Client Portal Engagement Up 65% with Personalized Content

Client Portal Engagement Up 65% with Personalized Content

Executive Summary

Rossi Family Office Services faced a common problem: low client engagement with their digital client portal, leading to missed opportunities for education and deeper relationships. By leveraging the personalization capabilities within eMoney Advisor, Diana Rossi, the firm's founder, implemented a strategy to deliver customized financial dashboards, educational videos, and relevant market commentary directly to each client. This resulted in a remarkable 65% increase in client portal engagement within just three months, improving client satisfaction and their understanding of their financial plans.

The Challenge

Rossi Family Office Services prides itself on providing comprehensive financial planning and investment management for high-net-worth individuals. However, they noticed a worrying trend: despite having a robust client portal built on eMoney Advisor, only a fraction of their 150 clients were actively using it. A deeper dive into the portal's analytics revealed that only 28% of clients logged in at least once a month, and the average time spent on the platform was a mere 7 minutes.

This low engagement translated into several challenges. First, clients were missing out on valuable financial insights. For example, quarterly investment performance reports, tax planning strategies, and updates on estate planning documents were being largely ignored. One client, John S., failed to review a critical tax projection report detailing a potential $12,000 underpayment, leading to an unexpected tax bill at the end of the year.

Second, the firm's attempts to proactively educate clients on market volatility were falling flat. During a market correction in Q1 of 2023, Rossi Family Office Services published several articles and videos explaining the situation and reassuring clients about their long-term investment strategy. However, because most clients weren't logging into the portal, they missed these crucial communications, leading to increased anxiety and unnecessary calls to the office. This resulted in staff spending an estimated 15 hours per week addressing these concerns instead of focusing on proactive planning and relationship building. The firm estimated they were losing out on approximately $5,000 of billable hours each month because of client anxiety and a lack of engagement with available resources.

Third, the lack of portal usage hindered the firm's ability to gather crucial data for improved financial planning. Clients were not updating their financial goals, risk tolerances, or life event changes within the platform. This meant advisors were relying on outdated information, potentially leading to suboptimal investment decisions and missed opportunities to adjust financial plans in response to changing circumstances. For instance, one client's daughter had just had a baby but the client did not reflect that as a future funding requirement in his financial goals.

The Approach

Diana Rossi recognized that simply providing a client portal wasn't enough. To truly engage clients, the portal needed to be more than just a repository of documents; it needed to be a personalized hub of relevant and actionable information. Her strategy focused on three key pillars:

• Personalized Financial Dashboards: Rossi Family Office Services moved beyond generic account summaries and created customized dashboards for each client. These dashboards highlighted key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to their individual financial goals, such as progress towards retirement savings targets, debt repayment progress, and investment portfolio diversification. Each client dashboard was tailored to present information most pertinent to their unique financial plan. For example, for a client focused on early retirement, the dashboard prominently displayed projections of their retirement income and the likelihood of achieving their desired retirement date. For a client prioritizing college savings, the dashboard focused on the performance of their 529 plans and progress towards their college funding goals.

• Curated Educational Content: Instead of simply providing a library of generic financial articles and videos, the firm curated content based on each client's individual needs and interests. Using eMoney Advisor's segmentation capabilities, they categorized clients based on factors like age, income, life stage, and financial goals. Based on these categories, clients received personalized content recommendations on topics like retirement planning, tax optimization, estate planning, and investment strategies. For instance, clients in their 30s and 40s received articles and videos on topics like buying a home, starting a family, and maximizing retirement savings. Clients approaching retirement received content focused on Social Security claiming strategies, Medicare enrollment, and managing retirement income. Specifically, a series of videos called "Market Insights with Diana" were created. These videos were specifically tailored to the individual and to their portfolio.

• Proactive Communication & Feedback: The firm implemented a proactive communication strategy to drive clients to the portal and encourage engagement. They sent out personalized email newsletters highlighting new content and features, and proactively reached out to clients to schedule portal walkthroughs and answer any questions. They also solicited feedback from clients on the portal's functionality and content, using their suggestions to further improve the user experience. They utilized surveys to get more in depth on how clients view the portal.

Diana also personally reached out to all of the clients who had not logged in for 60 days. She scheduled 15-minute phone calls with each client to understand their issues and to get feedback on how to improve the portal.

