RIAs that “fully harness” technology outperform competitors—with some estimates claiming it helps them earn 86% more AUM. But many firms are stuck with a “frankenstack” that generates more headaches than AUM growth.
This article explores how RIAs can solve that problem and turn their marketing tech stack into a reliable growth engine. From outlining the ideal stack to walking you through a complete tech audit, it will empower you to make more informed decisions—and finally build the tech stack you need to drive real marketing ROI.
Content:
RIAs that leverage tech effectively benefit across both “areas” of marketing:
Digital marketing is increasingly the way clients find financial advisors today—especially younger clients, nearly one-quarter of whom won’t even consider an advisor who hasn’t got an active social media presence.
But competing for clients online with a weak tech stack is like fighting with one arm tied behind your back.
From reducing the time burden to unlocking personalized content at scale, the right marketing technology opens up a world of possibilities. RIAs that allow their advisors to use these tools can expect to see more efficient lead nurturing, smoother onboarding, and stronger client retention.
Your marketing tech stack influences inorganic growth in two ways:
Roughly 76% of advisors say technology will be critical to their success in the next five years, making best-in-class tech non-negotiable for recruitment. Many broker-dealers with notoriously restrictive policies around tech are already starting to see the impact, as advisors opt to join independent firms that enable them to leverage tech more effectively.
Many legacy firms may struggle to accept that not letting advisors use Instagram or use their preferred email marketing platform would be a deal breaker—but that’s exactly where the problem lies.
Technology is a major differentiator within RIA M&A and could be the simplest way to show that your firm is future-proof.
Inorganic growth is often considered a “backroom” activity, based on networking strategies and handshake agreements. But marketing is increasingly essential for many RIAs to compete against larger firms—and build a brand that helps them secure more acquisitions.
Digital marketing technology is crucial to enable RIAs to market themselves efficiently. From leveraging automation to save time to creating clear visibility of which messages, channels, and strategies produce real results, your tech stack is essential to building a strong RIA brand without blowing your budget in 2026.
But what does it actually take to achieve those results?
Most RIAs we speak to recognize the value of marketing tech; most are actively investing in it. The problem is perspective; they spend so much time chasing data and putting out fires, it becomes hard to step back and see the big picture.
The following grid outlines everything your ideal marketing tech stack would enable:
|
Capability |
What It Is |
Value/Outcome |
What's Required |
|
Centralized Insight |
A unified data platform that aggregates prospect and client information from multiple sources into a single view. |
Eliminates data silos and provides advisors with a complete understanding of each relationship, enabling more informed decision-making and revealing patterns across your client base that drive strategic planning. |
CRM integration, data warehouse or CDP (Customer Data Platform), analytics tools, and consistent data governance practices to ensure accuracy and compliance. |
|
Automated Marketing |
Marketing automation platform that executes campaigns, nurtures leads, and manages client communications without manual intervention. |
Frees advisors to focus on high-value client interactions while ensuring consistent, timely communication that moves prospects through the funnel and keeps clients engaged. |
Marketing automation software (HubSpot, Marketo, etc.), email service provider, workflow design expertise, and integration with CRM and compliance review systems. |
|
Accelerated Content Production |
Content management system and workflow tools that streamline the creation, approval, and deployment of marketing materials. |
Reduces time-to-market for campaigns from weeks to days, allowing your firm to respond quickly to market events, regulatory changes, or competitive opportunities while maintaining brand consistency. |
Modern CMS, template library, compliance approval workflow, content collaboration tools, and potentially headless CMS architecture for omnichannel deployment. |
|
Personalization at Scale |
AI-powered tools that customize messaging, content recommendations, and communication timing based on individual client data and behavior. |
Transforms generic outreach into relevant conversations that resonate with each client's specific situation, significantly improving engagement rates and demonstrating your firm's attentiveness. |
AI/ML platform with personalization engine, sufficient data volume for training models, dynamic content capabilities, and integration with email and web platforms. |
|
Advisor Enablement |
Tools that provide advisors with approved materials, conversation intelligence, and guidance on next steps with prospects and clients. |
Ensures advisors always have compliant, effective resources at their fingertips while AI assistance helps them follow up more effectively and focus their energy where it matters most. |
Content management system with permissions, AI transcription and summarization tools, recommendation engine, mobile accessibility, and integration with CRM and meeting platforms. |
|
Improved Attribution |
An analytics framework that tracks marketing touchpoints and connects them to business outcomes like meetings scheduled, proposals delivered, and assets gathered. |
Proves marketing ROI with clarity, enables data-driven budget allocation, and creates shared understanding between marketing and advisors about what's actually driving growth. |
Multi-touch attribution dashboards, clear definitions of conversion events, agreement on attribution models, integration across all marketing and sales systems, and regular reporting cadence. |
All this would enable RIAs to proactively drive organic and inorganic growth—all while knowing exactly how they’re doing it. So why do most firms not have such a system?
