The weird, the wild, the WTH…every month, we’re sharing the industry observation, marketing mystery, or growth dilemma that gets our team fired up.
This Month: Impressions Don’t Keep the Lights On
We recently looked at the data from two advisors at two similar firms using the same marketing channels in two wildly different ways.
Let’s call them Mike and Ben.
Mike is doing his marketing himself. AI writes his posts, drafts his video scripts, and generates his captions. Mike’s impressions are up, a first-glance vanity metric that makes him think things are working well. But none of his new followers match his ideal client profile; his content is bland and his videos are lifeless.
When it comes to converting impressions into clients…he’s not.
Ben works with real marketers to tell his story. He knows exactly who he’s trying to reach, and his deep understanding of his audience is reflected in the content his marketing team develops. He posts less frequently but more authentically with stories and videos that capture his point of view. His impressions aren’t as “impressive,” but he’s gaining new followers squarely in his ICP and converting them to clients.
Mike and Ben aren’t unique in today’s marketing landscape; we see these situations constantly.
The Efficiency Paradox
AI can obviously produce content at scale. We use it ourselves, and we’re not here to argue against it. What it can’t produce is:
Personality
Humor
Empathy
A unique point of view
Messaging so precise it attracts exactly who you want and repels everyone else
AI only works efficiently when you put in the work first to know your ICP cold, understand what keeps them up at night, and come at their challenges with an angle they haven’t already heard a hundred times before.
Prospects like those in Mike’s and Ben’s ICP are too sophisticated to engage with content that sounds like a composite of everything ever written about financial planning. AI alone can’t account for the complexity of their needs; only a human can deliver that depth.
The Cost of Cutting Corners
“But look what AI can do for free.”
Let’s do that. For free, AI can write social media posts your target audiences scrolls past with ease. For free, AI can bump up your vanity metrics so it looks like you’re making progress while your pipeline plateaus. For free, AI can make damn sure you sound like every single one of your competitors using the same technology to say the same thing.
Marketers have always had to justify their value in budget meetings. Even with the addition of AI to the marketing landscape, the centerpiece argument remains the same. Cutting corners, whether by using a robot to write all of your content, underspending on digital campaigns, or assuming you know your audience without making sure you do, will only cost you in the long run.
Mike may not be spending money or much time on his marketing, but what he’s supposedly saving in resources he’s losing in reputation, growth momentum, and clients to competitors who see the tangible value in slowing down and investing in real marketing.
If you’re relying solely on AI to deliver results, ask yourself what the results really look like.
Who are your new followers? What's their AUM profile? How many discovery calls came from organic content last quarter? How many turned into closed deals?
Pull the thread between marketing activity and new client revenue and see what you find.
CMO Collective at Future Proof Festival
September 16 | 11:50 AM - 1:35 PM
Join an exclusive gathering of senior marketing leaders, growth leaders, and CEOs from wealth management, fintech, and financial services for a peer-driven conversation about today’s biggest growth challenges. To reserve your spot, register for Future Proof Festival and mark "Interested" in the CMO Collective Hub on your registration form.
