Want to learn five steps to simplify the content creation process for advisors?
Whether you want to establish trust with prospects, build influence or expand your business then this article will put you on the path to online marketing success!
ONLINE MARKETING RELIES HEAVILY ON VALUABLE CONTENT
The right content is critical to creating trust, influence, and inspiring new business opportunities. In my experience, it’s taken over as the key online marketing strategy. Yet, so many advisors lack the ability and resources to pull it off. Let alone well enough to achieve the results they want and expect.
Over the past year I’ve worked with at least 20 advisors who’ve asked me for help advancing their content marketing strategies. In my world, I see advisors really struggling with content and I’ve been on a mission to help them solve it.
The most obvious obstacle impacting financial advisors struggle with content creation is that they don’t have a process. Advisors need a process to be better at producing expert financial content. Below is a well-thought out process to help you on your journey to fill your advisor blog with great content and become a financial influencer.
STEP 1 – FINDING YOUR INSPIRATION
Good content is rooted in discovering great topics, ideas and concepts. This content should both inspire you to share it and be coveted by your audience.
To start, I encourage you to do some research and bookmark at least 5 to 10 websites that provide a breadth of ideas from experts who have similar or even contrasting opinions. You should be quickly inspired with others’ opinions and how you’d apply these concepts with your target audience. You can also “follow” these people to see how they reach their audiences.
You’ll want to write from your own perspective as often as possible. Your best ideas should come from your experiences working with prospects and clients.
Most of my own articles come from experiences and insights gained working directly with our clients at TactiBrand. For me, inspiration comes from helping clients solve problems – so, that’s what I tend to build my content around. When possible, look to solve financial planning challenges in your advisor blog and podcasts.
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STEP 2 – CHOOSE YOUR TOPIC
Some days you can’t turn off the topic tap – it simply flows. Other days, it’s a struggle. Regardless, on the days it flows, you should keep a list of topics and where or how you found the inspiration. This will help you on your “off” days. Don’t fret when an “off” day hits. Use a process to beat it. This process.
Your topic should be something you have deep knowledge and experience with that your target audience values. If your clients tend to enjoy traveling, write a post about how even the smallest tweaks to one’s financial plan can be the difference of traveling. Perhaps they can travel twice a year versus once per year or stay in a much nicer hotel.
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– important, emotionally engaging and have huge impact,
– they must be easy to solve, and you must be passionate about solving for your target audience.
– “What do my clients want to solve more than anything?”
– “What has the best chance of significantly impacting my clients’ wealth?”
– “What are my clients blind too or unaware of that could really hurt their wealth/life?”
– “What do my clients care most about in their life and plan?”
– “How can I help adjust my clients’ expectations?”
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STEP 3 – START WITH AN OUTLINE
Most financial advisors and financial executives don’t enjoy writing. That’s just a fact in business and life. Some days, I don’t either. Regardless, I understand the importance of fresh and current content and here’s how I get it done without too much procrastination. This might work for you too.
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– Install a large whiteboard in your office. I use a Quartet 4’ x 8’ ceramic whiteboard. Works good for video too. I find it very refreshing (and creatively inspiring) to step away from my computer.
– Use MindMeister.com for mind mapping tool. It’s one of the best.
– what’s important, what’s not
– what’s redundant
– what’s relevant
– Has this happened to a client?
– What could happen?
– What’s the potential impact of not getting this right, fixed or mitigated?
– What’s the most compelling introduction of this article?
– What does it solve or make possible?
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STEP 4 – CHOOSE MEDIA
Content these days comes in so many forms. Not all people like reading blogs; some prefer video and others images, charts, drawings, etc. The simpler the message I’m creating, the simpler the media I use. For instance, the simpler the concept the more likely it can be diagramed. The more emotionally engaging a topic is, the better it may be to use audio or video to convey that emotion/passion.
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STEP 5 – PRODUCE & PACKAGE CONTENT
Content is always more enjoyable when it’s presented properly. Presentation of content has several variables:
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CONTENT…YOUR KEY TO MORE SUCCESS
Content may be the key you’ve been searching for to open your mind and your front door to new opportunities and a better understanding of your value to your clients. I believe content creation is business changing, not just because it helps you expand your network, but because it teaches you to create and better understand value in your business. It helps you connect better with your audience because you are constantly being challenged to speak to your audience’s fears and needs. It fills your advisor blog and podcast with great content that will leave ideal prospects wanting more.