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I’m not a dog owner or an advisor anymore. But if I were, my dog would be a prominent component of my marketing strategy.
While it may seem bizarre, people spend all kinds of excessive money and time on pets that they cannot afford or rationalize. Advisors are so focused on meeting the needs of the families they serve; have we forgotten its most important members?
The modern day pet obsession
Pet ownership has become an obsession. As the structure of the modern family has morphed, pets have come to the forefront to fill the void created by our obsession with interacting via social media and over relying on technology. It has gotten to the point that many people are more sympathetic to the suffering of pets than human beings.
For those of you who may be sitting here contemplating how dumb the writer of this article must be, these tidbits demonstrate that pet ownership is not frivolous. Those advisors who want to connect with affluent people would be interested to know that:
- A study by the National Institute of Health shows that pet owners tend to be married and more likely to inhabit a house. For those of you advisors targeting women, the same study found that pet ownership is highly prevalent among women.
- An overwhelming majority of pet owners (91%) say they consider their pet to be a member of their family, according to Harris Poll.
If you’re targeting Millennials, remember that pets are often used as a substitute for children. As people delay marriage, pet ownership is going to be common for the children of your affluent clients.
Are you sure your dog doesn’t need laser eye surgery to correct his or her myopia?
Clearly advisors won’t be barking up the wrong tree
So now that we’ve established that pet owners are likely to be viable candidates for financial advising, let’s move on to the point of this article.
How does an advisor use this to his or her advantage in the dog-eat-dog world?
Now before I get to the biscuit treats, you’ll notice that I use dogs as the pet of choice in my examples. That is because I’m an impassioned dog lover (in the past I’ve had a Basset hound and English bulldog). It’s my article so I get to choose the pet type. If you like cats or other pet types better, then I beg your forgiveness and hope you can be understanding.
Heartwarming dog/team portrait
Post a heart-melting picture on social media. For example, post a gushy picture of you and your team with your dog at the holiday party. Now, when you do that here are a few things to consider.
- Make the dog look attractive.
- You may even want to dress him or her up in professional attire. Color coordinate with the team.
- Get the dog to look at the camera when the picture is taken. Ask a pet owner who has experience for help doing this effectively.
Soothing dog picture
On a day when the market goes down, post a cute picture to social media of a fuzzy, cuddly dog with a caption that says, “Having a ruff day? Things will get better soon.”
If you doubt this will accomplish the goal of getting you the attention you want, consider the Twitter account @cuteemergency. Almost 10 million people follow this channel, which offers a conveyor belt of adorable furry footage. They’re also on Instagram.
So let me ask you this: In a world where everyone claims to be “so busy,,” how do 10 million people have the time to look at pictures of animals on Twitter? They must be the idle, unemployed people.
Nope.
People make time for what they want to in life. Animals have high appeal, and are much more attractive to the average person than information about your Roth IRA conversion.
Use your dog as a social tool
When I had my English bulldog “Mozart,” I used to live in a ritzy area of Manhattan. I met so many people casually giving Moze his daily walk. Some were bulldog enthusiasts, while others were parents of children who wanted to pat his wrinkly fuzzy wuzzy cutesy wootsy baby puppy face.
Even if you don’t live in an affluent part of town, there’s nothing to stop you from walking your dog where the affluent people live. Especially if you own an expensive breed like an English bulldog (a pure bred I believe goes for about $4,000), it’s a sure way to get the attention of wealthy people.
You could also attend dog shows or dog charity events specific to a particular high-end breed to accomplish the same goal.
Create dog sales follow-up strategies
After a meeting with a prospect, send a thank you card with the dog’s paw print next to your signature. Hopefully you mentioned that you love dogs during the meeting and got the impression that they did, too.
Or even better, make a short, personal video of you and your dog saying thank you. You say thank you to the prospect for meeting you, and then you cue your dog to bark the same expression as well.
Or even better, let’s say the prospect goes radio silent. They swear to you they’ll come in for that consultation after Labor Day. Crickets. You email them. Crickets again.
You snap a picture of your four-legged friend with a caption, “Am I in the dog house?”
Have a dog office party
Have an outdoor dog party in the summer time. The way to operate this strategically is to invite wealthy people, maybe your clients who have dogs, and tell them to bring someone they know who has a dog. You can have squeaky toys, games, and a dog obstacle course, almost like a child’s birthday party. It’s a great way to expand your circle of affluent people. While they’re playing, you socialize and try to find out why they’re unhappy with their 401k plan.
While many people won’t say it, the fact that they have to go home and walk the dog is a reason that they are dodging a meeting with you. If you doubt it’s true, consider times that you or someone you know made a similar excuse. Take this out of the equation by including the dog.
Sara’s doggie bag takeaway
When it comes to marketing, pets are the advisor’s best friend. It may seem far-fetched, but including dogs in your marketing strategy will allow you to connect more deeply with prospects and their families in a way that is fun and shows your human side. This is what the roboadvisors can’t do!
For more creative marketing ideas that will give prospects something to bark about, follow my podcast here.
Sara Grillo, CFA, is a top financial writer with a focus on marketing and branding for investment management, financial planning, and RIA firms. Prior to launching her own firm, she was a financial advisor and worked at Lehman Brothers. Sara graduated from Harvard with a degree in English literature and has an MBA from NYU Stern in quantitative finance.
Read more articles by Sara Grillo
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives
