Marketing Tools and Trends for Boosting Advisor Growth

Abby Salameh [00:00:00]:
Well, also, like, I've been an adviser. I've been a pastor. I've built advisory businesses, and I think that that gives me the unique perspective of really understanding, especially for independent advisors, like what their challenges are and how to help solve those pain points.

Joanna Ehresman [00:00:28]:
Hi there. Thanks for joining us. I'm Joanna Ehresman.

Leah Alter [00:00:40]:
Axtella, our presenting sponsor of womenshare. Axtella is dedicated to helping financial professionals take their practices to new Heights.

Joanna Ehresman [00:00:49]:
So if you're ready for a firm that goes an extra mile for its advisers, check out go.axtella.com/womenshare. That's go.axtella.com/womenshare.

Leah Alter [00:01:05]:
Oh, and we are in for a good one. So excited to today, we are joined by Abby Salome, chief growth officer at RFG Advisory. Abby is an industry pioneer with over 25 years of building growth services for independent financial advisors. She was recognized as the 2023wealthmanagement.com Technology CMO of the Year for the work she did as CMO at Caisse. Now at RFG, Abby is set to drive advisor recruitment, marketing, and organic growth for RFG's existing network of advisors. Abby and I were colleagues, which seems like, I mean, a lifetime ago. I know. But I have followed her career and admired her work and commitment that she has to seeing financial advisors thrive.

Leah Alter [00:01:58]:
I'm so excited to have you on the podcast, Abby. Welcome to WomenShare.

Abby Salameh [00:02:02]:
Thank you so much. It's such a pleasure to be here, and, I'm just so delighted to see you again after all these years.

Leah Alter [00:02:09]:
Me too. Me too. Additionally, we have a little surprise for Abby today too. Today's episode has a Pay It Forward sponsor. Someone our guest, miss Abby, is familiar with from our fusion days. Talk about last one in the past. Yeah. And that is Fish and Associates, Kathy Fish and Carrie Jackson, where financial planning is all about you, your dreams, your passions, and your unique life journey.

Leah Alter [00:02:37]:
Forget the one size fits all approach. At Fish and Associates, your financial plan is as diverse and dynamic as you are. Visit fishandassociates@fishandassociates.com.

Abby Salameh [00:02:51]:
I love that so much, and thank you, Kathy, if you listen to this. I'm so grateful.

Leah Alter [00:02:58]:
She will. She will. Yes.

Joanna Ehresman [00:03:01]:
Well and, Abby, we're so excited to have you here. So you recently made a move to RFG advisory to lead the marketing efforts that include helping advisers grow their businesses. So we just love to hear about how that's going, what you're most excited about. Tell us what's up at RFG advisory.

Abby Salameh [00:03:17]:
Yeah. So thank you so much, and, again, thank you for having me. I'm really appreciative. So I came over to RFG advisory to really be their chief growth officer. So what that means is that not only am I managing all of the marketing, but I'm also managing growth for the entire organization. So whether that means recruiting new advisers to the RFG platform, or it means that we are, looking to grow the existing advisers that are in the RFG community, those things fall on my lap. So when you think about, the time tested true ways to grow your business, My team is helping all of the advisers that affiliate with us on making sure that they are maximizing their organic growth potential and at the same time looking for other growth minded advisors that are interested in being part of something bigger than themselves.

Joanna Ehresman [00:04:22]:
Wow. Love that. And what a great, like, scope of your role to, you know, oversee all of those channels together. Right? Because it's it's really, I guess, integrated in terms of, like, bringing on the new advisers, giving them platforms and tools and and support to help them grow. Right? It's a symbiotic relationship. That's the term I was looking for.

Abby Salameh [00:04:40]:
It's symbiotic. Right? And and the beautiful thing about it is that in most firms, what you'll see is, like, a chief revenue officer and a chief marketing officer, and they run silo businesses. And while that's great in some firms, combining it all at the top so that there's one person overseeing how sales and marketing work together, who understand that the integration between the two are really how you get that flywheel effect going and who understands the marketing tools and the technology that help drive efficiencies for the salesperson to be able to then maximize their efforts in bringing in new business or bringing in new clients or, you know, being the business development person at an advisory firm or maybe it's just the adviser him or herself that's doing the rainmaking, so to speak. But making sure that those tools behind that person are in place, fully integrated, and automated with the latest marketing technologies is really powerful, and that's what we're that's what we're gonna do.

Leah Alter [00:05:58]:
Joanna and I both being, you know, career marketers really in this industry, talking to other marketers is it it does kind of feel like sales and marketing, are not often on the same page. So having a system and a process in place that keeps both groups in the in the same boat, roan in the same direction is so important.

Abby Salameh [00:06:22]:
Yeah. There there's no room for misalignment, you know, because we're considered one team.

Leah Alter [00:06:30]:
Mhmm.

Abby Salameh [00:06:30]:
And there's no bifurcation. It's all about how can we help that connectivity and make sure that there's complete alignment across both teams.

Leah Alter [00:06:40]:
Well, so you've had such a wonderful career over the past 25 years, and you've worked in many different areas in the industry. So what drew you to financial services? What got you into the business? And I don't know, maybe some of your career insights that you've seen kind of from the different corners and angles that you've had the opportunity to see the the industry from.

Abby Salameh [00:07:04]:
You know, I've seen this industry from all angles. So it's been a very, well rounded journey that I've been on, and I feel like this might be my swan song, what I'm doing today, and I'll explain why. But, you know, when I started out in financial services, I always knew that I did wanna be in financial services. I don't know why. I don't know how that came to be, but it was always something that I was definitely attracted to. And, when I joined financial services, you know, you gotta think back to it was the nineties, and, you know, my first firm that I worked at was Sanford Bernstein, which is now part of AllianceBernstein. And I won't ever forget that there was, the policy, the handbook for, you know, working at the firm, and women had to wear stockings and 3 inch heels, and your you had to be in a skirted suit that was

Joanna Ehresman [00:08:06]:
like

Abby Salameh [00:08:06]:
a certain level above your knee, like that was the that was the times when I joined financial services And there were not a lot of women in financial services unless you were in admin. You know, like, all the executive assistants were women or the receptionist. So I did fall in love with it, and recognized very early on that I didn't wanna be a financial adviser myself. And there were a number of barriers to me being young and single in New York City and trying to think about going out and, you know, selling or trying to bring in very high net worth clients. And, you know, I realized after 5, 6 years that I wanted to try doing something else, which is when I ended up launching Investment News, which is a publication for financial advisors. And I did that alongside one of my dearest friends, Suzanne Syracuse, who remained the publisher for years after, in fact, only till a couple of years ago. And, and that was a unique experience because I was still able to be in financial services and figure out ways with which we could support financial advisers through practice management, through peer to peer sharing, through news for that matter because you have to remember at that time, we were selling a physical newspaper. There was no online anything.

Abby Salameh [00:09:42]:
It was not the digital world. And, you know, Suzanne and I were out there selling advertising in a print publication. That's how we raised the money to eventually hire the reporters than the editors we needed for the publication. So, you know, looking at it from that perspective was super interesting, and, I would say it was it was really fun to start that and to be in publishing, but I wanted to ultimately be back on the financial services side of the business. So, you know, I went to TD Waterhouse and stayed on through TD Ameritrade, and then, you know, having 3 kids in 4 years kinda derailed me a little bit because I was there was no hybrid work schedule back then.

Joanna Ehresman [00:10:31]:
Right. Right.

Abby Salameh [00:10:32]:
On Wall Street, and I had to be in the office 5 days a week. And it was not really, a possibility if you wanted to have any part of your children's lives at that time, to be on Wall Street as a female. And when we moved out of the city, I recognized very quickly that I didn't want nannies raising my children, So, you know, I quit and, and took a couple of years off to stay home, which, you know, was not necessarily the greatest thing for any of us in my household because I'm just honored to to love what I do and feel passionate about working. So the trick was to find something that could be a little more flexible, but that's not so easy in financial services or at least it wasn't back then. You know, I think that's when you and I met, Leah, when I decided to go work with, 2 guys that were good friends of mine, Stuart Silverman and Philip Pallavive, and started Fusion Advisor Network with them and, you know, got back into it, but it was a little more of a life style than going back to Wall Street would have been. So, you know, I would say that having all of those different perspectives and then, you know, ultimately going to CASE where that was a Fintech, you know, platform for alternative investments for advisors. Like, I feel like I've got a really good grasp on every side of this specific wealth management business. Right? Yeah.

Joanna Ehresman [00:12:10]:
Absolutely. Great crew story. I, like, I didn't know all of those details. So just hearing it, like, my jaw's kinda hanging open in terms of you really have been in so many spaces.

Abby Salameh [00:12:21]:
That it's just so many varied parts of financials, like wealth management in particular.

Joanna Ehresman [00:12:27]:
But what a well rounded view that brings you in what you're doing of, like, you know, as marketers, we need to think like publishers. You were a publisher. Right? Like, you Right. Start

Abby Salameh [00:12:36]:
Well, I've been, like, I've been an adviser. I've been a publisher. I've built advisory businesses, and I think that that gives me the unique perspective of really understanding, especially for independent advisers, like, what their challenges are and how to help solve those pain points.

