Page 26 - Investment Advisor April 2021

WOMEN IN WEALTH

By Jane Wollman Rusoff

Samantha Russell: How to Leverage SEC’s

‘Game-Changing’ New Ad Rule

The marketing whiz discusses how RIAs can use testimonials once

the rule goes into effect.

he new Securities and Exchange
Commission rule letting RIAs
Tuse client testimonials for mar-
keting is “game-changing,” digital mar-
keting expert Samantha Russell told
Investment Advisor in an interview.
The chief evangelist of FMG Suite and
the recently acquired Twenty Over Ten
suggests that although the Investment
Adviser Marketing Rule is set to go
into effect on May 4, RIAs should take
a wait-and-see approach before rush-
ing to try the long-prohibited marketing
tack. Let the bigger firms test the waters
first, she cautions.
Formerly chief marketing and busi-
ness development officer at Twenty a former competitor based in San Diego, It’s really game-changing. Clients [and
Over Ten from its inception, Russell and specializes in marketing software for prospects] will be able to go online and
the firm’s staff of 30 now reside under FAs and insurance agents. read reviews of advisors. That hasn’t
the FMG Suite umbrella. The SaaS (soft- Before joining Twenty Over Ten — been available for financial services
ware as a service) company acquired co-founded by Ryan Russell, to whom before. The rule will make it incred-
Twenty Over Ten last December. Samantha is married — the Cleveland ibly easy for advisors to get reviews and
Russell, 34, has been an industry force native was executive director of the testimonials from clients, then use them
of nature since Twenty Over Ten’s 2017 nonprofit Kevin Dare Foundation in their marketing to show others there
launch. She seeks to convert reluctant after working for Pennsylvania State are consumers who have worked with
advisors to use digital technology for University in fundraising and event them and had a great experience. The
marketing their practices with tools that planning. advisors that provide the most value will
provide full regulatory compliance. Here are highlights of our interview: be able to reap the benefit of that social
A frequent industry speaker, she proof [influence of others].
herself is a ubiquitous online presence Your new title is chief evangelist. What
recommending marketing approach- makes it apt? But the Biden administration has frozen
es to help FAs grow via social media It’s a great fit for my role, which is to the rule. Why is that?
and other tech tacks. Russell has been help advisors understand they have the Lawyers tell me that it will eventually
widely praised for serving up actionable power to market their firms. There’s make its way to the Federal Register and
techniques to smaller advisors who for been such an acceleration in the shift go into effect a few days after that —
years have hesitated to employ digital to digital marketing. My role is to help hopefully, in the next quarter or two.
technology and social media for growth. advisors use it to grow. When the Biden administration came
From the start, Twenty Over Ten’s into office, they put a freeze on any leg-
goal has been to develop compliant What’s your view on the new SEC islation in many [areas] that was pend-
digital marketing strategies for smaller rule that will allow RIAs to use client ing [in order to] review it. It isn’t a
advisors to grow their firms. FMG Suite, testimonials in their marketing? targeted freeze on this particular rule.

24 INVESTMENT ADVISOR APRIL 2021 | ThinkAdvisor.com