Place yourself in the shoes of an allocator…
There are dozens of online resources producing limitless amounts of information on the next best thing. You are expected to absorb and process all of it.
At the press of a button you can compare hundreds of funds across dozens of performance variables. At the end of the process, all the damn lines cross.
Respectful of relationships, marketing deck after marketing deck is quietly placed on top of the pile.
How can you fairly and objectively process of all this information? What do you focus on first?
Anxiety builds as this perpetual cycle spins.
Human behavior, therefore, dictates:
- Allocators will focus on the information that is the easiest to absorb.
- Allocators will key in on anything that stands out.
Being extremely direct, this is why video should lead any marketing effort. The “viewer” doesn’t need to “try.” It takes very little effort to watch and listen to a video. There is no flipping pages, no reading, no effort is expended. People within our industry overlook this point. Allocators really don’t “want” to review your materials. Simply put, that is what they are paid to do. Best, make it easy, and make it enjoyable.
Video captures subtleties that take a long time to express in written form. How many words does it take to adequately convey passion… if done well, a lot of words. In video form, passion is expressed almost instantaneously. The same can be said for charisma and conviction. And if we are being honest with ourselves, this is the engaging stuff.
My second point, the content needs to be memorable and interesting … and yes, professional, credible, etc. We created a hedge fund video that featured a professional surfer. Anyone who has watched that video remembers watching that video. Do people remember reviewing your deck three years post review?
Marketing isn’t overly complicated. You just need to be sensitive to the issues facing your audience – and offer a solution.
By Kyle Dunn