Leah Alter [00:12:55]:
Well and you've also been, I think, like, at the forefront of a lot of very important moments, I think, in recent history. Right? Investment news is was I mean, even when I got into the industry in 2010, I mean, every I mean, when once a week when the magazines got dropped off on the desks every week, like, that everyone had, like, literally time blocked on their calendar to make sure that they were up to speed. So that was such a powerful it still is a powerful publication. And then, you know, with fusion, really, that was, you know, this idea about creating a community Yeah. And a culture for like minded advisers, that was just not something you saw really happening in other parts of the industry. And while that's very prevalent now, because it's so powerful, that just wasn't really a thing.

Abby Salameh [00:13:58]:
No. It was certainly early in its infancy. Like, it was early in this whole evolution of seeing these aggregators or these integrator firms that have now popped up everywhere. Right? But that was certainly really early on, and it was really allowing, for independent advisers to feel not so alone. And there's so much truth to that even today, which is something that I think is one of the core pillars of RFG and what kind of drove me to going back to this type of community based advisory firm was because I truly believe that we are better together than we are alone. And for advisors to feel like they have support behind them, especially independent advisors, and that they have a family of people that actually care about them. To me, I knew that I needed to go back to that because I that's what I really love. That's why I ultimately ended up coming back to this this particular side of the business.

Joanna Ehresman [00:15:13]:
Before we get into our next question, our longtime listeners of the show know how passionate we are about the next generation of women advisors and investors.

Leah Alter [00:15:23]:
And we are so proud to be partnering with Xtella, who's providing resources for professionals through their efforts like the Nova Women's Collective, which enables members to network, connect, and gain insights from their peers.

Joanna Ehresman [00:15:38]:
So if you want to learn more, check out all they have to offer at go.xtela.com/womenshare. That's go.ax tella.com/womenshare. Okay. So, Abby, knowing now you're responsible for more than marketing, but with your experience, you know, as a marketing leader, we're curious to hear, what do you feel a modern marketing department needs to be successful in our industry? And are there any trends or practices in our industry? And are there any trends or practices that you're seeing that marketers should be leaning into or that they should definitely move on from? I'm just curious to get your take on what's going on with marketing these days.

Abby Salameh [00:16:19]:
Yeah. So it's so interesting because, times have changed so much. Like, if you think about the ways with which advisers used to market themselves in their local communities, they would mail out postcards and invite people to an a seminar, or they would partner with the local business, chapter, commerce the Chamber of commerce and and do a a meet and greet or a lunch and learn or whatever. And it's funny because those tactics haven't changed. Like, there are advisors that are still super successful that are taking that approach, but now there's so many more modern ways to do it through technology. And what we have found is that the technology just helps drive the insights from the work that you're doing and helps you be a lot more prescriptive with your approach to target marketing, and you can actually see the results and manage your ROI a lot better. So, you know, when I think of what an adviser needs or any firm for that matter to be a true marketing engine, you know, they need the technology for their business, the marketing technology for the business that connects the pipes between a CRM, a digital marketing platform, and then also you need to really pay attention to to the data. Like, the data that comes back through your website, through your emails, through your blog posts, through your social media.

Abby Salameh [00:17:57]:
Like, if you're not looking at the data to uncover the insights of what's working and what's not working, then you don't know what to lean into more. Right?

Joanna Ehresman [00:18:08]:
Yeah.

Abby Salameh [00:18:09]:
So if you're doing an event, you know, sending the email communications out, stewing the social post, putting it on your website, tracking where the registrations are coming from, and then once you're that's pre event. And then once you're on-site for activation, looking at who's actually at the event and then following up afterwards through some marketing automation, and then ultimately seeing what your ROI was. Like, how many of the people that actually came became clients after certain periods of time. So, like, leaning into the data for the insights that will help you be more successful, I think, is something that, you know, wasn't there even 5 years ago. And then to to further add to the newest and greatest kind of stuff that's out there, I would say that leaning into AI is also a really good opportunity. So there are a lot of tools out there today that can help you find your ideal prospects based on so much more than what we knew even 5 years ago, which is like, what are they reading and where are they going and what is their hobbies And, you know, you can really target market based on specific and unique personality traits now leveraging all of the modern AI technology.

