Does Your Content Match Your Goals?

Written By : Clifford Blodgett

This is Part One in a series of articles on Content Marketing…

Meet Jeff (fictional).

Jeff has been a financial advisor for over thirty years. But in recent years, he has discerned that his old methods of marketing just aren’t as effective as they used to be. He knows he needs to “get with the times” and include digital marketing in his toolbox. So he builds a website and joins a few social media sites, and yet Jeff doesn’t notice any difference in his lead conversions. He feels disappointed, because he had been told that digital marketing was the newest, best way to attract new clients. Discouraged, Jeff gives up digital marketing and goes back to his old methods. His business isn’t thriving, but he assumes that digital marketing just doesn’t work for advisors.

Unfortunately, Jeff was wrong about digital marketing. It is ideally suited for financial advisors, and it could have worked very well for him. So what went wrong?

What Jeff did was very much like firing shots in the dark. He thought he was shooting clay pigeons, but he couldn’t see his targets. He created content without first analyzing his audience, and sent out messages without identifying his goals. It’s no wonder that most of his “shots” missed the target.

The first step to a successful marketing campaign is to set a very clear goal. Jeff set a vague goal; he wanted to increase his profits, but he failed to analyze how he intended to accomplish that objective. Examples of more specific goals include:

• I want to drive more traffic to my website
• I want to increase my brand awareness
• I want to deepen my relationship with current clients
• I want to generate more leads
• I want to receive more referrals from other professionals in my field

Remember this rule: Never create content just for the sake of creating content. Jeff probably wrote some blogs or posted on social media, but his efforts didn’t resonate with his audience because he didn’t define his goals. You should be asking yourself who is your audience, what you hope to communicate to that audience, and what you want to accomplish. Once you define your objectives, you can create the right content and distribute it the correct way.

Produce the right type of content. Financial advisors can produce a variety of different types of media, such as blogs, videos, social media posts, emails, white papers, and more. But each type of content is geared toward particular objectives. For example, you would write keyword-rich blogs if you want to increase your website traffic. But you might use an entertaining video or social media posts to establish your brand.

Use the correct channels to distribute your content. Once you’ve produced the right content, you have to reach out to your audience using the appropriate channels. For example, an advisor might focus on LinkedIn, which is geared toward professionals, whereas a wedding planner might find success on the more casual Facebook platform. If you want to deepen your relationship with current clients, you might email them directly. But if you want to make new contacts, you could focus on lead generation via your website.

If Jeff had taken these steps before embarking on his digital marketing campaign, he would have felt much more satisfied with the results. Before you get started, remember to ask yourself exactly what you hope to accomplish. Then you’re ready for the second step of crafting your marketing strategy, which we will discuss in the next article in this series.

 

Filed under: Financial Advisor Marketing, Social Media for Financial Advisors