Let’s just say it: Money is not a lot of people’s favorite subject right now. The pandemic and the financial difficulties that accompany it are making the job of any finance professional (or finance marketing professional) interesting right now, to say the least. People who would otherwise be investing aren’t, and that means that engagement on investment content in many niches is down, too.
So, what is the solution? In many ways, you’re going to keep doing what you’re doing, just with a shift in perspective. Here are a few of the ideas I brainstormed doing my homework for this post.
1. Think Long-Term
This will be a mandatory thing going forward, and keeping a future-driven perspective will work very effectively in your favor. At the very least, it will keep your content relevant beyond the age of the pandemic, and that is vital.
Yes, there are evergreen subjects that you can use to pad your blog for good SEO. Still, there are things that will get you further and help you hold on to readers through the (hopefully) end stages of the COVID era. What will really impress your readers is knowing that you are looking at a post-COVID future and, more importantly, protecting their future through your content.
This conveys two crucial messages to your readers. First, it tells them that you are looking out for them; their future and financial stability are important to you. Second, it tells them that you understand the financial markets well enough to provide sound investment and financial planning advice now that they can implement later.
2. Present the Hard Facts
The truth of many financial markets may not be terribly exciting or optimistic at this point. However, there have been several positive impacts on global financial markets recently. The U.S. presidential election was one. The announcement of several effective COVID vaccines going into clinical trials was another.
Now, I know you already know this, but these things bear mention in the context of current finance marketing. My point is that things are changing for the better already, so it’s important to start aligning content with where the financial markets are headed. By all accounts, the future looks better than it did even just a few months ago.
With all that in mind, be certain to maintain transparency in your content. Provide honest, current, and relevant information in your blogs, podcasts, videos, and any other types of content you have or will soon be putting into development. Maintaining trust through good information is more important now than at any time in recent memory.
3. Provide Verifiable Proofs
Curate content from relevant, well-vetted, and trusted sources that corroborates your own messaging and data. Real-world examples that prove the concepts in your written content can also help boost your credibility significantly. However, don’t forget that the vast majority of the messaging needs to come from you.
There are two effective ways to use curated content. You can use it either as the primary element in your content or to augment your own messaging. The latter approach typically works best in financial marketing, but it’s not a hard and fast rule.
4. Mention the Negatives
Here comes more of that transparency I mentioned earlier. What are the cautionary elements to your messaging? Are there downsides to even the most positive projections? Be transparent about the pros and cons alike, especially now. You want people to follow through on your CTAs with confidence. You want to instill confidence in your desire to help as opposed to hinder (or, at a minimum, hide the fine print).
Never try to sugarcoat the negatives. Be clear, concise, honest, and realistic. Your audience is placing its trust in your advice. Good advice leads to faithful readers and followers, and it creates more conversions. What would be a better investment option right now? Should readers keep an eye on investments or currencies that aren’t looking good right now? Always, always, always, paint a clear and complete picture in your content. Much of your competition doesn’t.
5. Don’t Do Too Much Speculating
While it’s true that your audience needs your opinions and perspectives, let the real figures do as much of the talking as possible. If an investment, or type of investment, could go either way, don’t steer commentary toward just the most positive projections.
This follows on my previous comment about not shying away from the negatives. Many finance and investment marketing professionals try to add their own wildly speculative spins to create a more engaging read. This will work in the short-term, but you don’t want short-term followers, right?
So what’s the message here? Keep your opinions based on fact, and don’t steer readers’ thoughts in directions that could cause them to make mistakes with their personal finances or investments. In a best-case scenario, you will lose a lot of readers. In a worst-case scenario, you could end up in court, depending on how you present the information.
Smart, Affordable Finance Marketing Copy
If you are reading all thins and wondering how to achieve the right balance in your messaging, I would like to extend an invitation to contact BeezContent today. We work with a talented, dedicated team of writers with years of experience developing superior copy in all finance- and investment-related niches. Let us show you how to develop copy that engages and converts.
