Case Study:
Plancorp Perspective
How RIA Plancorp Drove a 124% Increase in Client Engagement on WealthVoice
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Voice Marketing with a Custom Alexa Skill
Plancorp is an award-winning RIA based in St. Louis.
Executive Summary:
Plancorp is an award-winning financial services firm founded in 1983 with a strong belief in independence, objectivity, and allegiance to their clients. Their ethos centers around taking initiative to offer insights and guidance to investors.
Plancorp wanted a modern, accessible way to keep in touch with clients. They already had most of the major communications channels and platforms covered but looked to WealthVoice for a tech-forward place share their voices in a way that was intimate but efficient for their marketing and executive teams.
Alexa Skills are apps accessible on over 20,000 types of Alexa powered devices including smart speakers, smart TVs, mobile phones, cars, and more. Plancorp launched a WealthVoice to share their hands-free homepage, with short information about their company, employees, and real-time voice updates (Broadcasts AKA mini podcasts).
The problem:
Time: Plancorp wanted to communicate warmly with clients but without spending hours a week on creating content.
Accessibilty: They wanted to keep pace with modern technology that makes clients’ lives easier, across multiple continents.
Brand hedge: They had no owned brand presence on voice activated devices (such as Amazon Echo speakers).
The solution:
- Plancorp launched their WealthVoice Alexa Skill, Plancorp Perspective, in December 2020. They opted for multiple Alexa Skill locales with their WealthVoice app live in USA, Canada, Australia, and UK to reach their global client base.
- They use the Bios/Topics to tell people about their team. Example: “Alexa, ask Plancorp Perspective to tell me about Plancorp.”
- “…Tell me about Peter Lazaroff.”
- “…Tell me about Chris Kerckhoff.”
- “…Tell me about Sara Gelsheimer.”
- They send Broadcasts about once a month or when they have market updates for clients.
Taking Initiative to Offer Guidance
“At Plancorp, we don’t wait for you to ask the right questions. We take the initiative to offer insights and guidance — real enlightenment for real life.”
Why Plancorp decided to build a WealthVoice:
Chief Investment Officer at Plancorp and BrightPlan Peter Lazaroff:
Voice Adoption Stats
With a large portion of their client and prospect base being adults over age 50-60, it’s important for Plancorp to be accessible. Accessibility means having a presence on multiple channels, because as Peter Lazaroff says,
“We wanted to be present everywhere clients could want to access information.”
Accessibility on a more ergonomic device level (hands-free) was a win, but having a multimodal communications strategy across age groups was even better.
Some people want to read (blogs and emails), some prefer to listen (WealthVoice and podcasts), some like social media (Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn), and many people use a combination of these mediums.
The ease of use Plancorp wanted to offer clients was an obvious fit for WealthVoice because Alexa Skills are hands-free, voice controlled, multimodal, and on over 20,000 types of devices.
How Plancorp Does Voice Marketing
(Sharing Their WealthVoice with Clients)
How Plancorp markets their WealthVoice:
- Email marketing lets clients know about the voice app and how to enable with the Quick Link
- Audiograms on social media like this: “Rising markets always make people wonder if now is a good time to invest.”
- They have a voice hub page with their Alexa Quick Link, an episode archive, and simple information about the value offered.
- They offer clients gift bags with a branded Alexa speaker.
From their voice hub page, plancorp.com/alexa:
“Alexa, ask Plancorp Perspective to play the latest update.”
“As your financial life advocate, we want to give you peace of mind and keep you apprised of the news and information impacting your finances.
Using an Amazon Alexa device, our clients can now easily access timely news and updates with a simple voice prompt. We’re calling it Plancorp Perspective.
We will cover:
- Market trends
- Interesting articles worth reading
- Upcoming events
- Frequently asked questions
Alexa Quick Link and Mini Podcast Topics
WealthVoice Broadcasts from Plancorp (Alexa Updates):
- Plancorp Perspective | October 2022
- Plancorp Perspective | September 2022
- Plancorp Perspective | August 2022
- Plancorp Perspective | May 2022
- Navigating Uncertainty | April 2022
- Update from Plancorp
- Plancorp Perspective January 2022
The Plancorp Perspective Alexa Quick Link is a URL that lets anyone on a smartphone, computer, or tablet subscribe to Plancorp’s voice updates and launch their voice app’s welcome experience.
Where people access Alexa Skills:
- Amazon Echo smart speakers
- Amazon shopping app (mobile)
- Alexa app (mobile)
- Fire TV
- Kindle Fire
- Alexa in the Car
- and thousands more Alexa-powered devices!
Results
Results for Year 2 compared to Year 1
(July 2021-July 2022 vs. prior period)
56.3% increase in user enablements
63.8% increase in user sessions
124.5% increase in utterances (people asking for content inside Plancorp’s WealthVoice Alexa Skill)
Reviews: What Plancorp Clients Say
“A warm, convenient way to hear from your financial advisor.”
Customer Gifts with Amazon Echo and QR Code to Launch
The Plancorp team wanted to offer clients a useful gift package with a smart speaker and branded collateral featuring QR codes to quick launc their Alexa Skill or subscribe to Peter Lazaroff’s podcast, The Long Term Investor.
This gift is useful and lets the team keep in touch conveniently with a visual reminder at home or the office.
Anytime they broadcast on WealthVoice, their audience gets an Alexa Notification saying there’s an update (similar to when Alexa lets you know you have a package).
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How WealthVoice Boosts Marketing
Benefits to Plancorp
Offer valuable information hands-free (convenience)
Delight and impress clients or prospects
Buzz and bragworthy tools to share with business partners
Generate referrals (word of mouth)
Level up marketing with time-saving technology
Plancorp Client / Audience Benefits
Get valuable content without looking at a screen or more emails
Hear from multiple team members and voices in minutes
Affirm their decision to hire Plancorp
Enjoy a useful Echo gift they’ll use daily
Feel valued, connected, and educated
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