074 - Robert Sofia: What Your Brand Should Say on Social Media
In this episode, Emily and Robert Sofia, CEO of Snappy Kraken, talk about how to have a unique voice on social media and what that really means.
What does it really mean to be authentic on social media? For financial advisors and for any company brand, this is a common piece of advice but it’s not always clear how to walk the walk.
Robert Sofia is the Founder and CEO of Snappy Kraken and has over 20 years of digital marketing experience. Among marketing automation programs for financial advisors, Snappy Kraken is ranked #1 in customer satisfaction and is also the fastest growing according to the 2020 T3/Morningstar Advisor Technology Survey.
Robert and Emily Binder discussed what it takes to make your brand stand out on social media.
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Emily asked Robert what it sounds like when an advisor has a unique voice on social media and how this can carry over to other marketing like email.
Robert also revealed some surprising advice on email marketing based on his firm's analysis of over one million emails. The episode wraps up with some key tips that financial advisors and all businesses need to know about the kind of brand personality that makes marketing successful. Get some valuable advice about marketing your business on social media and share this episode with a colleague or friend who could benefit.
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“He’s not intimidating. He’s fun, so is our culture. We’re snappy, we make things happen quickly.” - Robert Sofia on the character and brand design of Snappy Kraken.
Topics and timestamps:
01:24: Meet Robert Sofia, CEO of Snappy Kraken. How did Robert get started in marketing, and what was the inspiration for Snappy Kraken? Robert entered the financial industry in 2004 and noticed a marketing vacuum. He was inspired to shake things up and provide marketing guidance for financial advisors.
02:59: There is a lot of "copy and paste" marketing advice in the financial industry since the early 2000s. Why is that a problem? It creates a flat playing field where no individual can possibly stand out.
04:32: Competing factors for the psychology behind marketing decisions in the financial landscape: lack of creativity, social pressure from social media, and trusted brands serving as a “safeway”.
06:30:
What does it mean to be authentic on social media?
We are often afraid to be our true selves because it’s vulnerable, but this is the most effective way to present your brand on social media because you’ll attract the right people. Click here to skip to this part of the video.
07:56: Should you customize your brand's voices, tones, or content based on the platform you're using How can you analyze when you're mastering one channel over another?
"It depends so much on context, and what works in one context or maybe even one period of time, may be different in another context or another period of time. It could even be on a different channel; it will completely flop, where it thrived on one." - Robert Sofia
09:49: Snappy Kraken's most recent study analyzed over 5 million data points to test the different design and strategic components of email marketing. They were able to translate that data to other platforms and optimize their social channels and landing pages and improve their strategic decision making.
"When there's true uniqueness and creativity combined with solid data, that's when marketing magic happens." - Robert Sofia
10:55: The secrets to optimizing your email marketing templates: buttons or no buttons, CTAs, and more.
12:05: Robert answers the question once and for all: Is email still an effective marketing channel? Yes.
"When we look at every single marketing channel, and we analyze the performance and response rates, invariably, the highest ROI is coming from building and nurturing an email list over time, and the actual highest response rates and click rates are coming through email." - Robert Sofia
14:29: Spam gives email marketing a bad name, but if you focus on the value and advice you're providing your audience, you will be able to keep and grow that audience. Make sure there is a valuable service, solution, or advice in every email you send.
Snappy Kraken uses the data it collected in their own data analysis to continuously improve their landing pages, social media, and more.
16:00: What does it mean to create a unique brand, and how can you make yourself stand out? Let's face it; it's hard to cut through the noise. Managing your marketing tactics can leave little time to dedicate to your strategy.
23:00: So, why the name "Snappy Kraken"? How did Robert find the symbol for his brand? What are some examples of other companies that haven't taken their branding so literally in the financial world? Lighthouse, anchor, and tree logos no more!
"We built the brand; we built a character that was different, but still had a story." - Robert Sofia
Books and Apps Robert Recommends:
Book: Principles by Ray Dalio
Podcast: The BeanCast (hear Emily’s latest appearance on Bob Knorpp’s top marketing and advertising podcast in Beancast episode 593: The Quibi Dilemma and hear more BeanCasts with Emily Binder here)
Robert Sofia, Founder and CEO of Snappy Kraken, has over 20 years of digital marketing experience and listens to book summaries on Blinkist in his free time.