Joanna Ehresman [00:19:35]:
Yeah. Well and to your prior point too, then you can test and learn, right, and continue to refine because I think marketing optimization is never done. Right? It's an ongoing practice and belief. And one one of my favorite anecdotes you mentioned, like a prospecting event as an example of, you know, carrying measurement all the way through. I feel like that's actually one of the biggest, not flash points I had when working with advisors in the past, but of, you know, it an event like that where you're seeing the money being spent, you're seeing the food, the venue, that sort of thing. I would say get into healthy debates with advisers on the return on those. But when we could actually show them the ROI, like, don't be distracted by the 10 people in the room that didn't convert. Let's look at the 5 that did.

Joanna Ehresman [00:20:21]:
Right? You know? And and that ROI because it's so easy to just make a judgment based on what you perceive in your emotion in the moment versus pausing and looking at the results. So

Abby Salameh [00:20:32]:
Yeah. And, I mean, if one client is all you needed to pay for the whole thing and then make up for so much more, then, you know, you have you can set realistic goals. What do I need to deliver from this campaign in order to maximize the ROI? And you can actually measure that now. So that's super exciting to be able to be more prescriptive with the approach that we're taking.

Leah Alter [00:20:59]:
Well and you're speaking Joanna's love language when you talk about looking at looking at data.

Abby Salameh [00:21:06]:
I mean, I'm not even not even looking at data, but, like, you have to have somebody who knows how to extract the data and then put it into beautiful visualization. Because data just being data, like, you know, like, who somebody has to be able to visualize it so that you can tell the story and get the narrative out of the data that you're looking for.

Joanna Ehresman [00:21:29]:
That's right. Yeah. It's more than data. It's the insights. Right? And what did we and sometimes the ins sometimes the insight is, wow. We really learned a lot, and we won't do x, y, and z again. Right? It's not always like, here's our home

Abby Salameh [00:21:40]:
run. Yes. Know. Right.

Leah Alter [00:21:42]:
Yeah. It's it's sometimes just as important to know what doesn't work and what you don't like, as what does work and what you do like. I mean, even your experience of being an adviser, you were like, okay. I this is not for me. This is not what I wanna do. That's just as important Yeah. To know.

Abby Salameh [00:22:00]:
I would agree.

Leah Alter [00:22:02]:
So organic growth is definitely a hot topic in the industry, and a lot of institutions are really focused on it. You know, I know that's something that RFG and and your efforts there are also, really focused on. So what are you guys doing to help advisers grow their business? And because we have so many advisers who are listeners of, the podcast, any, you know, kinda hot tips for them?

Abby Salameh [00:22:28]:
Yeah. No. Thanks for the question. This is something that we hold really near and dear to our hearts. Like, what we do is lean in super heavily with our advisers. So even if they don't want the warm embrace, we are going to wrap them in the support even if they don't ask for it. So if, like, you're an adviser and you don't wanna be supported and you wanna be left alone, we're probably not the place for you. Because we really lean in and we wanna understand your business and we wanna understand your unique value prop and what you're aiming to achieve.

Abby Salameh [00:23:05]:
And then we've got dedicated resources on our side that work with the advisors, not only on coaching and strategy, but then also on implementation and accountability. So from the marketing perspective, it could be everything from helping them absolutely get their branding stood up and in good form and with modern digital assets like sites and social media and, you know, all of that. And then we also work with them on identifying, you know, what they wanna do for the year. So building out their marketing plan with them and then executing it, in some cases, on their behalf if they don't wanna do it or have somebody in house who manages that for them. We'll do it for them, which obviously helps the organic growth. And then if they wanna do it themselves, then we work hand in hand with whoever they have on their team to really make sure that they're maximizing all the tools and resources that are available. So we also have, you know, our chief behavioral officer who handles the human side of money, which is very emotional, and we've got a chief investment officer that spend their time, like, 50% of their time is out with our advisors doing events for them, their client events, even prospect events, talking about what the markets are doing, talking about some emotional aspect of money, which is often you know, if you think about family dynamics, that plays a big role, legacy stuff, trust and estate stuff. So, you know, we really work hard to make sure that our advisors have what they need to organically grow.

Abby Salameh [00:24:54]:
Listen. If they don't grow, we don't grow. So it behooves us both to make sure that they're growing. And our advisers happen to be growing at 19 percent organically, which is, like, 3 or 4 times the industry average for independent advisers. So we're doing something right.

Leah Alter [00:25:13]:
Something that really stood out to me is if they aren't gonna do it themselves, we'll do it for them.

Abby Salameh [00:25:18]:
Oh, yeah.

Leah Alter [00:25:19]:
And I think that's a differentiator.

