Update
February 2006
Welcome to our first Update newsletter of the New Year. As ever it aims to keep you in touch with IFAP’s current initiatives and to tell you about our plans for the months ahead. Because 2005 was our best year yet, 2006 brings with it the challenge of topping last year’s results. Rest assured we’re aiming to deliver even more to our stakeholders as we motor ahead full throttle promoting independent financial advice over the coming twelve months.
Sponsor news
We’re delighted to kick off the new year by announcing that we’ve continued with our online focus, and have recently completed building two further white label versions of our online ‘Find an IFA’ search tool. Both Canada Life and Legal & Financial now have the searches running in the consumer facing sections of their websites – giving even more enquirer access to IFAP members’ contact details.
Canada Life has also taken a version of our online ‘Find a Media IFA’ service – giving journalists visiting the press area of their site easy access to media friendly IFAs. Versions of both our online ‘Find an IFA’ and ‘Find a Media IFA’ white label searches are also now live on Unum Provident’s website.
In total, IFAP now has over 70 white label versions of its public and media facing IFA searches running on partner websites.
IFA Promotion news
IFAP wins Plain English Award
The Plain English Society held their annual awards before Christmas and I’m pleased to report (if not a little surprised!) that IFAP has been awarded a Plain English Award for our consumer brochure, ‘Financial Advice: the buzzword is independent’. It’s perhaps worth pointing out that you have to be nominated for these awards, you can’t enter yourself. This is a fantastic achievement for us, not least because we were the only financial company amongst the winners, but because it confirms our messaging over the last eighteen months since depolarisation, is being understood by consumers and businesses looking for financial advice. The guide explains in simple terms the different types of financial advice available in a depolarised world and aims to guide the reader to the advice type best suited to their needs.
You can view copies of the guide by visiting the ‘Consumer Guide’ section of www.unbiased.co.uk or by going to our bespoke depolarisation microsite at www.unbiased.co.uk/ beadvised. Whilst you’re doing this, you might also like to check out the ‘Financial Advice’ section of the ‘Money’ channel on the ever popular www.msn.co.uk website, which continues to be populated by a white label version of our Beadvised microsite, directing online browsers to our white label ‘Find an IFA’ service on MSN.
2006 New Year Sale!
10% Online Marketing Package discount available for a limited period only
As you know, 2005 saw IFAP consolidate its online activity – making sure that wherever possible, people looking for local financial advice are now directed to either www.unbiased.co.uk, www.impartial.co.uk (or one of the white label versions of our ‘Find an IFA’ search running on partner websites).
We’ve refined our online bidding activity and website optimisation to ensure that www.impartial.co.uk and www.unbiased.co.uk appear at the top of all the UK search engines for relevant word/term searches, both in the natural and sponsored listings. Perhaps the best way for you to verify this, is to go to www.google.co.uk, and type in ‘Find an IFA’ (UK search); over the resulting (say) five pages of search matches that Google delivers, count how many are either www.unbiased.co.uk, www.impartial.co.uk, one of our white label searches on a partner website (including most of our sponsors) or simply a weblink carried by another site pointing back to IFAP. Is it any wonder that 85% of people using us to find a local member IFA now do so online?
To mark this new reality, we’d like to start 2006 by offering a discounted rate to member IFAs who decide to partake in this online bonanza by taking out a new subscription to our Online Marketing Package (OMP). But be aware, this offer is available for a limited period only.
Over 2,000 member IFA firms are already subscribing to this service. On average, members subscribing now receive 20 leads a year from IFAP for nominal outlay. Given that the average case size generated by IFAP is estimated to be £570, the benefit of subscribing is clear. Members subscribing to the OMP enjoy enhanced entry display, enabled email and web links, 'call me back' facility and functionality enabling enquirers to save that IFA's full IFAP entry to their inbox.
And with over 10,000 enquirers a week now using IFAP to find local financial advice (the vast majority via the web), members already subscribing are now also twice as likely to get their details viewed by enquirers looking for a local member IFA. Just one IFAP generated lead a year could more than cover the cost of your annual subscription to the OMP.
