If you could only have one of the many inbound marketing tips for financial advisors, it’s this: When it comes to creating content, you don’t have to start from scratch! Repurpose what you already have!
In the financial services industry especially, a business website is crucial. But it can’t be just a stagnant brochure that doesn’t do anything but take up room in cyberspace. A good website should entice new visitors to the business and turn them into customers by answering any questions they have. How you do that is with compelling content.
Content is what people look for when they visit a site. It is also how you differentiate yourself and establish your value as a financial advisor. That’s why your content needs to be fresh, engaging and useful. Otherwise, there would be no reason for visitors to hang around and learn more about you.
However, creating a constant stream of new, original content on a regular basis is not always a favorite task for a financial advisor. It can be time-consuming and extremely difficult for the analytical advisor who’d rather deal with numbers than words.
Financial advisors can always hire a firm to do the writing for them – this frees up the time and anxiety it takes to create marketing material themselves. They can also repurpose old content, either created by them or the experts they hired, to make it fresh again.
Creating fresh, relevant content for your website or blog can be a challenge. Say goodbye to writer's block! Download our Free eBook: 5 Ways to Source Content for Your Financial Advisor Blog & Website
Repurposing is presenting content in a different way that maintains its originality and core message, while reaching an expanded audience. For example, if most of your content is delivered through a blog, you can repackage it so it can be delivered through other mediums, such as a slide-deck presentation.
If you are concerned about your content becoming repetitious or deemed unoriginal, don’t. It will reach different audiences with different preferences for how they consume content. That is the beauty of leveraging existing content using different mediums. You can extend your reach with minimal additional effort.
Here are 9 ways to get the biggest bang for your buck and repurpose content for maximum results:
Webinar
Webinars are a highly effective way to actively engage with clients and prospects. You can take almost any blog post or report and convert it into a webinar presentation and present it to a live audience on sites like Google Hangout. You would have to add graphics, but the simpler they are, the better.
Podcast
An increasing number of people are choosing podcasts or audio files as a preferred way of consuming content. Audio content can be consumed while driving, walking or working out. Although most podcasts are produced in audio format, they can also be produced as video casts where the advisor becomes a talking head. It’s fairly simple to reformat a 1,000-word blog post into a 10-minute podcast script. Once you record the podcast, it can be uploaded to hosting sites such as iTunes or Stitcher. You can include links to your podcasts or most of these other mediums on your website.
Video
If you like presenting in front of camera, you can simply film yourself presenting your blog post in script format. You can create your own YouTube channel and link to it from your website and/or social media sites. You can also repurpose your webinars as YouTube videos, so they can be viewed by new audiences. If your videos are instructive and at least mildly entertaining, you are likely to develop a following (the same with podcasts).
Slide Deck
If you create slides for a webinar, you can format them as a slide deck that can be presented on sites like SlideShare.
Use your blog posts for an email newsletter or as part of a “welcome” autoresponder sequence. Your email marketing can also actively promote any of your other mediums with links to your podcasts, invitations to a webinar or offers to download a free guide.
Infographic
Infographics are hot right now. Studies show that an infographic is likely to get you 30 times the number of views as an article. If you have a blog or article that includes a lot of bullet points or statistics, you can convert it into an infographic using sites like Pktochart, Infogram or Venngage.
Lists
Everyone likes lists. They are easy to consume and remember. You can compile tips from several blogs on a particular subject and format them into a list using sites like List.ly.
Guides or eBooks
If you have several blog posts or articles that center on a particular subject, such as retirement, you can turn them into a downloadable eBook or guide. Just stitch your articles together and add a table of contents, an introduction and a conclusion.
Social Media Posts
Your social media sites can be used as a conduit to any of your content mediums. Your posts can include a teaser or summary along with a link to your podcast, blog, YouTube video, slide deck or website where visitors can download a guide. If you have a good following, it’s also a great way to promote a webinar.
The Value of Repurposing Your Content
As you have probably gathered, finding ways to recycle your existing content is not about working harder; it’s about working smarter. If you have good content, repurposing it can ensure it lives on longer and reaches a broader audience. It is well established that different investors prefer to consume content in different ways. Some prefer podcasts to blogs; others prefer visual to audio. You never know when or how someone will want to consume your content, so it makes sense to deliver it when and where it is most likely to be found.
Equally important, you are getting more value from your efforts. When you create a blog post or article, you can have as many as five or six different ways to package it for maximum consumption. Your website, blog, social media sites and email marketing can work together to promote any of the mediums you choose. The more opportunities you create for people to consume your content, the greater likelihood they will be drawn to your website, which is your ultimate goal. If you go through the effort of creating content, you might as well get maximum value from it.
