Blue Ocean Global Technology: Technology's Impact on the Advisor Industry

NEW YORK - April 25, 2016 - PRLog -- As technology continues to permeate all aspects of both personal life and business, Sameer Somal, Chief Financial Officer for Blue Ocean Global Technology, joined Asset TV's resident reporter, Courtney Woodworth, in the studio to talk about the impact of technology on the financial advisor industry.

One of the key points of the discussion with Sameer is that with all of the benefits that technology brings, there can also be a lot of confusion and frustration when trying to incorporate it appropriately and effectively into a space such as the financial advisor industry, which traditionally has been very human-focused.  If asked, many financial advisors would probably tell you that they get the majority of their clients through referrals and not from the internet.  However, even if that is true, chances are that the first thing any referral will do is Google the firm and review any or all online information they can find about the company.  So having a solid online presence is still of the utmost importance, even for well-established businesses that rely on referrals and/or more human-focused client interactions.

In fact, as Sameer points out, it can be even more important for advisors with little or no online presence.  Case in point, Sameer offers the example of an advisor with the same name as another advisor who happened to have a bit of a checkered past.   So when clients or other advisors would search for him online, he would often be confused with this other person who showed up more frequently in the search results.  The advisor only came to realize the issue when someone mentioned their concern for referring him due to the alleged "violations" on his record, which of course belonged to the other individual.

Being able to manage your own online presence is fundamental to building trust in today's digital economy.  "With respect to your online reputation, your digital presence, it can't be transactional in nature. You need a real plan," explains Sameer.  Some important questions to ask yourself from the beginning are, "How are your resource allocations to technology, sales, and marketing going to be integrated so that you're not 'climbing the wrong ladder to get to the top of the wrong building'."  An integrated strategy that is focused on sharing content that represents your brand, amplifies your presence and is engaging on social media, should be at the core of any strategic online branding campaign.

However, once you begin creating your presence, it is just as important to keep it up-to-date.  As Sameer concludes, "I oftentimes say that you're better off not having a Facebook page if you're not posting anything, and your last post was a year ago…there are external factors that you can see and there are internal factors, so you need a good balance of having an external strategy (your communication, your content, the way that you share how you provide value for your clients) and you also need a strong technical team that understands on-page/off-page optimization."

To watch this interview and other videos on the role of technology in the financial advisor industry, tune into Asset TV: http://bit.ly/1rv0Kj4


About

Asset TV is the investment professional video platform for research and education.

Over 2,500 video reports are available to watch on-demand, currently accessed by a global audience of 400,000 Financial Advisors, Institutions, Consultants, Plan Sponsors, Endowments & Foundations, and Wealth Professionals.

Asset TV is used as a valuable source of Continuing Education - viewers can register for free and access their own video history for CE credits including accreditation from the CFP Board, IMCA and CFA Institute.

Asset TV is a founding partner of the Bloomberg terminal video service, extending the reach of content to a global audience of 350,000+ institutions.

For more information, visit Assettv.com.