Please act now, this 10% discount for new Online Marketing Package subscriptions is available for a limited period only. You can apply by calling the member Hotline on 0870 325 9020. You can also find out about all the benefits of the service, read testimonials, view examples and sign up online at www.unbiased.co.uk/ifa/ifap-membership/online-marketing-package/
Please note: subscribing member IFAs’ entries are now automatically enhanced on www.unbiased.co.uk, www.impartial.co.uk (if you list 'Mortgages' in your top eight product areas) and on the 50 plus white label searches IFAP's running on partner sponsor, portal, media and trade body websites, as well as on the email packs generated via the consumer Hotline. If you're not sure whether you've subscribed, go to www.unbiased.co.uk and enter your office postcode: if your entry doesn't stand out then you haven't subscribed.
Please use the blue pound sign roundel – it’s your badge of independence
The blue pound sign roundel is widely recognised by consumers as the badge of independence, and as an IFAP member you are entitled to use the logo in any way you choose. I would urge you to not only use the signage on your stationery, business cards and to help make your office stand out on the High Street, but also to use it on the virtual high street – on your website. With more and more consumers using the web as their research tool of choice, I cannot stress enough the importance of using this ‘independent’ branding on your home page, your email footer and wherever else consumers navigate across your website. You can easily download logos to use on your website and in your e-mail footer by going to www.unbiased.co.uk and clicking on IFA merchandise – logos.
Annual status check – if you haven’t done so already, please act now!
In the last edition of Update we reminded all members about our annual database audit. This is a necessary check for us to undertake in a depolarised world, so we can ensure that the information we provide to enquirers about your firm accurately reflects your up to date adviser status across investments, protection, insurance and mortgages.
If you have not already done so, it is vital that you complete and return your self declaration form (another copy is enclosed with this Update), ensuring that your entry correctly lists the product areas you give independent advice on and the names of independent investment and incrementally qualified IFAs based at your branch address - and return it to us, by post or fax as soon as possible.
A second reminder: to continue to be listed on IFAP’s database, you must have at least one adviser authorised to conduct independent investment business (an investment IFA) based at your firm’s address currently listed. And as you know, unlike the FSA, IFAP only accepts and works on the basis of one definition of ‘independent’ advice. We insist that all members offer whole of market advice and a fees option across all top eight product areas they list. We believe this is the only way to ensure an enquiring consumer fully understands the type of adviser we will be supplying details of.
Any current members who do not return a completed, signed self declaration form will be removed from our online searches on www.unbiased.co.uk, on www.impartial.co.uk (if you list mortgages as one of your top eight business areas) and on over 50 white label versions of the online ‘Find an IFA’ tool, as well as having their entries removed from our free phone hotline search.
Where in the world?
IFAP has already demonstrated how powerful the web has become in terms of cost effectively generating targeted enquiries from UK based enquirers. We’re very conscious that the web also provides an opportunity for us to more proactively present what you have to offer to expatriates and other nationals based outside the UK.
With this in mind, we intend to e-mail you shortly with a short questionnaire asking you about which parts of the world (outside the UK) you might also be interested in receiving enquiries from expatriates or other nationals. Please look out for this e-mail in your inbox and if you could return it promptly it will help us with our ongoing development.
Member IFAs who have previously advertised in published directories
In our November 2005 newsletter mailing, we announced that from the end of 2005 we have ceased our corporate arrangements with the published directories.
Our main reason for withdrawing our shell ads from the published directories is that large numbers of advisers have been switching their status post ‘D’ day. Although our member branch count currently stands at 90% of last year’s total, we do not see this movement as a one off event – post ‘D’ day we believe the adviser market place has become more fluid and that we will continue to see more movement over the coming years with advisers joining and leaving IFAP as their status changes.
This presented us with a problem. If you consider that the shelf life of our shell ads in the published directories was a minimum of 12 months (and it could be longer than this when you consider the gap between us verifying data and the directory being published) there was an increased risk that when someone located an IFA through our shell ad in a published directory and they subsequently met that adviser, they could find that adviser is no longer an IFA. In our view, this presented reputational risks for both IFAP and the IFA sector.
Separately, although the published directories allow people to find local IFAs, IFAP’s online searches are tailored to allow enquirers to find the closest IFA to (i) their nominated postcode that (ii) genuinely focuses on a particular product area, that (iii) offers a choice of payment methods, that (iv) employs either male or female IFAs holding (v) one of 38 incremental qualifications across eight awarding bodies with (vi) enabled e-mail and weblinks.
As previously mentioned, IFAP is also bidding on over 8,000 relevant terms online to ensure that when enquirers type in a related search term/phrase on the most popular UK search engines, IFAP’s ‘Find an IFA’ service is delivered at the top of the resulting listing on Google, MSN, Yahoo, Wanadoo, AOL, Tiscali, etc. Given all of this, we genuinely think IFAP is doing a better job at getting the right enquirer to the right IFA which goes a long way to improve lead quality. Or put another way, we believe IFAP’s searches are currently the most cost efficient way of generating targeted quality leads.
Importantly, your ability to place an advertisement in your own right with the published directories, or to take part in alternative corporate schemes set up between a published directory and other groupings (that you may be eligible to join), remains unaffected by IFAP’s decision.
Consumers to see a new look IFAP in 2006
It’s an exciting time for IFAP as we embark upon our 2006 campaign. We’ve recently appointed a new advertising agency who are currently working on a new look for our consumer advertising campaign. This is no mean challenge, as in an increasingly busy personal finance media environment, it’s important to make sure our ads continue to ‘stand out’ – and it’s also increasingly important, given the developments we’ve seen over the last 12 months, that any creative we come up with also works well online.
As things stand, we’re currently planning to launch our new look consumer campaign during the second half of February. And that’s not all...... IFAP is also in the process of redesigning its websites, which we’ll be relaunching shortly. The new look sites will be more user friendly, with a cleaner design, making it as easy as possible for enquirers and the media to find their way round the various online tools and content we provide. Watch this space.
Discounted member promotional opportunity in The Times Newspaper’s forthcoming A-Day consumer guide to the new pensions framework
For any member IFAs wishing to raise their profile by advertising in The Times Newspaper’s forthcoming ‘Pensions A-Day’ publication, IFAP has negotiated a 55% discount off the paper’s normal advertising/advertorial rates. This special supplement will be published on 6 March and gives member IFAs the opportunity to promote their services to around 1,500,000 readers - as the supplement will deliver a thorough and incisive examination of the pension reforms and changing pension rules. For further information please visit www.mediaplanetgroup.co.uk/se/uk/pdf/aday3.pdf. To discuss advertising opportunities available, please contact Kayvan Salmanpour at Mediaplanet on 020 7563 8884 or by email kayvan.salmanpour@mediaplanetgroup.co.uk. Please note the advertising deadline for this opportunity is 24 February.
PR campaign round-up
Be Advised: Sunday Telegraph joint guide
Following on from the success of the published guide we produced last year (in association with the Financial Mail on Sunday), I am pleased to announce the launch of a similar initiative with the Sunday Telegraph.
The guide, written by Emma Simon, Personal Finance Editor of the Sunday Telegraph, explains the different advice types and how to find an adviser that suits you. Targeted at the Sunday Telegraph’s high net worth reader base, it will be promoted through a mixture of editorial and advertisement in the paper over the coming months - and is available free to readers.
This is the latest phase of our ongoing Be Advised campaign, which has been running since September 2004. Its success has been built on the principle that, once people understand the advantages and disadvantages of the different types of advice which now exist in a depolarised world, people will recognise the benefits of seeking independent financial advice.