Connect with Robert Sofia:
Twitter: @robertsofia
Connect with Snappy Kraken:
Twitter: @SnappyKraken
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068 - Perth Tolle: Free People, Strong Markets (VIDEO)
Hear why freedom weighting is a powerful way to invest internationally, rewarding countries with greater freedom for their citizens. Find out how Perth Tolle has quantified freedom for international investing with her ETF: Life + Liberty Indexes.
Guest: Perth Tolle is the founder of Life + Liberty Indexes, an index company that uses human and economic freedom metrics as the primary factor in its investment process. Prior to Life + Liberty Indexes, she was an advisor at Fidelity Investments in California and Texas.
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Find out why freedom weighting is a powerful way to invest, and how Perth Tolle has quantified freedom for the purposes of international investing with her ETF. This fund was created for investors want a broad emerging markets allocation but don't want to support the worst human rights offenders like China, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Russia, etc.
Countries are scored by think tanks including the CATO Institute on three measures:
Rights to Life
Rights to Liberty
Rights to Property
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Perth Tolle, founder of Life + Liberty Indexes, talks about the relationships between human rights and economic freedoms and a country’s market strength. And yes we discussed China.
Guest: Perth Tolle is the founder of Life + Liberty Indexes, an index company that uses human and economic freedom metrics as the primary factor in its investment process.
What effect do greater citizen liberty and economic freedom have on a country's stock market? We’re giving you the breakdown on how Life + Liberty calculates their index. Hear how freedom weighted investing can be a beacon of positivity during tough times.
Disclaimer: This is not a recommendation to buy or sell securities. This episode does not contain any financial recommendations or advice.
Topics and Timestamps
01:43: Life + Liberty Indexes and the mission with the FRDM Index
“We started this company so that people who have an interest in freedom and the benefits of freedom as a foundation for economic growth and societal growth over time can have a way to invest according to those values.” - Perth Tolle
02:30: Index investing: What is it?
03:15: How cultural backgrounds and governments can impact investing habits
05:00: Where does the data come from for the index, and how is it broken down? Think tanks who provide the scoring data include: Cato Institute, Fraser Institute, and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
“I break down those metrics into three categories. The rights to life, the rights to liberty, and the rights to property.” - Perth Tolle
07:15: Incorporating economic freedom factors into strategy: “We’re for freedom.”
08:00: The dichotomy of freedoms: How do economic freedoms and human freedoms relate?
“People are the driving force behind an economy in any society. And so if your people are not free to innovate, be creative, and to not live in fear of censorship, arrest, disappearances, or worse, then you’re not going to have as much innovation as you potentially could.” - Perth Tolle
11:20: The Lion King and power dynamics
“You’re either marching towards freedom or away from it.” -Perth
14:00: How does Perth determine which countries are scalable enough to include in the FRDM index?
15:00: Shout out to our friends at Ritholtz Wealth Management, especially to Josh Brown (@reformedbroker) for putting Perth on Emily’s radar. The Ritholtz Mafia puts out some of the best content in finance, from books to blogs to podcasts to their top ranked Alexa Flash Briefing, Market Moment, which we launched.
Recommended reading from Perth’s stack: check out Michael Batnick’s book, Big Mistakes: The Best Investors and Their Worst Investments:
15:40: Building connections and advisory boards - the Fund Board, AKA the Fun Board
19:30: How earned media can help you grow your business. Networking, as always, can help you thrive in the beginning.
22:40: Shining the light on progress: Your investing decisions can be considered charitable in some cases.
23:45: Big stacks of books and recommendations to get you through quarantine.
Books and Podcasts Perth recommends:
Pod: any of Bill Browder’s his many appearances on the podcast Stay Tuned with Preet - e.g. The Death of Sergei Magnitsky (with Bill Browder)
Patrick O'Shaughnessy’s podcast Invest like the Best, episode: Investing During a Crisis with guest Dan Rasmussen of Verdad Capital
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