Advisors reported that printed materials aimed at helping develop knowledge, such as fact sheets, thought leadership, and value-added practice support, are more helpful than company profiles and product pitch books. This pattern is consistent with earlier findings, where marketing support had a greater impact on advisors’ own product knowledge than it did on client retention or acquisition.
Advisors who work at large regional firms and wirehouses were more interested in printed materials in general, ranking them as more useful across all five areas than advisors in the rest of the industry, particularly independent broker dealers and RIAs. The difference was more pronounced in the non-fact sheet categories, however. Regional firms and national wirehouses may have more clearly defined internal channels to control the flow of marketing materials to their advisors. As a result, advisors at these firms may be more open to outside input once it makes it through those channels, particularly on matters such as thought leadership and pitch books, compared to their independent counterparts.
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