Bloggers, and the world of blogging, have had quite an image change over the past few years.
No longer the domain of hobbyists and those with an (angry) opinion, it has certainly become more mainstream. But with the activity becoming so widespread, how do asset management firms - who are fast seeing the need for a joined-up social media strategy – make the most out of their blogs?
A company blog is a discussion or informational website where you can post opinions, news and other content. You can use many types of communication on your blog to keep it interesting including, text, video, audio and images. A blog is a great way to engage with your existing clients and communicate to potential clients.
There are already several asset management firms improving their brand image by offering free, insightful content through a blog channel featured on their group’s website. Aberdeen, BlackRock and Franklin Templeton have been known to do this particularly well.
If you think about it, investors once came face-to-face with asset management brands and their products in an adviser’s office. Now there are multiple points, both on and offline, at which consumers encounter financial products and asset management brands.
PWC names using blogs as one way asset managers can maximise on this development to build trust with end clients. We run through some key points for those who want to maximise their blog’s potential.
The content strategy
This is the foundation of your blog. If you start creating content without first considering your strategy then your blog will be inconsistent and run the risk of having no direction – and, worst of all - appearing so.
There are many definitions of what a content strategy is, but the most helpful one we’ve found is this:
‘The high level vision that guides future content development to deliver against a specific business objective.’ – Distilled.com (marketing agency).
Before you start writing you should consider:
- Who are you writing for?
- What do you want to achieve?
- How does this tie-in with the larger business goals?
Once you have these questions answered you can create an editorial plan around key themes that arise from your industry and competitor research.
It’s important to tie-in other social media channels, therefore an integral part of your strategy should be to share your blog posts on LinkedIn and Twitter consistently. This will increase the number of views and help to build a loyal network of followers/subscribers – not just for your blog, but also for your other social media accounts.
Post regularly
The Content Marketing Institute has found that the UK’s most effective content marketers publish multiple times per week, or even daily. Of course, this may not be feasible for everyone – as it will require time and effort. Here are a few ways of getting around this:
Firstly, no one is saying you have to do it alone. One way to effectively manage content on your blog is by drafting in others from your firm to share the load. This not only takes some of the pressure of producing material off you, but also has the added benefit of lending diversity in writing style.
Make sure you brief the other writers on the blog’s content strategy and aim.
You can look both inside and outside of your firm to find writers. It is worth asking your colleagues if they would like to contribute, but there are multiple agencies and freelance writers at your disposal too.
Secondly, set out an editorial plan so that you know what you are going to write about and when. This means you won’t be stuck for ideas or caught out by deadlines. Your plan should be flexible enough to make room for ad hoc posts to feature last minute, when there is a significant industry event, or company update for example.
Personalised content
Most business have on average four audiences for their content marketing, according to a study by the Content Marketing Institute. These audiences are probably interested in different content, so it’s a good idea to make the relevant posts easy for them to find.
One way of doing this is by asking the visitor to distinguish themselves and then provide them with posts intended for their online persona. For example, if they are an independent financial adviser they will be directed to different content than an independent retail investor, or an institutional investor.
Many firms do this on their website landing page so that consumers are directed to the right products – why not have this on your blog’s landing page for your content too?
Alternatively, if you feel that this is not an efficient way of dividing up your content, many large firms use topics so readers can have the freedom to distinguish relevant content for themselves. This is most effective when you have audiences who may find multiple subjects interesting.
One firm doing this well is Blackrock Investment Management. Their blog has clearly labelled topics to help you choose which type of posts you want to read:
This is also a good way to see what is interesting for the different types of visitors you get – which should help with your forward strategy in content planning.
Make posts bitesize
One great function of a blog is to showcase your firm’s research – something that you should very much do. One temptation may be to create blog posts out of entire research reports.
Don’t.
Bear in mind that you have, on average, ten seconds to engage a reader online. The best thing to do with lengthy reports and research is to provide a summary of your key objectives and findings. This is a much more engaging format in which to present your research.
Plus you can still upload the full report so that readers have the option to download it – after a tantalizing summary they may want to read it in more detail.
Design
How many times have you left a site because it looked out of date or was confusing to navigate?
Clutter. Too many colours. Dated font.
These attributes tend to deter visitors.
Think of your favourite blogs or news sites, what do they have in common?
- They tend to have a clear top banner
- They are recognisable (branded)
- They are clearly laid out
- They aren’t cluttered
- Modern images
- Well distinguished posts
Finally, don’t forget to proofread everything several times. Despite sub-editors being a dying breed, you should always have someone proof your work. It is a key rule of writing – no one ever notices their own mistakes no matter how pedantic – so get someone else to read your posts before they go up.
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