“Content Marketing is the Only Marketing Left” – Seth Godin
Content marketing isn’t new. Financial advisors have been leveraging content to create awareness, demonstrate expertise and prove credibility for many decades. Print newsletters, brochures, seminar presentations all existed long before email and social media revolutionized the way we market our business and create new client acquisition opportunities.
For most advisors today, LinkedIn creates the best opportunity for client acquisition and is therefore the most important platform for networking and content marketing.
The following tips and advice will help you create a content strategy that keeps you present in your growing network of professional prospects and partner.
Tips for Content Creation
Not all the content you share will have the same impact on your growing network. The following three tips will help you organize the topics that will resonate with your audience.
First and foremost, do you know who you’re talking to? Have you started to build your network around a specific set of people with a specific set of needs? Understanding the difficulties your audience faces is an imperative first step to developing content that has impact.
Second, think about how your knowledge, expertise and service offering helps to solve the issues you outlined in the first step. If your audience is narrow and you truly understand their needs, you can create and share highly personalized content that resonates with the reader.
Finally, don’t be afraid to share personal and professional information about yourself. Your prospect pool doesn’t have to become your best friend, but the more they know about you, the greater the trust they have in you. People need to know you and like the way you do business before they’ll ever become your client.
Content that gets Engagement
As content creators for financial professionals, it is our duty to know what type of content gets the greatest reach and engagement within your network.
Focus your efforts on creating NATIVE content. Native content is created to consumed directly on the platform where it is posted. You see, social platforms generate much of their revenue from advertising sales. To maximize revenue, platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook do not want users leaving their platform. Posting native content will gain you twice as much exposure as content that links off the platform.
Consistency matters. Plan to post content 2-3 times weekly and monitor interaction. The comments on your content create a great reason to start a private conversation.
Video content for personal appeal - I love native video content. Video, while a bit heavier lifting for creation and for the compliance review process, creates the feeling of a more personal connection. Sharing recorded video that speaks to the topics you listed is a much more personal way to provide information and expertise, allowing your network to create a deeper personal connection with you.
LinkedIn Polls for greater reach - Right now, our research indicates that the type of content that gets the greatest reach is LinkedIn Polls. When you create a LinkedIn Poll, you are naturally asking a question of your followers, prompting engagement and interaction. Build the poll around a service you provide to gain added intelligence regarding the needs of your network.
Supplement with pre-Approved content - Pre-Approved firm content is easy for you and easy for your compliance department. Most firms and some outside industry vendors provide a library of approved content that you can easily share or schedule to be shared at a future date. The set it and forget it approach is easy, but it should be used sparingly as supplemental content.
Technology that will 5X your content reach – As with any algorithm, understanding what they are looking for will help you grow the reach of the content you share. In addition to native content, the LinkedIn formula is looking for a bit of interaction right after you post your content. The greater the early interaction, the higher the score of the content and the greater the audience it receives.
One tool that I use once or twice each week is Social Post Party. The software will share your post with 15 people who will then interact with and comment on your content within 2 hours of posting. This early engagement is the key to putting your LinkedIn content in front of a larger portion of your network.
Social platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook create a wonderful and free content marketing opportunity. Create a content strategy focused on the network that you are building. Use the tips in this article to maximize exposure and engagement. Be consistent and be present. The comments others leave on your content will create an opportunity to start a conversation with a new prospect.