CASE STUDY: AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL
CASE STUDY:
AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL
BACKGROUND
They’re one of the largest financial services providers in the United States, managing more than $970 billion in assets annually. They’ve been in business for over 125 years, partner with 9,700 branded financial advisors across the country, and help over two million individuals, businesses, and institutions manage their finances every day.
They’re one of the largest financial services providers in the United States, managing more than $970 billion in assets annually. They’ve been in business for over 125 years, partner with 9,700
branded financial advisors across the country, and help over two million individuals, businesses, and institutions manage their finances every day.
challenge
Not surprisingly, competitors are spending billions of dollars every year to capture new market share. Ameriprise had big goals for expanding its business to a broader audience segment but lacked the ability to support their effort across a distributed team of nearly 15,000 advisors. To help them realize this goal, we needed to develop a solution that would be non-intrusive for participating advisors, personalized for each practice, and results-oriented for office locations across nearly all 50 states.
objectives
01
Build awareness and appeal
Ameriprise needed to create localized relevancy for their regional offices—ensuring consumers established a more personal connection with advisors throughout the ecosystem. To do this, the program needed to be non-intrusive—allowing advisors to focus on their clients instead of marketing; results-oriented; scalable; and tailored to each advisor’s business.
02
Grow assets under management
Advisors across the country had built their businesses around an identified client profile but lacked the ability to target these prospects through scalable processes. To do this, the program needed to provide a scalable, repeatable process that would lead to tangible increases in assets under management.
03
Build new revenue streams
Historically for advisors, new leads and client acquisition opportunities came through referrals of existing clients. Although a natural byproduct of doing “good business,” this model didn’t support a scalable growth strategy, and year-over-year growth was limited for advisory practices across the country. To address this, the program needed to explore new client acquisition models that would drive additional assets under management.
04
Promote advisor engagement
The financial services landscape is competitive with companies focusing on new ways to attract new advisors. One of our most important objectives was recognizing that if Ameriprise lost advisor franchisees, they would also lose their most valuable clients. To address this, the program needed to function through the lens of the advisor—supporting advisor retainment and engagement for the organization.
solution
Working closely with Ameriprise leadership, we developed a marketing program that provides advisors with the ability to activate their brand story across multiple channels—nurturing target audiences through a simple-to-implement, turnkey activation process. With personalized marketing content, a highly efficient deliverability model, actionable insights, and a new channel application, the program would produce a consistent flow of new clients and stronger relationships with strategic partners.
To ensure personalization at scale, we built in a product + services approach to the model, providing consistency for the end-to-end experience—including onboarding, implementation, and ongoing activation.
Insight
In an effort to understand the challenges of advisory practices across the country, we used a research methodology based on a simple premise: “If you want to understand how the shark hunts, don’t go to the aquarium—go to the ocean.” In other words, focus on the real-life experiences of the ones you’re serving (in this case, the financial advisor). We worked closely with a steering committee of advisors and came away with a few key learnings:
Strategy
While many in the organization were eager to get started, we knew it would be best to implement the program with a calculated approach — giving us time to analyze performance, gather quantitative feedback, and make necessary adjustments. We piloted the program with selected advisors and gave participants an opportunity to put the program through its paces—telling us what worked, what didn’t, and what they wanted to see moving forward.
Improvements
The program was expanded to Ameriprise practices across the country and is now helping advisors expand their business potential, increase practice awareness, and deepen their relationships with both clients and strategic partners. In addition, relationships with COI partners have become much more impactful as the program also enables them to expand their services and offer a more comprehensive financial solution to their clients.
“Que the Compound team.”
Advisors lack the expertise to optimize outreach, in particular with digital channels, and can struggle to effectively go-to-market in ways that resonate with clients and prospects. Que the Compound team. They speak the language of professional services marketing fluently and implement scalable campaigns that drive results while providing valuable tracking and insights along the way. A long-standing growth partner of AGP, Compound has solidified itself as an extension of our own team.
—AGP Wealth Advisors
“Bringing in the Compound team was the perfect way for us to catch up."
The wealth management industry is changing and our target audiences have revised expectations around the consumer experience. With the shortage of digital skills in our sector, bringing in the Compound team was the perfect way for us to catch up. Their team has a wealth of transferable skills and continually brings a fresh perspective. Thanks for being our partner throughout this process and we look forward to growing at this dramatic pace for years to come with you by our side.
—Kuttin Wealth Management
“Creative. Professional. Adaptive.”
Creative. Professional. Adaptive. The Compound Team has been all of these and more. They've been a phenomenal resource for our marketing efforts and are driving some incredible results. They listen well – keeping our values and identity of the practice in mind as they creatively produce fantastic content and ideas. Their proactive communication with our team makes us feel like we are in a true partnership together.
—MidCoast Wealth Advisors
Let us know what’s on your mind and we’ll find a way to help.
Let us know what’s on your mind and we’ll find a way to help.
We’re looking for talent that isn’t confined by traditional ways of thinking or defined by traditional expectations.