Joanna Ehresman [00:25:21]:
You know,

Leah Alter [00:25:22]:
there's a lot of, like, tools and resources that or that organizations will provide their advisers, but it it leaves the adviser to to decide whether or not they're gonna actually get involved or engage with that. And, I think you guys being willing to, like, here, we're gonna help you build this marketing plan, and we're gonna execute this part of it for you

Abby Salameh [00:25:45]:
Yeah.

Leah Alter [00:25:46]:
Is huge.

Abby Salameh [00:25:47]:
I mean, look. I love advisers. I, obviously, I wouldn't be in this business if I didn't love advisers, but I know so many of them that left to their own devices, they revert back to, like, the referral process, which is great because referrals still are, you know, the hugest part of how an adviser grows their business. But imagine if you could amplify that. Imagine if you did a referral program or, you know, something that just lights it on fire a little bit. So that's what we're aiming to do is really for those that have a marketing disposition and are eager to lean into it, we're gonna provide them with the tools and the collateral and the resources that they need to do it themselves. And for those that really don't, we're happy to take it on for them and just do it for them on their behalf.

Joanna Ehresman [00:26:38]:
Smart. Very, very smart. I could I could spend 15 more minutes digging in on that topic, but I know I know we don't have all that time. Okay. So, Abby, we like to ask our guests about the best career advice they've ever received. So what's the best advice you've received in your career?

Abby Salameh [00:26:56]:
You know, I guess the best advice I ever received was probably just getting the understanding that nothing is permanent. Right? And that this too shall pass if you're finding yourself in a struggling position. That's probably the best advice I have received, and that was probably from my mother, right, who who didn't really work when I was growing up. Right? But I think if I were to impart something on the young women in financial services today, what I would say is that it's really there is no such thing as having it all. You can have it all in certain areas at certain times, but there's always an opportunity cost for that. And just know that. Right? And that, no leap of faith is the wrong decision, because it ultimately always works out in the way it's supposed to. And I think sometimes, you know, we get all caught up in our feelings and especially if you're a young woman and you're starting out and you're in financial services, you know, there could be concerns over having a family or raising a family or you know? And the reality is that, there's no right answer.

Abby Salameh [00:28:20]:
Right? It it's what feels right to you at that right moment in time, and you can always change your mind.

Leah Alter [00:28:28]:
Yes.

Joanna Ehresman [00:28:29]:
Yes.

Leah Alter [00:28:30]:
You can always make a different choice.

Abby Salameh [00:28:32]:
You can always wake up a year later and say, you know what? I made the wrong decision. I'm gonna do x now instead of the y that I thought I wanted to do, and that's okay too.

Joanna Ehresman [00:28:42]:
Yeah. And like you said, because nothing is forever. Right? Yeah. But so you can always choose differently. Yeah.

Leah Alter [00:28:48]:
Epic permission. I think that is Yes. Giving ourselves a permission slip to, like, whatever it is that we need in that season of our life.

Abby Salameh [00:28:58]:
Yes. And you don't always know that it's the right decision, but sometimes you just need to go with your gut and have faith that it's gonna just all work out.

Leah Alter [00:29:09]:
Love it. I love that. Now you're speaking my love language.

Joanna Ehresman [00:29:12]:
I know.

Leah Alter [00:29:13]:
Wait. We got them both in. Intuition.

Joanna Ehresman [00:29:14]:
Yeah. We got them both in. Data and intuition.

Abby Salameh [00:29:17]:
There we go. Yeah. Like, 2 totally different. Like, one is so strategic and one is so artistic. Right?

Leah Alter [00:29:26]:
Yes. Yes. So

Joanna Ehresman [00:29:28]:
Oh, Abby, this has been so much fun. Thank you again for for joining us and just sharing. Your career story blew me away. I'm not gonna lie. So just really it's been great to get to know you through this show, and I can see why Leah was like, Abby would be a great guest.

Abby Salameh [00:29:45]:
I'm so happy to be back here and so happy and love all the success I see from your side. So keep it up. We'll pay it forward. We gotta, you know, encourage one another, lift one another up, and, make sure that we're there for each other. So I'm grateful for the opportunity and really appreciate it.

Leah Alter [00:30:05]:
Aw. Thank you, Abby. Thank you so much for being here and for everything that you've done to blaze the pathways for women in this industry. We really appreciate you. And thank you again to our sponsor, Accella and network of firms that go the extra mile for the next generation of women advisors and investors. For more information, you can visit them at go.extella.com/womenshare. That's go.extella.com/womenshare. And that's really our show for today.

Leah Alter [00:30:39]:
So if ours is a mission that you want to share in, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. And with that, I'm Leah Alter.

Joanna Ehresman [00:30:47]:
And I'm Joanna Ehresman, and we'll catch you on the next episode of WomenShare.