Developing marketing strategies in the later life lending space

The first half of 2023 has undoubtedly been a challenging one in the later life advice space. A quick comparison with the first six months of 2022 will show a very different picture, particularly in terms of activity levels and business completions, and while the second half of 2023 is showing a greater degree of promise, securing leads and translating these into satisfied customers is going to remain a very high priority for advisory firms.

So, how best to do this? At our recent Air Later Life Adviser Conference we ran a series of sessions specifically focused on marketing, and what firms could – and perhaps should – be doing. We heard from a number of experts in their fields and while there were far too many tips to cover in this article, below are a few that I think are relatively simple to deliver, if you’re not already, and could make a major difference in terms of bringing in new customers in the months ahead.

Start at the very beginning

What do you want to get out of your marketing? It’s the most obvious question, and the most important one. For some, the most basic answer will be, more older customers who have their own home who want to access the equity in some way. And, of course, that’s a start.

But, also drill down into your customer base. Are they clients who want to release equity to pay off debt? Or pay for school fees? Or for more lifestyle reasons?

Drill down into that, and come up with a marketing plan which enables you to tap into the ‘areas’ where those people exist – on social media, in certain public groups, who read certain publications, etc.

Expertise and specialities

Leading on from that, when you segment that customer mix, you might find that one specific area stands out for you as either a potential customer area to target, or indeed one you are already securing significant levels of business from.

Play on that. Clients want experts in these areas, and it could be you. Develop marketing content that delivers your expertise in this area, and helps you become known for that expertise.

Local matters

Without wanting to come over like The League of Gentlemen – “a local shop for local people” – concentrating on your local area is absolutely vital. At our Conference advisers were urged to be ‘hyper local’ in their outlook with the suggestion that the vast majority of customers will come from within five miles of an adviser’s base.

It’s certainly true that you don’t need to have a national presence to run a successful advisory practice, and the more visibility you have in your local area, the more likely you will bring in local customers.

This could be appearing in your local papers/newsletters, talking to local radio, posting on local social media groups, etc, but a physical presence is also crucial. Volunteer at local events, speak at local groups, be an organiser – there is always a shortage of people genuinely willing to help out – and you’ll come into contact with a whole range of people who you wouldn’t necessarily encounter in any other way.

You have to try first

The first step is the hardest, particularly when it comes to self-promotion using means through which you are highly visible. For some advisers, posting a YouTube video explaining a financial matter might seem like an obstacle they might never be able to get over, and there is a high likelihood you won’t like your first attempts.

But, over time, you’ll get better and you’ll understand what works, and crucially, what doesn’t. Social media offers a lot of avenues to explore, but your customer base isn’t likely to be on all of them, and part of what you can do is identify where you should be posting content and what works for what customers.

However, you’ll never know if you don’t make that first step. Try it, you might be surprised at the results.

Chop it up

If you do make that first foray into content creation, don’t think it’s a one-hit wonder. One video or podcast or article or blog or press release, can be used in so many other ways.

For instance, a 20-minute video about how a customer that benefited from your advice can be used in all manner of ways – shorts, blogs, audio content – can all come out of this. Chopping up longer content is definitely the way to go. This should not be a one-hit wonder. You may not know where it’s going to work best and where it resonates best, until you’ve repurposed it across multiple channels.

Education, education, education

Consumers want to be educated in financial areas where they might currently struggle to understand what is going on. In the later life lending space, we’ve all come across hundreds of myths or misconceptions about what it means to take out a product, the responsibilities that come with it, what it doesn’t mean, etc.

Each one of these can be ‘busted’ via quality content across multiple marketing and communication channels. You’ve probably heard hundreds of concerns voiced by customers over the years, especially when you mention equity release or later life lending to them, so write them all down, and tackle them as you would tackle them with a client.

Help people understand the truth about the sector, the products, the features, and what it genuinely means, rather than what they might think it does. Be an educator on these matters, and you’ll certainly be seen as trustworthy and someone worth engaging with, if they have a want or need in this area.

There were lots more tips at the sessions we ran at the day, so I would certainly urge all Air members, who are interested in how they can develop their marketing strategies across many different channels or platforms, to watch the videos from the day. I guarantee you will walk away with at least one tip that will help bring in more customers.