New Year’s resolution
In December 2005, IFAP ran its annual New Year’s Resolution campaign, which looks at people’s good intentions for the year ahead, specifically pointing out how many people intend to address their financial situation in 2006 – be it to spend more wisely, pay off debt, get on the housing ladder or save for the future. This survey based campaign has been covered nationally, regionally and online. We also recorded a series of interviews with regional radio stations which ran between the Christmas and New Year period.
At the end of January, we issued a follow up story, highlighting the number of people whose good intentions have fallen by the wayside after just one month. This gave us the opportunity to recommend people visit a local IFA to discuss their financial goals to achieve their long-term personal financial strategy.
Get Saving! Launch
As you will have seen from our recent e-mail broadcast, encouraging you to get involved, we recently launched our 2006 Get Saving! Campaign - our annual headline campaign looking at the nation’s saving, borrowing and spending levels, across gender, age, socio-economic group and region.
The core of this year’s campaign centres around highlighting the importance of managing financial control and providing for both the short and long term future. The campaign, now in its third year is well received by the media, as it uniquely looks at the nation’s attitudes and behaviour behind the current lack of long term savings and joined up thinking. The media particularly anticipate our quarterly Savings Brake update – the ratio of borrowing to spending, as well as the many consumer angles the research report delivers.
The first part of this year’s campaign looks at women and finances, in particular how social attitudes mean that women delay taking a serious look at their finances as the rise of the ‘singleton’ lifestyle continues to grow – one in ten singletons admit to feeling financially out of control. The latest findings continue to illustrate a lack of joined up thinking with over half of all UK adults (24 million people) refusing to cut back on their spending to save more for retirement.
As with all our campaigns, we would like as many of you to become as involved as possible. As you might expect, we’ll be particularly focusing our efforts online, in order to drive as many consumer leads as possible to our members though our online search facilities, as well as providing our audience with useful interactive tools and information via our bespoke campaign microsite, which you can view at www.unbiased.co.uk/ getsaving.
Press Clubs report
News from around the UK
Aberdeen: This Club’s members held their AGM in November where new officers were appointed. The Club has agreed a schedule of bi-monthly features with their host paper, the Aberdeen Press & Journal to run throughout 2006, as well as continuing to supply fortnightly editorial columns. The Club has had a remarkably successful year, not only in terms of relations with the media, but also in raising money for local charities. A total of £1000 was donated in 2005.
South East Hampshire: Following a series of discussions and meetings, it is hoped that this Club will be able to return to providing a regular full page feature to its host newspaper The News, from early 2006.
Suffolk: Club members have now agreed a campaign for the first quarter of 2006, with their host newspaper, the East Anglian Daily Times. This will form a full page editorial in the paper’s monthly money section.
Sussex: Negotiations have continued with the Brighton Argus to agree a proposition that will attract new members from the surrounding area. It is hoped there will be more news on this in the New Year.
North East: Following an email broadcast to members in the Newcastle region, there is definite interest in forming a Club in this area. A meeting will be held in the New Year to discuss opportunities with The Journal and The Northern Echo.
Glasgow: This Club continues to publish its bi-monthly feature in The Herald and will be meeting in January to discuss other initiatives for the year ahead.
Recent and upcoming Press Club Meetings:
February
15th – Edinburgh
21st – Liverpool and North Wales
March
8th – Leicester
9th – Telford, Shropshire
15th – Tayside & Fife, Dundee
The bottom line
Without a doubt, 2005 was IFAP’s best year yet – both in terms of building the positive media profile of IFAs and generating new business leads for our members. Last year we dealt with over 530,000 enquiries from consumers and businesses all looking for local member IFAs like you. So we’ve set ourselves the challenge of bettering this in 2006. We’re working closely with all our agencies across all our marketing efforts to ensure that our campaigns and initiatives for the year ahead are bigger and better than ever before - with one aim in mind: to deliver even better results for our members and sponsors over the coming year.
Good luck.
David Elms
Chief Executive
IFA Promotion Ltd
david@ifap.org.uk
