Do In-Person Financial Planner Educational Seminars Still Work?

It’s a brave new world. In this digital era, the question many financial services companies may ask is, “Do in-person events still work to drive leads and new business? Do face-to-face financial planner educational events still work?”

As social media, webinars, virtual events and Facebook live broadcasts keep us glues to our screens (seriously – adults stare at screens for more than 10 hours a day) how can businesses justify real world events to reach new clients?

When customers and potential clients can find the answer to “how to choose a financial planner” online, it’s hard to imagine how educational client events can actually drive revenue.

Your company may be thinking webinars and virtual events should take over for these in-person financial-focused education seminars with your local planners and advisers.

Certainly you should add more digital outreach, including virtual events, to your marketing mix. However…

Face-to-Face Still Works

Here’s the thing… as powerful as digital is and as cheap as it can be to launch a virtual event – much cheaper than paying for a venue, catering and event merchandise – it may not be as lucrative as some would lead you to believe.

Social media interaction is falling in many verticals, unless you pay to play. We have learned, as we’re connected all day every day, unplugging for human interaction has a renewed allure.

Face-to-face, hand-to-hand interactions still hold great power.

Joe Pulizzi is a marketing strategist, speaker, author and event launcher. He’s also the founder of Content Marketing Institute and the event Content Marketing World. Joe wrote Content Inc.: How Entrepreneurs Use Content to Build Massive Audiences and Create Radically Successful Businesses, where he explores this interesting dichotomy of analog events in a digital world.

Joe essentially points out that as much as the internet can connect us, it really doesn’t. Human interaction and bringing people together remains very powerful when it comes to building experiences, educating people and getting us to do business.

Whether it’s a marketing and sales event or a gathering of electrical engineers, events have continued to grow over the years in the face of social media and digital connectedness.

You can ride this wave with your continued execution of educational seminars in person with your practice partners in conjunction with online experiences. It doesn’t have to be one or the other.

Combine Digital and In-Person

Here are a few ideas for combining the best of both worlds when it comes to financial planner educational seminars.

Digital mini events

When you’re planning events with an office, consider launching a few mini webinars to educate on certain aspects of your offering. This can allow potential clients to test the waters with digital, reaching the audience not yet ready for the in-person event.

Maybe you can’t cover everything in a live or recorded webinar; however, holding a mini-webinar with the promise of more will entice attendees to go further and come to a live event.

Facebook lives for promotion

Test the digital waters with Facebook live events exploring the educational impact of your message. Maybe your local representative would be willing to “go live” with you, to answer live questions from their audience. This kind of partnership can drive interest and deepen that relationship along with build trust with potential clients.

The promise of free stuff

You can’t exactly feed people through a webinar. Using social media, email and other digital tools to connect should support the live event where the magic happens. When clients understand that the event isn’t a sales pitch but an educational experience with food and refreshments, they’re more apt to give you their time. Who doesn’t love free stuff?

Go analog to stand out

In the age of Siri, Alexa and Hey Google, basic human interaction and connection like empathy will set you apart. Connecting with advisers and their clients, understanding their needs and aspirations and showing compassion will draw people away from their screens.

In much the same way, things like handwritten notes and actual conversations shine in an email world.

When developing your client education seminar strategy, keep analog efforts in mind to complement your digital tools. Direct mail, face to face interaction, phone calls, business card-style handouts and other “old school” tactics just might be the tipping point for reaching those clients.

Audience photo by Miguel Henriques on Unsplash  
Talking photo by rawpixel on Unsplash