"What do I write about” is a common question vexing many interested in content marketing for investment managers.
The fear is that once they cover topics such as their investment philosophy and value proposition (and if the quarter or year didn't just end), what can they offer their clients and prospects on an ongoing basis that won’t be repetitive and make their message stale?
The answer is to use content to help clients and prospects solve the problems that complicate their professional lives.
Here’s an example:
A large cap growth manager has a list of 15 small- to medium-sized consultants with whom they would like to work. Currently, all of their placements are under contract. Because of the size of these consulting firms, most of the employees responsible for manager selection also have a long list of other responsibilities. They are typically overworked and don't feel they get all the resources they need to be efficient and effective in their job.
Under these circumstances, no, the consultants have no reason to hear from the investment manager, so sending along marketing content on a weekly basis does not help solve any of their issues - in fact, overtly pitchy emails clogging their email inbox only adds to their problems.
However, if our manager looks to its consultant buyer persona to guide the content creation effort, some interesting ideas begin to percolate by asking the question: what do our consultants need to work efficiently?
Certainly, on-demand information, formatted properly, is extremely important to them.
And from where do they get their information?
They all use the eVestment database. Hey, we use the eVestment database, and have a ton of relevant experience and expertise.
Using that shared connection, our large cap growth manager can brainstorm some content ideas:
Last year, a new version of the software was released. We attended a training seminar which revealed a ton of new functionality (much of which would benefit consultants), as well as several strategies to better leverage the software. We learned about brand new screens and queries , as well as a few novel ways to mine the database for relevant information.
An overworked consultant probably did not have the time to learn all of this new information.
Our manager can now write a series of blog posts succinctly explaining how to use these tools, step-by-step. At a later date, they could edit and bundle these posts into a 12-15 page eBook. Both strategies would be immensely valuable to its list of consultants.
Our large cap growth manager just made the consultants' job easier, and in the process differentiated itself from the dozens of other large cap growth managers vying for their attention.
Importantly, they did so without saying a single thing about itself as an investment manager; rather, they simply acted as one professional helping out a fellow professional.
Offering helpful, useful content that makes a person's job easier will never be a source of resentment - in fact, they'll love you for it.
Content marketing requires some creative strategic thinking, to be sure, but doing so allows forward-thinking investment managers to reap the rewards down the road.
Interested in learning more about where to begin?
