Don’t Try to Boil the Ocean

Written By : Clifford Blodgett

Go Big By Narrowing Your Aim

Content marketing for financial advisors is still a fairly new concept and those just starting to adopt the approach often find themselves wondering how to improve their results and questioning whether or not they are on the right track.

Let’s discuss some ways that you can get the most out of your content marketing efforts.

Narrow Your Focus

Ask yourself the following questions regarding your intended audience:

What problems or concerns are on their minds?
What keeps them awake at night?
What information can I provide to help them?

If your content answers these issues, you’re well on the way to content marketing success.

The whole point of content marketing is to attract an audience by providing material which people find educational, entertaining, or informative. Doing this encourages communication and a loyal following, and keeps you in front of your intended audience regularly without selling.

Personalize your style.

In the world of content marketing, personal nearly always beats formal.

Keep your words simple and easy to understand, use analogies, tell interesting stories, and even inject humor whenever possible to make your point. Consumers of your content should feel a connection, as if you are personally talking to them alone.

Adjusting the tone of your content takes practice and skill, especially if you tend to be more formal with your communication style, but it makes a huge difference in how your audience relates to you.

Don’t try to boil the ocean.

Occasionally, content marketing intensions are pure, but misguided. You may find this when advisors try and rush to build an enormous audience right away and marketing efforts are broadened to the point that they become impersonal. Ambition is fantastic, but not when it results in casting too big of a net and publishing content that is not pertinent enough to the audience. Doing this can usually get you ignored rather than followed as the bulk of your audience may not relate to the content you create.

Instead of this broad approach, focus content to attract a specific demographic. Speak to this demographic directly through your content to inspire trust and credibility. Focus on quality of interactions rather than quantity and your content marketing strategy will pay off in the form of new and increasingly loyal clients.

Remember…

Obviously, you intend for your content to be viewed by more than one person. The lesson here is that each of those people should feel as though you are speaking to them personally. Creative writing or video skills are required in order to accomplish this goal, as well as careful analysis of your audience’s needs and experience with the topic. If these skills are not in your repertoire, consider outsourcing them to professionals.

Keep your focus narrowed, consider the problems and concerns of your audience, and create the type of information they are likely to seek. When you put these pieces together, your content marketing efforts transform from a complex puzzle into a work of art.

FOR INSURANCE PROFESSIONAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR USE WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC 14193 – 2015/3/5

Filed under: Financial Advisor Marketing