How many times have you heard that finances are dull and boring and no one wants to read about them? Wrong. It doesn't have to be that way. Here's how to create engaging content surrounding the financial industry.
Finance-related information is often dismissed as boring and dry and a pain to read. But it need not be that way. After all, everybody needsgood and reliable information when it comes to money. So it should not be difficult for financial institutes to grab people’s attention with the right kind of content.
For an engaging content marketing plan, focus on creating content that helps your customers and provides them with the resources they need to make informed decisions.
Yes, we live in a consumer-driven world now, and not only do you need to understand exactly what content your target audience wants, you need to be obsessed with them to succeed. This post will help you do exactly this.
Before you dive into a new strategy, it’s good to get the basics right. Make a plan and create an overview of your goals and what your content marketing will look like. Here’s something to get you started.
How many times have you heard that finances are dull and boring and no one wants to read about them? Well, you’d be surprised to know how many people want to read about them, seeing as struggling with finances is a common thing. Here are some solid reasons for you to consider creating content surrounding the financial industry.
Your goal is to educate consumers on difficult but crucial financial matters. It’s also what will make your institute stand out from the rest.
With video, white papers, and other forms of content, your job is to simplify complex information and present it a relatable manner. That means that the writers you hire and the marketers you employ need to have a solid grasp on not only communication strategies but the actual finance industry – some of these topics are really tough and you can’t get away with not having an expert write for you.
As people are looking to spend their money more wisely, how can you help them do so? In branding yourself as a resource, you’re also branding yourself as their go-to source online, and thus the go-to place when it comes to choosing a financial institute in real life.
Also, not all content is digital. And if you are also targeting retired folks, they may not be too enthusiastic about learning digitally. So consider creating paper content and guides as well to distribute to this group.
Here are some examples of great content that would educate your customers. Obviously this type of marketing is niche-specific, so these examples are just meant to inspire you. Consider them and mold them to fit your strategy.
Joe Pulizzi of the Content Marketing Institute cited the financial industry as being even more regulated than the health industry. In fact, “regulation” is the number one reason cited by marketers in the financial industry that makes them hesitant to hop on the content marketing bandwagon.
But while this is an issue, there are many large institutes doing it well. It’s about providing education, and not breaking customer trust with breaking regulation laws. Marketers don’t have to be afraid; they just need to consult with their legal team before making a content marketing plan. That isn’t a big hurdle.
Focusing on simply providing the content that customers seek out and observing how other financial institutes are creating their strategies is a very safe place to start.
I would like to highlight my personal favorite example of a financial institute that really gets content marketing. If you only check out one company or only click on one hyperlink from this post, let it be to explore Sun Life Financial’s content marketing strategy further.
Sun Life Financial has created Brighter Lifefor any of their customers or anyone simply interested in finance-related topics. Here are a few highlights, but definitely check this out for yourself:
After you come across an example of a strategy done well, it’s a good idea to note the points you found exemplary. Then brainstorm and analyze with your team about how you can apply them to your own strategy.
Here are some key takeaways from what Sun Life Financial is doing really well:
Of course, you’re going to create a plethora of resources and your own content to inspire trust in your customers.
In addition to that, also share articles and resources by other financial institutes and authors. Make sure that everything you share is accurate and from reliable sources. Your customers will appreciate the fact that you’re sharing information that helps them even if you didn’t generate the content yourself and even if it doesn’t link back to your own brand.
Plus, no one likes to see a person or a brand talk about themselves and only share their own content all the time.
In addition to sharing other content on Twitter and Facebook, consider sending out a weekly email with the best curated content from the week. Of course, you can include some of your own, but make sure you primarily include news articles and other timely and relevant posts and resources from other sources. Your customers will rely on you and appreciate you for being their thorough source of information on all things finances.
Listen closely and your customers will tell you exactly what content they are looking for. You may even want to adopt a social media monitoring tool so that you know everything people are saying digitally about your brand. You can learn more about that here.
The purpose of having an active social media presence is to engage with your customers. You want to interact with them, and most importantly give them a voice.
You don’t want to use Twitter to simply tweet out your content. You want to respond to questions your customers are tweeting and respond to them. Respond to everything! Even the negative tweets.
Host tweet chats, Google Hangouts, and pose questions so that you are able to draw your customers into your content marketing strategy instead of dishing out content hoping they would like it.
One advantage that the finance industry has when it comes to content marketing is the massive amount of data they possess.
How can you leverage this creatively? Whether it’s through an infographic, an e-book with charts and images, or spread out through your blog posts, find a way to leverage your data in an engaging way.
Repurposing content is the key. Use the same set of data and information for an awesome, easy-to-digest infographic, a little more in-depth white paper, and a visually driven SlideShare presentation.
Now that your head is about to explode with the many examples you’ve seen of content marketing done well by financial institutes, and with your own ideas for your series of blog posts and infographics, get it all down on paper and start formulating your content marketing plan.