By Graeme Mills, Content Manager for Simplicity Lone Beacon.
The reason you create and share content—whether it’s videos, articles, webinars, web copy, ads, or other forms of content—is to establish and re-establish a connection between you and your clients and prospects. The two key concepts to do that are in the words “you,” and “clients and prospects.” First, it’s important to understand the “you,” and the importance of, and the key frameworks to, baking your unique voice and insights into your content so your target audience can grasp something uniquely valuable. The other aspect to focus on is the “clients and prospects,” which means ensuring your content considers their perspectives, wants, and needs. Otherwise, you may risk alienating them by sharing information or subject matter they aren’t looking for and on platforms they don’t prefer to use. So, let’s jump into the first of these two secrets: the “you.”
Your Perspective Creates Uniqueness and Generates Trust
The first step to creating irreplicable content for your business comes from infusing your own voice, personal history, and unique insights into the content you share. You likely share the same financial products and offerings as some of your competitors. So, what truly differentiates you from your competitors is you. If your content conveys that your unique perspective, along with your business’s values, priorities, and sensibilities, align with theirs, your content will not only stand out but will generate trust with its target audience. In addition, your personality and perspectives often inform your business’s processes and priorities, so conveying those in your content communicates your ability to navigate changing situations, not just externally, but on an individualized level to help steward each client’s finances through thick and thin. In the digital age, this connection happens via content on digital platforms.
Think about it from your client’s perspective. They know they can’t predict what will happen in the future, and they know you can’t predict everything either. After all, past performance doesn’t equate to future results. So, to make an informed decision, they must evaluate your ability to constantly track their fluctuating financial situations and adapt as things change over time. They won’t decide to put their life savings with your firm simply because you’re “an expert.” Additionally, that evaluation starts with their first few touchpoints; or first impressions. And remember, in the digital age, those touchpoints often happen with your content—your email newsletters and the blogs you share in them, your social media videos you run campaigns with, your web copy, your Google and YouTube ads, the list goes on. If your content isn’t proving who you are and how you serve your clients, your target audience won’t get the sense that you are distinctly attuned to and capable of understanding something as personal and as evolving as their unique financial situations, they’re moving on. Our recent survey of over 1,000 high-net-worth prospects and clients concluded that the average prospect is vetting two to three advisors before they select! If you don’t differentiate yourself, one of those other two competitors likely will!
Captivating Content Requires Your Target Audience’s Preferences
Next, your content should supply what your target audience wants and is truly looking for. So, to do that, you need to know what your audience’s preferences, wants, and needs are, and to supply them with exactly that. Marcus Roth, Simplicity Lone Beacon’s Senior Director of Email, Data Automation, and Content published an article titled “Take the Time to Adopt Your Client’s Perspectives” highlighting how much more successful advisors can be when they focus their energies on understanding their prospects’ preferences and perspectives. If your content makes sure to prioritize the preferences of your clients, it proves that you’re the type of advisor who understands clients in a way that factors their unique situations. And if your digital content embodies that, your target audience will feel the same way at key buying decision moments when they interact with your brand.
The takeaway for financial advisors looking to get results from their digital content is that marrying your unique perspective, personality, and capabilities with your target audience’s preferences, needs, and wants is the golden formula for creating content that conveys not just your abilities, but your irrefutability and value to your prospects and clients. Ultimately, this helps to captivate them through digital means and compel them to take the desired action with your business.
Thoughtful Content is More Valuable Than You Think
Once you understand your content, especially in the digital world, is the vehicle that moves your prospects along the journey to becoming your customer, you’ll realize that smart, thoughtfully constructed content with these key secrets in mind can make a dramatic difference in your marketing efforts. But creating great content isn’t easy. It takes time, effort, and a system that works for you. In my next article, we’ll cover how to replicate and reuse excellent content in ways that can stay fresh and continue generating results.
About the Author: Graeme comes to Simplicity Lone Beacon from the health-tech industry where he produced digital content ranging from research articles to multimedia blogs and videos. Prior, he produced marketing content and videos for brands including a documentary for a Boston-based environmental non-profit, and has published work in Altcoin Magazine, Fenway News, and other online publications. He brings this experience—along with an academic background in economics—to Simplicity Lone Beacon’s content marketing initiatives for financial advisors.
