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The power of the visual pulls more focus than the auditory.
Consider my friend, a frequent cast member in community theater productions, who shared that one of the most frequent directions given during rehearsals is that actors be mindful of their ambient movements while on stage, especially when they are not delivering lines. He explained that this is because audience members’ attention will invariably be drawn away from someone speaking and toward motion onstage.
The same principle holds true when contrasting written communication with imagery. The adage, “A picture is worth a thousand words” turns out to have a basis in scientific fact: the human brain can accurately process and identify an image about 60,000 times faster than written text.
And yet, consider how much time the typical advisor spends communicating verbally or in writing with clients. Emails, newsletters, social media posts, client interviews (whether on Zoom or across the desk) and similar activities occupy most of the day. And that’s not surprising, since there is so much information we need to convey.
But not everyone processes information the same way. Any professional educator will tell you that each person has a different way of accessing and retaining information in the most efficient way. Some learners have a primarily auditory orientation: these are the folks who can listen to a lecture and walk away with a firm grasp of the speaker’s main points. Others are kinesthetic – they learn best by doing (think of the rice table at your kids’ daycare). Some people retain information best through a combination of reading and writing. And some are visual learners who tend to “think” best when information is accompanied by or communicated in images, charts, graphs, or other methods involving shapes, patterns, and colors.
Most of us learn in all these ways, and our preferences may shift, depending on several variables, including the type of information being presented.
For advisors who want clients, prospects, and others to retain more of their communication – whether it be marketing outreach, client recommendations, or simple, informative articles – incorporating visuals provides a big advantage.
Let’s break down three key principles when designing or selecting illustrations to support your client communications outreach.
1. Consider the nature of the communication
Advisors communicate differently, depending on the objective of the effort and the type of information being conveyed. A blog article or social media post, for example, may be primarily informative, involving declarative information intended to present data or facts (such as the pattern of bear and bull markets over the past 50 years). On the other hand, the advisors may be presenting more conceptual information that involves leading the client or other intended audience to consider new concepts or directions. In the former instance, charts and graphs (such as those generated by Excel or similar programs) may offer a convenient and clear way to combine data and information in a way that allows the recipient to synthesize and internalize the message.
In the latter case, something as simple as a Venn diagram can serve to focus the recipient’s attention on a new concept or way of thinking, as in the following example.
Think about not just the information you want to communicate, but the nature of that information. The answer to that question will lead you to the best type of visual to use.
2. Consider the means of communication
Is it a post going out on social media that will primarily be viewed on a smart phone? Is it part of a presentation to a prospective client that will be on a computer screen in a Zoom meeting? Are you giving an in-person talk to a group of potential influencers? Whatever the occasion and medium, be sure to optimize your images for the platform you’ll be using. This should go without saying, but too many presentations are still accompanied by images that are poorly cropped, so pixilated as to be nearly useless, and so on.
3. Breathe new life into your old written content
I’ve written before about the value to be gained by mining your old content. Some concepts – the importance of diversification; how and when to rebalance; the value of an individualized plan; why people need a financial advisor; and many others – are evergreen and will never fall out of style. As you periodically recycle such perennially valuable content, you can give it an extra boost by incorporating fresh, new visuals that present updated data, a new way of displaying concepts, or even a fresh, concise posting designed to draw new prospects to your website. For example, the data underlying your pandemic-era article on the importance of “staying in the market” through turbulent times could be presented in an infographic that could be posted on your Instagram account. With a link to the original article (or a version revised for current conditions), you’ve created a potential entry to your website for an interested reader. Fresh, informative graphics can revitalize older content, allowing you to maintain consistent and meaningful outreach without the constant need to re-invent the wheel.
However, you incorporate images in your communications, don’t make the too-common mistake of plunking down a piece of clip art or a WikiMedia Commons photo just to take up space on the screen. Certainly, using images to make your presentation more visually appealing is a valid goal. But why not enhance that goal even further by creating and using images that can do some of the heavy lifting? The more effectively you can not only catch the viewer’s notice but also engage their interest and intellect, the more likely you’ll be to reach the goal of any communication: mutual engagement around an agreed course of action.
Gretchen Halpin is the co-founder of Beyond AUM, which provides growth, client experience, and advisor experience support to financial advisors to drive business success. Over the course of her 25-year career, Gretchen has founded more than five businesses in addition to serving as the chief strategy officer for one of the financial services industry's leading wealth management firms. She has been featured in Advisor Perspectives, Financial Advisor Magazine, and Forbes for her insights and has served as a speaker at numerous industry conferences, including NAPFA, Financial Planning, and Invest in Women. She also serves as a facilitator in Financial Planning Association’s Women and Finance Knowledge Circle community.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
