Three Crowns Mixtape: October 06, 2022

Important financial industry news + marketing insights + good music.

When we’re not picking pumpkins at the patch, we’re rounding up the latest and greatest in fintech news just for you.

This week’s mixtape includes:

• News from Merrill Wealth Management

• FA Match’s new incognito feature

• Tips for social ads

• And more!

Must-Read Financial Industry & Marketing Articles

Would You Swipe Left or Right on a Merrill Advisor?

Lots of people want to work with a financial advisor, but lots of those people also feel overwhelmed by the thought of choosing one. How do you know who’s a good advisor? How do you know who isn’t?

The longstanding rules against the ability of advisors to use testimonials and ratings in their marketing only served to make it more difficult for consumers to find a good match.

Today, one of the most popular ways for companies to try giving consumers more information is to create “matching” services – you know, like Bumble or Tinder, but for financial relationships.

Merrill Wealth Management is the latest firm to roll out their own version of a matching service. It’s a fine idea, but it only really makes sense (to us, at least) when these services are powered by independent companies (like Lasso) who focus on connecting consumers with independent fiduciary advisors. When it’s rolled out by a firm like Merrill, it’s just another lead gen tool for themselves that doesn’t break any new ground.

Browse Sassy Merrill Advisors in Your Area

FA Match Announces Incognito Mode for Advisors and Hires a COO

Speaking of advisor matching services, recruiting-as-a-service startup FA Match made a number of big announcements of their own.

One piece of news is that they’ve added Rodney Shanks as the new COO of the firm. The other, bigger piece of news for advisors is that they’ve dramatically lowered the barrier for advisors seeking a new firm to join.

With Test Drive, advisors can now search among any of the firms on the FA Match platform to find one who’s looking for advisors – and do it all anonymously. It’s a feature that puts advisors first and gives them the power to control the next step in their careers.

Big Shanks to FA Match

How to Do Social Ads Right

Social ads can be a bit of a beast. Even with all of their targeting options, it can be difficult to make sure your message gets in front of the right people (and that you’re not just getting a bunch of Russian bots).

Gartner put together this super useful list of eight practical tips on how to use paid social. Okay, maybe you won’t be buying ads on streaming TV channels (or maybe you will!), but the list is short, quick and ready to put into action today!

Give Bots the Boot

Creepiest Marketing Campaign Ever

The movie “Smile” hired a bunch of people to sit in the stands at sporting events and just flash creepy smiles at the camera through the whole game while wearing a shirt that simply said “Smile.”

Say Cheese?

Here’s what we’ve been listening to this week.