When thinking about content marketing for investment managers, there are a few lessons to be learned from the ways in which a pair of retail giants manage their online content.
Earlier this morning, I found a link to this excellent article posted on Twitter, entitled, “Stop Thinking Content, Start Thinking Resources.” It was written by Carlton Hoyt, a marketing pro working with the Life Sciences industry.
He touches on a number of issues, but what I found compelling about his piece was the comparison between the ways in which Home Depot and Lowe’s manage and organize their online content.
Hoyt believes that Home Depot has established a significant online advantage over Lowe’s, thanks to stronger content quality, as well as better organization, despite having a significantly smaller library of articles (he examines Nike+ as well, and the entire post is well-worth a read).
Remember, content marketing for investment management firms is a technique whereby a firm offers its insights and expertise in the service of problem solving, establishing thought leadership, and developing a reputation for client service that ultimately leads to higher AUM.
So what lessons from these two home improvement behemoths can investment managers apply to their own content strategy?
- Quality trumps quantity.
Ensure your content is written with a clear purpose in mind, addresses a specific problem, and offers some actionable ways to solve it.
Best practices demand content creators use images and graphs when appropriate, as well as headers, subheaders, bullet points and numbered lists to break up the text increase the content’s scannability.
In other words, offer your audience a useful, aesthetically-pleasing resource every time. - SEO matters.
Any strategy for content marketing for investment managers must ensure that all of the content is optimized for search.
Using your buyer personas, be sure to use the long-tail keywords your audience uses in their search activity, include those keywords in the headers, titles, meta descriptions, and body text. - Focus on what you love.
Investment managers do what they do because they love investing: the challenge of outsmarting the market (or their competitors if they use indexed products…), of finding diamonds in the rough, of justifying their management fee by helping clients to meet and exceed their financial goals… all of these are what get investment managers out of bed in the morning.
When you love something, talking about it is easy, and the enthusiasm for the endeavor is easily understood by all.
Capitalize on that passion and create the content that shows clients and prospects alike: In this cookie-cutter, competitive, crowded market, we are truly different and are excited to show you how. - Genuinely Helpful Content = Proof of Client Service Commitment
A professional effort in content marketing for investment managers will result in a detailed library of helpful articles which solves problems and provides both clients and prospects with a clear understanding of the value a firm offers BEYOND portfolio returns.
Establishing this differentiation will help to build the brand, promote lead generation, and make an easily-demonstrated case for a firm’s client service philosophy. - Visitor-focused Website Organization is Vital
Be sure your site has a clean, polished look and feel; one that is at once inviting and professional. Content should be organized in a clear, logical way that makes it easier for your clients and prospects navigate your site to find the information they need.
Remember: for first-time visitors to your site, cheap graphics, poor organization, and boring content that is self-serving and unhelpful will quickly establish your firm’s differentiation… but do so negatively.
The industry is too competitive and filled with firms that do get that side of the business to leave anything to chance. After all, at the end of the day, a website and the content that’s there has to be a firm’s calling card.
And understand that to any website visitor, it is abundantly clear which firms take their digital marketing strategy seriously and which don’t. Those that do will most certainly develop a long-term, natural advantage over its competition.
How effective is your website? Is your content doing what it should? Interested in a free consultation? Click below to schedule a complimentary analysis of your website:
