school friends; work colleagues or maybe you share the same interests. After all, we know who is/isn’t interested in football, who watches Strictly or who likes celebrity gossip. And we all have multiple WhatsApp groups to help us target messages to the right groups. The database for this intimate information about the people we know? Our brains.
For financial advisers, Dunbar’s approach can be loosely applied to clients too. So, 150 might be a bit on the high side, but the way you categorise or layer them still applies. Great, very good and good clients is a natural way of segmenting. Equally, their different life stages, locations, professions and family situations adds another level of layering.
Does it make sense to send retirement planning content to the already retired?
Given their detailed, intimate knowledge of their clients’ financial situations and perhaps even their secrets, why do so many advisers ‘send to all’, with the same content being delivered to all clients? Individuals who are already retired could receive a generic monthly newsletter which includes an article about retirement planning. The same newsletter might contain an article about the latest reduction in mortgage rates and be delivered to someone they helped fix their rate two months ago.
This obviously isn’t ideal, but the overhead of writing, designing, approving and then distributing content, combined with a lack of technology to facilitate it, has meant that sending a monthly newsletter with varied content is the current bar (and it’s much better to do this than not sending anything). So, historically, advisers haven’t had the support needed to raise the bar.
Content Streams – raising the bar
How much better would clients and contacts feel if they only received tailored content from their adviser that was pertinent and relevant to them? Individual articles at appropriate times. It sounds like what we do in our private lives, doesn’t it? And, just as better communication with our friends and family leads to closer relationships, offering a better service to clients will have positive outcomes in the form of better client retention and increased referrals.
The great news is that through Content Streams, the world of content delivery is changing. Content Streams frees us from the usual constraints that prevent us from creating and sharing content with the right people, at the right time.
Which firms should use Content Streams?
Well, any firm that wants to use personalised content to transform their client acquisition and engagement results. Content Streams is a content sharing platform, developed using the latest technology, complete with what is arguably the industry’s most comprehensive library of quality client-facing financial content. For advisers and firms who are focusing on the future, building their businesses, seeking better ways to drive client acquisition and engagement and looking to respect their clients by delivering the best possible level of client communication, Content Streams is a must have.
We know that in some cases you will need to send the same message to everyone – a change of office address, for example – while other communications will be unique to each individual client. That’s fine – Content Streams can support one-to-one, one-to-few and and one-to-many messaging equally.
Even better, Content Streams’ seamless integrations with leading back office systems means that it links directly with your client database. To understand more about content independence, sign up for a demo at www.contentstreams.co.uk or follow Content Streams on LinkedIn.