We have discussed marketing tech with countless RIAs, and three challenges crop up repeatedly:
Most RIAs assembled their tech stack piecemeal, creating a “frankenstack” of disconnected tools and platforms. Data gets siloed; training gets convoluted or disregarded; and simply mapping the system becomes a major headache.
The problem is that many firms assume the solution is more tech—and the cycle continues. Research suggests integration is still the number one tech problem for RIAs, suggesting consolidation is essential to unlock more value in the future.
Many firms are attached to solutions that may be outdated or suboptimal. A common problem, for example, is that RIAs prefer to use tech built specifically for their industry—even if it is not the best platform.
The SEC’s Marketing Rule is a major bottleneck for most RIAs’ marketing efforts—especially when you’re leveraging advanced tech. From automation to content personalization, the need for careful compliance checks often delays campaigns or simply erodes any efficiency gains tech might otherwise have delivered.
So we’ve identified the ideal tech stack and the problems you’re likely facing. Now it’s time to explore how you can identify the best path to solving those problems—and start building toward that ideal tech stack.
From auditing your tech stack to rebalancing a portfolio: the goal isn’t to scrap the whole thing, but to make sure every component is still serving its purpose and working in balance.
Follow these eight steps to identify, fix, and optimize key elements of your marketing tech stack:
Just as advisors build a complete household balance sheet before offering recommendations, you need a full picture of every tool in your tech stack. Without a holistic view, you risk double-counting, undervaluing specific channels, or missing assets that could be better leveraged.
Think of data flow like cash flow management: if cash—or data—gets stuck, delayed, or routed through unnecessary steps, the entire system underperforms. Healthy cash flow leads to clarity; healthy data flow does the same for your client experience and decision-making.
Attribution is your performance reporting. Without consistent definitions and transparent measurement models, you can’t tell what’s driving returns—or where you’re experiencing drag. A poor attribution model turns marketing into guesswork instead of a strategic growth engine.
Automation is like a well-built financial plan: it should guide, educate, and support—not overwhelm with irrelevant noise. When workflows fall out of date or lose alignment with segmentation, they resemble outdated planning assumptions that lead clients astray.
Platform integrations are similar to custodial and portfolio-management system connections—when they fail, everything downstream becomes manual, error-prone, and risky. Healthy integrations keep your tech stack operating like a well-coordinated trading and reporting workflow.
Advisor enablement is akin to giving clients access to the right tools for disciplined investing. When advisors lack timely information or can’t find compliant materials, they’re like investors flying blind—forced to react emotionally instead of executing a clear strategy.
AI is the equivalent of alternative investments: powerful when aligned with your strategy, risky when poorly governed, and value-destroying when misunderstood. Your audit should confirm AI is generating real returns—not hidden exposures.
Prioritizing upgrades is similar to sequencing financial planning recommendations: you tackle the actions with the greatest impact first, delay those with minimal upside, and map the rest into a clear long-term plan.
ProperExpression helps RIAs produce marketing that actually drives revenue—and tech is a core foundation for everything we do.
As Platinum HubSpot Partners, we’ve helped numerous firms at various levels of tech and marketing maturity audit their tools and build a more effective system. This approach helped one RIA platform rethink its entire marketing foundation—and generate over $2 billion AUM in new pipeline across a single year.