I don’t take credit for being an early adopter of artificial intelligence (AI). It was a matter of necessity.
Our SEO practice for advisors was growing rapidly. A critical part of our service is providing two 750-word original blogs monthly for each client. We were straining to keep up with the demand. It was just about that time when ChatGPT became available. I immediately started to use it and was hooked on AI.
Our productivity was exponentially enhanced. As AI continued to improve and other platforms were introduced, it was a natural extension of our services to start using them to find ways to help our clients market their services cost-effectively.
We are so dependent on AI that I could not function without it. Our job has evolved from creating products (content, websites, videos, social media postings) to managing the AI programs that do all those things faster, better and more cost-effectively than we could have imagined.
Here are the main programs we use, how we use them, and how you can use them to raise the profile of your firm.
Avatars
I couldn’t tell you what an avatar was a few months ago. Now, they are a daily part of my work.
I have a new book being published in April. We are implementing an aggressive social media campaign. My social media team told me they would need “at least” sixty videos.
But producing that volume of videos professionally would cost tens of thousands of dollars. And a DIY approach would involve buying equipment and spending hundreds of hours with uncertain results.
After much research, I solved this problem by creating an avatar using HeyGen’s platform.For a modest fee, I had a videographer shoot a high-quality video of me. I sent the video to HeyGen, which then created the avatar.
To create a video, I only have to record an audio script. I can generate a new video in about 20 minutes without a crew or camera. It couldn’t be easier.
We edit the videos to add multimedia effects. You can view an example here.
Live videos are still superior, but this technology is a game-changer if you want to produce many videos.
What if I didn’t want to record the audio scripts? No problem.
We use ElevenLabs, which can create a voice avatar of my voice. Then all I would have to do is upload the scripts, and the videos would be “narrated” in my voice. I could even select another voice – or another language — and my videos would be narrated in that voice or language. The possibilities are endless.
Marketing Videos
Almost daily, new technology is making videos easier to produce. We use Pictory to create inexpensive videos for our advisory clients. It allows us to select stock footage, which we intersperse with B-roll [supplemental footage] of our client.
The end product is a personalized video on any subject with branding and music. You can view an example here.
For one client, we produced two versions of the same video. One used his actual voice; the other used an avatar of his voice. He selected the one with the voice avatar because he thought it “sounded better.”
Another client asked us to solve a common problem — a low conversion rate. We generated a 2-minute video describing the benefits of using his firm and asked him to show it to every new prospect. His conversion rate doubled.
Content Marketing
AI has no peers in content marketing. That’s where you can see an immediate benefit.
We use both ChatGPT 4.0 and Claude 3 Sonnet for content creation. Both are excellent and are improving rapidly.
Because our clients work in a highly regulated industry, and AI has a well-deserved reputation for making errors (or even “hallucinating”), we check every material fact. Compliance departments also require us to hyperlink to the underlying sources.
Still, getting an outline and even a draft of an article on any subject in one minute is a tremendous time-saver.
Mastering Prompts
We’ve all heard the expression “garbage in, garbage out.” It applies with equal force to AI.
The quality of your prompt will determine the quality of the AI-generated content.
Currently, I use a free prompt generator called Feedough. It takes a simple prompt and turns it into detailed instructions. The difference with using its prompt has been impressive.
For example, I inputted this prompt: “Write a blog from a financial advisor discussing the pros and cons of factor-based investing.”
Here’s the prompt immediately generated by Feedough:
“Phase 1:
You’re an experienced financial advisor who has been working with clients for several years, helping them make informed investment decisions. Your approach is client-centric, aiming to educate and empower them with valuable insights into various investment strategies.
Phase 2:
Your task is to write a blog post addressing the pros and cons of factor-based investing for your clients. Factor-based investing involves selecting securities based on characteristics that are associated with higher returns.
Phase 3:
Start by explaining the concept of factor-based investing, detailing the different factors that investors commonly consider, such as value, size, momentum, and quality. Discuss how these factors can potentially lead to outperformance compared to traditional market-cap-weighted strategies.
Phase 4:
Next, delve into the benefits of factor-based investing, highlighting how it can help enhance diversification, manage risk, and potentially generate higher returns over the long term. However, don’t shy away from addressing the drawbacks, such as the complexity of implementation, higher costs, and the potential for underperformance in certain market conditions.
Phase 5:
For example, you can begin the blog by addressing your clients directly, highlighting the importance of understanding different investment strategies. Then, use real-world examples or case studies to illustrate the impact of factor-based investing on a portfolio’s performance. Remember to balance the advantages and disadvantages to provide a comprehensive overview for your clients.”
The understanding of the subject matter reflected by this prompt is impressive. The difference such a detailed prompt makes in the output generated by ChatGPT is seismic.
Grammar and Plagiarism
I use Grammarly every day. It’s like having a world-class editor on my staff who reviews everything I write and ensures it’s grammatically correct, concise and straightforward.
The benefits of Grammarly extend beyond those activities. It gives my writing a score based on criteria I set forth (like professional tone, clarity, etc.). It reviews the document for plagiarism and tells me what percentage was taken from other sources.
Grammarly’s most significant benefit is its built-in AI. When I am working in Word, it appears in the lower right-hand corner of the page. If I have a question or query, I receive a response and can instantly integrate it into my blog.
Research
My writing is research-based. I use Consensus to find research papers on any subject. All I have to do is enter a research question, and the platform provides a list of research articles on the subject, hyperlinked for easy access.
When I download studies, they can be lengthy and filled with dense jargon. Often, I just need to know the primary findings and the methodology. I then upload the study’s portable document format (PDF) to the AskYourPDF platform. I can ask the platform any question I wish and receive a response. I can also ask follow-up questions. It saves an immense amount of research time.
The Future
AI is moving at warp speed. If you want a glimpse into the future, look at Sora. It is an AI model that can create unbelievably realistic and imaginative videos from simple text instructions.
This technology is so disruptive that Tyler Perry put a $800 million studio expansion on hold after seeing it. He called it “mind-blowing”.
Sora will likely be available sometime in 2024.
The Big Kahuna
The big unknown in the AI world is when it will reach “singularity.”
AI singularity refers to the hypothetical moment when artificial intelligence surpasses human intelligence in all areas and becomes self-improving, leading to an exponential increase in its abilities and the potential to solve complex problems and create new technologies on its own.
Most experts don’t believe complete singularity will be achieved before 2050, if ever.
Renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts AI could reach human-level intelligence before the decade’s end and that “AI will probably be smarter than any human next year.”
Takeaways for Financial Advisors
We are in unchartered waters. No one knows how AI’s rapid advance will impact financial advisors. We do know that:
- AI will be able to automate many tasks now done by financial advisors.
- It can crunch data better and faster, leading to more informed decisions.
- AI will enable more personalized advice tailored to each client.
- It will lead to increased competition from AI-driven advisory services, disrupting the current model.
While there may still be a role for human advisors who provide the “human touch,” don’t be confident that AI can’t replicate human emotions like empathy and make an emotional connection. A recent (2023) study found that AI chatbots and conversational agents have evolved to understand human queries and respond with empathy, making interactions more human-like.
Ignoring AI isn’t a viable option. It’s here to stay and will only get better.
Dan coaches evidence-based financial advisors on how to convert more prospects into clients. His digital marketing firm is a leading provider of AI consulting, SEO, website design, branding, content marketing, and video production services to financial advisors worldwide. His new book, “Wealthier, The Investing Field Guide for Millennials,” will be published in April 2024.
