Whether you are a financial advisor who practices from a physical office or from a virtual office, having a well-thought-out web presence is becoming increasingly important. The Internet should be used as a platform for you to connect with savvy consumers who are browsing for financial advice or information related to their current financial situation and/or needs. Your financial advisor blog should be ripe with fresh financial content that potential clients can easily find and connect with. The content you serve up can help differentiate your business and establish you as an expert in your field.
In this article, we’ll show you have you can leverage each new blog post in different ways to increase your chances of connecting with new prospects over the Internet.
Creating a Content Marketing Strategy
Maintaining a blog is a proven way to attract new clientele and nurture loyal relationships. However, it can also be extremely time-consuming to operate. If you’re thinking of launching a blog strategy in 2019, here are some important questions to ask yourself:
- Do you enjoy creative writing?
- Do you have time to write at least one or more 800+ word articles a month?
- Do you have a content strategy to reach the types of individuals that you like to service?
Whether you end up implementing a blogging strategy yourself or if you hire a team to do it for you, here are some important components to consider.
Original Content is King
The majority of investors will find your content when doing a Google search for a specific topic or subject matter. But to appear in a lead’s search results, your content must meet Google’s many requirements. The better your content meets these requirements, the higher the link to your content will appear. Obviously, being first is always best in the case of search rankings, as your potential clients will naturally gravitate to the results at the top.
One of Google’s requirements to getting your post to the top is that the content must be original, which means never duplicated or reused. New blog content should be produced on a regular basis, so the blog that you worked so hard to write, appears as one original post and counts as one online “mention” of your company. New content should be posted, at a minimum, twice a month, and more preferably once a week. This means that for many financial advisors, writing content can become a second full-time job.
It’s a known fact – people like to consume information in different ways. So the more formats in which you present your content, the greater likelihood they will hear what you have to say and align with your brand. When you go through the efforts of writing original, topical and targeted blog content for your firm, you should ensure that you get the maximum value out of the fruits of your labor by following the 5 tips outlined below.
1. You’ve Got Mail
A simple way to get your blog out there again in a different format is to reposition it as an email. Send an email announcing your new blog post with a few intriguing sentences conveying the importance of your topic and a link for readers to click to read it on your site. You can also choose to turn your new blog itself into a short email, like a newsletter, with a headline, compelling image and condensed content that is well organized for the email reader. Email can be integral to your communication efforts in welcoming leads. This important contact can even be set-up automatically with a savvy Internet marketing partner in the field. Be sure to always include a Call To Action (CTA), which is the clear instruction that tells readers what to do next if they like what they see and want more.
2. Your Audience is Waiting
Another smart step in making the most of your marketing is to turn your blog into a video that will speak to all of those leads who appreciate and respond best to audio-visuals. Even though these videos will use the same content as the blog you posted, a video will not be detected as information that is reused. This is big. Consider the success of YouTube and the major impact of these videos in today’s marketplace where browsers want their information served-up fast and easy. What better way to learn about a topic than to have it read to you while you sit back and take it all in, virtually hands-free?
Give this convenience to your customers by simply reiterating the information from your blog out-loud. This type of on-camera delivery is referred to a “talking head” style of communicating like a television news report, boardroom chat or side-by-side discussion panel. You can write your blog on cue cards so you can smoothly deliver the information while maintaining eye contact with the online audience. You can also read your blog as a “voice-over” that is heard while related images appear on screen to illustrate concepts you are talking about, like a PowerPoint presentation. Post the link to these videos on your website and/or include it in your email communications.
3. Tell Your Friends
Each of your new blogs can and should be turned into posts across social media sites so you can stay connected to your leads in places like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. You do this by taking the most important and compelling point from your blog and putting this short and sweet caption into a post for social media. Do not forget the all-important photo. Including a visual is a must for these visually rich platforms.
A very popular type of visual imagery is an infographic. These are the pictures that are worth a thousand words, with the most important points well-illustrated through design, layout and color to help viewers get what they need to know at a quick glance. If you can find a way to create a highly appealing chart or infographic, then you are well on your way to having a very relatable Internet post that your leads will appreciate and share.
4. Check This Out
Everyone likes a list because they are easy to consume and remember. Does the content in your blog lend itself to a checklist? You can even compile related tips from several of your blogs and format these into one handy, helpful list. Then you can offer this checklist as a free tool. Let your website visitors supply their contact information in return for this printable download. Make sure it is a visually appealing and worthwhile freebie in order to strengthen relationships with current clients and potential investors alike.
5. Case in Point
Could your blog be turned into an example of a client you have helped? If so, this can be a very compelling read. One of the many reasons a case study is so effective is that the characters and challenges are real and your audience can relate to these examples and gain valuable insight. After all, it is satisfying to take a peek inside another investor’s life and discover their obstacles and how they ultimately achieved success. In addition to being an engaging story that can often make the driest or complex concepts much more engaging, the case study is also a natural way to highlight your firm’s real accomplishments.
Ready, Set, Write
Even with all the undeniable reasons to write blogs, creating fresh and relevant content can be challenging. Read this complimentary eBook for suggestions for generating compelling topics and breaking through writer’s block.
Many Hands Make Light Work
With all the tips and strategies, still the process of writing creative content for your successful online presence can be daunting, and no question, time-consuming. This is why many financial advisors partner with an online marketer with copywriting capabilities to ensure these vital aspects of their business are being successfully developed and managed.
Whether you are looking to push your business to the next level or are just starting out as an independent financial advisor and do not want to fail your business before it gets a proper chance, partnering with a financial expert in online marketing can make all the difference.
Paladin Digital Marketing has become an expert in Digital Marketing for financial advisors after using these strategies to help RIAs and IARs since 2003 who are members of the Registry, yet another helpful tool.
Having someone in your corner who knows the ins and outs, such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google guidelines, can pay big returns for your firm when online efforts work to deliver a steady stream of new business in the form of qualified leads for financial advisors. Whether you start the important process of writing and repositioning blog articles yourself or you partner with an expert, you can ensure that you get your money’s worth when you get your content out there in all the ways your clients crave.
