How to Prospect for High Net Worth Clients
Elizabeth Glassen, BlueSky Communications
We at BlueSky have been contemplating some of the big hard-to-answer questions we receive. One question clients often ask us is how to target high net worth individuals. Given this segment of the population has been fending well during the pandemic, this may be an audience your business should pursue.
When you create a brand or are looking to market a product, one of the first things you should ask is “who is this for?” Usually the target market can be identified in many ways – from hobbies to age, gender, stage in life, geographic location and, of course, income. When it comes to the marketing that most of us experience on a daily basis, it’s often directed toward the masses, targeting a wide age range, large geographical area and a middle income population. However a handful of companies whose brands we may not often see in mass advertising are catering to those who fall in a more niche category: high net worth.
Tesla and Rolls Royce are brands that come to mind that are targeting the high net worth individual (HNWI) – a category defined by someone who has liquid assets – excluding real estate – exceeding USD $1,000,000. Similarily, both of these brands are known for their lack in traditional advertising, and yet they’re both successfully marketing luxury goods to the HNWI. For Tesla, the money they would spend on advertising is put back into improving the technology in their cars and having high-end dealer locations – such as Toronto’s Yorkdale Mall. On the other hand, Rolls Royce relies on their long history and high-class clientele – such as Queen Elizabeth II – to promote their product.
And while this market is seen as having money to spend, they value their privacy much more than most, which is why they appear to be a more elusive market than their midrange income counterparts. Not to mention they also make up a smaller percentage of the population, making them both harder to find. On the upside, it’s valuable to note that those who target high net worth individuals (HNWI) typically have smaller customer bases than those trying to reach the masses.
So how can your brand or company reach these individuals?
Going Traditional with Media Relations
This is not the segment of the population to be influenced by the typical social influencers that have increased in popularity over the years, nor are they the social influencers themselves. Rather, they’re more likely to read the Financial Times, the Financial Post or the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business, making traditional media relations efforts the most appropriate stream of communications to reach this market.
For consumer goods, exclusive magazines such as Sur La Terre, only available in luxury hotels and car showrooms in world class cities, or the UK’s Wealth Collection Magazine, published twice annually to 41,000 readers consisting of executives and celebrities, are the most likely types of publications to get your product seen by HNWI.
Go Offline
The chances are good that a HNWI has a circle of peers who are also HNWI, given their shared experience of having wealth. And as with most of us, they’ll likely support businesses they’ve had positive experiences with by promoting it to their circle, allowing businesses to accumulate clientele through word of mouth. But how do you reach them?
Networking is one of the main ways to gain business in general, and becomes much more important when dealing with HNWI, as word-of-mouth is a main way that companies serving HNWI gain referrals and new clients. Becoming a member of a club as detailed by a Think Advisor article, or attending relevant conferences would be a good way to meet with potential clients. And in these times of social distancing, these organizations are still active, often with a decreased membership rate. Participating in virtual events where your company is offering certain expertise or sponsoring newsletter or online content particularly of interest to this group are great ways to engage HNWI. One such relevant conference could be the High Net Worth Annual Conference, of which there are various chapters across Canada.
Be Flexible and Able to Adapt
Unlike a mass market product or service that looks to appeal to the wider population in a ready-to-purchase package, targeting the HNWI means being able to customize the experience or service for them. They’re not likely to buy a car right off the lot, they’re more likely to have something built to their specifications and customizations from scratch – a task that a brand accustomed to catering to this market is prepared to meet.
For example, a Wealth-X article quotes Porsche’s Marek Grzebin, the head of a department specifically dedicated to their high net worth clientele: “They are spending a lot, buying very, very expensive models and spending even more on personalization…this target group doesn’t want anything off the shelf. And even when they buy a limited model, they personalize it even further.”
Creating a personalized and tailored approach to reaching and meeting potential clients’ needs is important for any business or brand, but is especially cruicial for catering to the individual tastes of a market whose main commonality is their high net worth.
Looking Ahead
The above are all tried and true methods of reaching the HNWI, but it’s important to stay ahead of the curve when positioning your product and service for the upcoming generation of wealthy individuals. As Wealth-X notes in their recent Decade of Wealth report, not only are millennials and Gen X becoming wealthier at a faster rate than previous generations due to advances in technology, but the proporation of wealthy women is set to increase in what has typically been a male-dominated market.
Philanthropy has also always been an area of focus for HNWI looking to give back – taking up approximately eight per cent of their main industry focus, making it third in the top 10 primary industries for wealthy individuals, behind banking/finance and business/consumer services. And with the younger generation particularly passionate about social causes and supporting non-profit organizations, the report predicts the interest of this industry to increase as a main focus for HNWI. Companies and brands can leverage the HNWI’s interest for philanthropy by having a visible corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy, especially one that aligns with the causes they’re most likely to support, such as education.
While HNWI are considerably more of a niche category to target, a focused communications strategy that demonstrates your brand’s caché – whether you are about luxury or innovation; engages the audience in a personal way and can successfully permeate their social circles, will go a long way in in attracting customers with money to spend.
