3 ways for financial advisors to connect with Gen Z other than social media

While many studies have found that social media is one avenue by which financial advisors can connect with younger clients, one expert says creating a personalized experience for younger investors, including Gen Z, is crucial.

While building a social media presence is important, says Diane Delaney, executive director of Private Risk Management Association (PRMA), she recommends a triple-action approach that can work in tandem with building a social following.

“I think if we [should] narrow this down to three areas,” Delaney said

1. Personalize your engagement. It’s not a one-size-fits-all,
2. Be flexible and use a hybrid approach, using both online and in-person communications.
3. Provide options based only on what you’ve learned about each individual.

Understanding the Gen Z client

Delaney said advisors should start by understanding what drives Generation Z clients, what their biggest concerns are and what kind of challenges they will face in the future.

“I think it’s really important for any of us that are advising someone in this space to [realize] that, for this generation, money is going to continually be one of their biggest stressors,” she said. “That’s something that we’re regularly keeping in mind — we want to show value, but it’s different with Generation Z.”

She noted that many Gen Z Americans grew up watching their parents struggle through the 2008-2009 recession; have since faced student loans, credit card debt, intense inflation and a notoriously tough housing market; and will have to deal with increasingly “astronomical” liability lawsuits in the future.

“It’s getting them to realize if they don’t put proper measures in place today, the exposure and the long-lasting effects on their future earnings is astronomical,” she said. “It’s also educating them on things they should start doing today.”

Getting personal with Gen Z

Personalized, flexible, jargon-free communication and storytelling with real-life examples work better with Gen Z than lecturing or overly polished sales pitches, Delaney said.

“Our job as advisors is to educate these individuals in a way that they’re going to understand how to protect their assets,” Delaney said. “Paired with that is how authentic our process is with them… It has to be more of this personalized and informal process.”

For instance, she explained that storytelling will have more of an emotional impact on Generation Z clients as they’re paying more attention to the impact any industry has on society.

“Most of this generation, we’re going to assume, has not experienced a claim or really a reason to need the products we want them to purchase. So, being able to share it in real-life stories will hit home with them more,” Delaney said.

Communicating on their terms

In addition to personalized engagement, Delaney said a “hybrid” approach with flexible communication is crucial for Gen Z. She noted that while the insurance industry can be “archaic when it comes to technology,” most of Gen Z clients have “grown up with iPhone.”

For example, she said the process can start with clients asking questions or filling out a form online, and then move to a one-on-one conversation.

“It’s finding that balance of we don’t want to sell you anything more or anything less than you have, but we’re going to take what we learned about you on the form you filled out and follow it up with what concerns you most in a 20- to 30-minute conversation,” she said.

Choice matters

Personalization should carry through when advisors are presenting solutions based on their Gen Z clients’ concerns and needs, Delaney said.

“This generation wants options. It’s the ability to not just show them that we’ve just put a classic insurance policy in front of you or a financial plan in front of you, but we’ve taken the five or six bullets you shared with us that were most important to you, and then this is why we’re giving these solutions,” she said.

She noted that many insurance policies have “options of bells and whistles that could either be added or removed,” and these should be leveraged when tailoring personalized options for Gen Z so that “they feel like they have things to choose from.”

Social media as education

Delaney also noted that social media outreach can be useful not for selling products but for providing education in a way younger generations can grasp, such as podcasts and short videos.

“This generation is more inclined to watch or scroll through those videos more than anything else we’re giving them, and I think that’s really going to be the direction that we’re going to see this industry going,” she said. “It’s going to be less print and more of this quick video hits to appeal to them more.”

PRMA is a nonprofit membership organization of more than 3,000 high-level risk management professionals in the United States.

 

Rayne Morgan is a content marketing manager with PolicyAdvisor.com and a freelance journalist and copywriter.

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