Technical Implementation

The successful implementation of this strategy relied heavily on the capabilities of the eMoney Advisor client portal and its seamless integration with client account data. Here's a breakdown of the technical implementation:

• Data Integration: eMoney Advisor automatically integrates with a wide range of financial institutions, including custodians like Schwab, Fidelity, and Pershing. This ensures that client account data, such as asset balances, transaction history, and investment performance, is automatically updated in the portal on a daily basis. This real-time data feed is essential for providing accurate and up-to-date information to clients. The integration uses secure APIs and follows industry best practices for data security and privacy.

• Content Personalization: eMoney Advisor's content personalization features allow Rossi Family Office Services to deliver customized content to individual clients or groups of clients. The firm leveraged these features to create targeted content campaigns based on client demographics, financial goals, and risk tolerance. They used eMoney Advisor's segmentation tools to create client groups based on factors like age, income, net worth, and investment experience. They then created personalized content recommendations for each client group.

• Dashboard Customization: eMoney Advisor offers a high degree of flexibility in customizing the client portal dashboard. Rossi Family Office Services leveraged this flexibility to create personalized dashboards for each client. They selected relevant KPIs from a library of available metrics and arranged them in a way that was visually appealing and easy to understand. They also added custom widgets to display information like progress towards financial goals, upcoming appointments, and important documents. The KPIs included annual yield rate, cost basis, and IRR calculations.

• Email Marketing Integration: Rossi Family Office Services integrated their email marketing platform with eMoney Advisor to send personalized email newsletters and alerts to clients. They used eMoney Advisor's API to pull client data and insert it into email templates. They also used eMoney Advisor's reporting tools to track email open rates, click-through rates, and website traffic generated by email campaigns.

• Security Measures: Throughout the implementation, security was a top priority. The firm worked closely with eMoney Advisor to ensure that the client portal met the highest security standards. This included implementing multi-factor authentication, encrypting sensitive data, and regularly monitoring the portal for suspicious activity.

Results & ROI

The results of Rossi Family Office Services' personalized client portal strategy were impressive:

• Client Portal Engagement Increased by 65%: Within three months of implementing the personalized content strategy, client portal engagement increased by 65%. This was measured by tracking the number of clients who logged in at least once a month and the average time spent on the platform. Prior to the implementation, 28% of clients logged in monthly; afterward, 46% logged in monthly. Average session duration also rose to 12.5 minutes.

• Reduced Client Inquiries by 30%: The increased engagement with the client portal led to a significant reduction in client inquiries. As clients were able to access the information they needed online, they were less likely to call or email the office with questions. The number of phone calls and emails from clients decreased by 30%, freeing up staff time for more strategic activities.

• Improved Client Satisfaction: The personalized client portal experience led to a significant improvement in client satisfaction. In a follow-up survey, 85% of clients reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the client portal, compared to just 60% prior to the implementation. Clients specifically praised the personalized content, the ease of accessing information, and the convenience of managing their finances online.

• Increased Assets Under Management (AUM): While difficult to attribute directly, Rossi Family Office Services saw a 12% increase in AUM over the same period. This growth was partially attributed to improved client retention and referrals, both of which were likely influenced by the improved client experience.

• Reduced Staff Time on Client Support: By reducing client inquiries and improving client self-service capabilities, Rossi Family Office Services was able to reduce staff time spent on client support by 20%, freeing up valuable resources for other activities. This equated to approximately 10 hours per week reclaimed by staff.

Key Takeaways

Here are a few actionable insights other advisors can glean from Rossi Family Office Services' success:

1. Personalization is Key: Generic client portals are unlikely to drive engagement. Tailoring content to individual client needs and interests is essential for creating a valuable and engaging user experience.
2. Proactive Communication is Critical: Don't expect clients to automatically discover and utilize the client portal. Actively promote the portal and its features through personalized email newsletters, tutorials, and one-on-one consultations.
3. Data Integration is a Must: Ensure that your client portal is seamlessly integrated with your other financial systems. This will allow you to provide clients with accurate, up-to-date information and automate key processes.
4. Solicit and Act on Feedback: Regularly solicit feedback from clients on the client portal's functionality and content. Use their suggestions to improve the user experience and ensure that the portal meets their needs.
5. Measure and Track Results: Closely monitor key metrics like client login rates, session duration, and client satisfaction. This will help you assess the effectiveness of your client portal strategy and identify areas for improvement.

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