Today we bring you the first of a new series on the Actiance blog: Thursday’s are “Thought Leader Thursdays” (or #TLTActiance). I’ll preface this by saying that the content is entirely that of our thought leaders, who come from all over the world, the industry and from different areas of business.
Our inaugural blog comes from our good friend and colleague in the industry, April Rudin, who you may know from @TheRudinGroup. April writes and blogs extensively, in and around the financial services space. She’s well known for her blogging on @huffingtonpost and you’ll see her at most of the financial services events especially on the East Coast of the USA.
Enjoy the blog! Sarah Carter
One of the most frequent financial advisor/wealth manager miscues in social/digital marketing is the lack of a content calendar or a basic marketing plan. It amazes me how the “planners have no plan” when it comes to new client acquisition or retention. Many people approach it almost impulsively, like opening up a Twitter account, without any clue about how to use it, what their messaging should be, or even an avatar/photo! What’s more, this “play” or experimentation is happening on the most visible amplified platform possible: the internet.
Ugh! How can you avoid embarrassing “Social Media Hall of Shame?” In this blog, I will discuss one aspect which is importance of on-going consistent and constant content. While there are plenty of mistakes and faux pas to make, the easiest to avoid is the “content vacation.” To me, this is the most egregious “offense” and it discredits the firm/advisor to existing/potential clients in the worst way: not following through with a plan. Here are a few examples. An advisor opens a Twitter account, begins following friends, or anyone, and has one solo tweet, something like “I am on Twitter now”. That was last January. The Twitter account has sat vacant since. Isn’t it suggesting that the advisor may behave that way with my assets? Another example is the blog which is posted inconsistently, i.e. January, February, March August, November, (you get the idea!). The “Hall of Shame” blog topics are without any thread linking the blog to the firm or to each other, and, perhaps the blogs were part of a one-time newsletter which has never been repeated again.
Ugh! Ugh! Developing a compelling content calendar can be very helpful in staying on track and on-time. To create an actionable, content calendar, you need to determine: What is the content? Who is the audience? Which platforms will be used? And who is responsible for what? Accountability is the key to creating a system, process for the positioning of your personal and firm’s brand on a regular basis in a way which leads back to you, your firm and new/more AUM.
I asked Kathleen Pritchard, Director and Head of Advisor Development for Legg-Mason about the importance of good, consistent content. Kathleen remarked, “While financial advisors may have limited time and resources, it’s the differentiated content which will attract and engage with your audience.”
Kathleen and I both agree that one way to create a compelling content process to include curating content from guest bloggers such as other trusted advisors is one way to “pepper” your blog with interesting stories tied to the calendar. An example would be to calendar a tax attorney to write a “year-end” blog. Inviting other third-party experts will also assist in your outreach as the contributor is likely to send your blog out within their own network as well. Repurposing the same content is another way to help and using evergreen content which is not time-sensitive can be useful in your calendar.
The brevity of this blog and the complexity of this important messaging are at odds. I have so much more to say but limited to 500 characters. Contact me.
April may be contacted via email at april@therudingroup.com or on Twitter @TheRudinGroup
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