How Content Marketing (in Plain English) Can Help Financial Services Firm Attract and Retain Clients

About this time 11 years ago, I invested $3,000 in Siebel stock, and much to my delight, watched it soar to about $23,000 in value within 18 months. I distinctly recall saying to my wife “Wow, if we sold this stock now, we could pay cash for a new car.” But did I sell? Of course not. I was sure the stock would split and double again. So I held on. And held on. And held on, until my shares were once again worth a little more than $3,000. When I sold, my profit didn’t cover the cost a new set of tires for my car. Ouch!

At the time, I was still working for a major mutual fund company in Boston. Back then, whenever I got together with colleagues or friends for a cold beverage after work, the conversation would inevitably turn toward the stock market. What was the hottest can’t-miss tech stock? Which mutual fund should we exchange our 401k savings into? Our biggest frustration was that we didn’t have more free cash to invest in the market.

Oh what a difference a decade makes. I can’t recall the last time a friend or acquaintance has raised the subject of the stock market in casual conversation. It’s like nobody wants to acknowledge the elephant in the room. The great bull market of 1982-2000 made us a little delusional, and frankly, it’s a little embarrassing to admit we bought into the hype. Dow 36,000 indeed!

Today, despite a remarkable market rebound following the latest market meltdown, it seems that your average middle-aged investor it too shell-shocked to even think about, much less discuss, investing in the stock market. The financial magazines seem to have picked on up this. No more headlines screaming “Retire at 50” or “7 Must-Have Funds For Your IRA.”

For financial advisors, wealth managers, mutual fund companies, and anyone who makes their living managing or selling investments, this new reality presents a challenge. Namely, how do you snap investors out of their stupor and get them to pay attention again? A smart content marketing strategy can do the trick.

Use Content Marketing To Build and Keep an Audience

Content marketing involves creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience. Rather than pitching products and services, the goal is to deliver consistently relevant information to potential clients, so they ultimately reward you with their business and loyalty.

You can deliver this content through a variety of communications vehicles, including newsletters, e-newsletters, blog posts, tweets, or the old standby: a well-written letter. To be effective, however, these communications need to be frequent. And they to include honest, educational content that helps investors make better decisions.

In my experience helping advisors and financial services companies create their client and marketing communications, the firms that communicate in plain English—and talk to their audiences as if they were real human beings—are the ones that excel. In fact, a recent study by Invesco Van Kampen Consulting found that investors hate jargon and technical language, or what they called “finglish.” To make sure you are communicating effectively with your target audience, remember these tips:

• Write and speak to communicate, not to impress. Say what you mean in the simplest terms possible. Don’t say “equities” when you mean “stocks.” Say “bonds” instead of “fixed income securities.”

• Be positive. Fear-based communications will not scare people into investing with you. Strike a positive, yet realistic tone, and always make the risks clear.

• Keep it real. Today, rather than a “dream retirement” or “financial freedom,” most people will settle for “retirement” and “financial security.”

• Keep it fresh. When was the last time you updated your website? Do you send a monthly e-newsletter or write a blog? If you’re not communicating on a regular basis, your clients may wonder if you’re minding the store as closely as you should be. Your prospects may simply lose interest.

What about you? If you’re an advisor, how do you keep it real and deliver authentic, plain English communications to your clients? If you’re an investor, what do you want to hear from your advisor or broker?

Neil Rhein runs Bull’s-eye Financial Communications, where he specializes in creating customized, authentic communications for financial services clients, including mutual fund companies and asset managers, investment advisers, wealth managers, broker-dealers, clearing firms, and retirement plan sponsors and administrators. For more information, visit www.bullseyecommunications.net.