Content marketing can offer the best of both worlds to growth-focused RIAs. Not only does it typically have a lower cost than other marketing channels, but online content has the potential to generate more leads. These are just two good reasons to develop an RIA content marketing strategy to increase your digital footprint.
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What Is Content Marketing?
Content marketing is a marketing approach that centers on creating content for online channels. More specifically, it involves creating and sharing content designed to appeal to a specific target audience and spark their interest in your firm’s products and services.
With content marketing, the emphasis is on sharing information that’s relevant and useful to your intended audience. It’s less about pushing your RIA brand and more about establishing credibility and authority while encouraging client engagement.
The end goal is, of course, to turn your content viewers into clients. Content marketing can be an integral part of your broader sales funnel, which encompasses all the steps a prospect takes on their journey to becoming a client.
Creating an RIA Content Marketing Plan
Putting together a content marketing plan for your firm is a multi-step process, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s a quick rundown of how content marketing planning works.
Step 1: Know Your Audience
It should go without saying that before you work on creating any content, you need to know who you’re creating it for. Specifically, you need to understand:
- Where your clients are financially
- Where they want to go
- What challenges/struggles/pain points they’re dealing with
- What their expectations are in working with a financial advisor
- Where they spend time online and what type of content they prefer to consume
- Who they are demographically and geographically
If you haven’t created an ideal client persona, that’s a good place to start with content marketing. The better you understand who you’re speaking to, the easier it is to create content that will resonate with your audience.
Step 2: Choose Your Topics
Any content you create needs to be relevant to the people you’re trying to reach and have a clear goal. They should also reflect your expertise in that area.
Topic selection all goes back to the ideal client persona you’ve created. When choosing a topic, ask yourself:
- What question does this answer for my target audience?
- How does this inspire or inform them?
- What do I want my audience to do after consuming this content?
- If I were my ideal client, would I want to read this? And more importantly, would I want to share it?
Also, consider the goal. Do you want your content to simply make your audience aware of your firm’s products and services? Are you trying to differentiate yourself from the competition? Or are you creating content with conversion in mind?
Your marketing plan should include content that speaks to each of these goals and facilitates prospects’ movement through your sales funnel.
Step 3: Choose a Format and Content Channel
Once you know what topics you want to cover, the next step is choosing a format. The types of content you might create include:
- Blog posts and articles
- Short or long-form videos
- Infographics or images
- Social media posts
- Email newsletters
- White papers
- eBooks
- Guides
- Interactive tools, such as calculators or quizzes
- Online events, such as seminars or workshops
This is a lengthy list, and it’s easy to get overwhelmed. The biggest mistake to avoid with RIA content marketing is trying to be everywhere and trying to do everything all at once.
Certain types of content may take much longer to create than others. And it may be easier for your content to get noticed or go viral on Platform A vs. Platform B. If you have limited time in your busy advisor schedule, it makes sense to choose content channels that generate the best ROI for your time.
Again, it all goes back to your audience and the kind of content they prefer to consume. For instance, if you know that your target demographic gravitates toward TikTok or YouTube vs. other social media channels, then you might lean into video content while spending less time writing blog posts.
Step 4: Polish and Publish
Before hitting publish on any content you’ve created, take time to review it. With written content, check for the obvious – spelling errors, grammatical errors and other typos. With video content, look at the editing and flow.
Overall, ask yourself: Does this make sense? Is it interesting or compelling? Will my target audience care about it?
If you’re able to answer yes to all three questions, then you’re ready to put your content out into the world.
RIA Content Marketing Quick Tips
If you need a few pointers on how to improve your content marketing strategy, these tips can help:
Tip #1: Create Content Clusters
Creating content clusters can help you build authority. A content cluster is a group of content created around a specific topic. First, identify the main topic and create a pillar piece of content, then add supporting pieces of content exploring related subtopics or questions.
For example, you might write a blog post titled “Your Ultimate Guide to Estate Planning” that offers a detailed look at how estate planning works. That’s your pillar post. You can then support it with additional posts covering topics like trusts and wills, how to choose beneficiaries, or estate tax.
Content clusters can also help increase your visibility in search engines if you’re using SEO tactics. SEO is short for search engine optimization, and it refers to strategies that are designed to help your website rank higher in search results. It’s helpful to understand SEO basics when choosing keywords to target and how to include them in your content.
Tip #2: Repurpose Content
Repurposing content is one of the smartest ways to save time when marketing your firm. To repurpose content simply means to repackage it for promotion on a different channel.
For example, say you write a blog post that includes 10 estate planning tips every 50-something needs to know. You could repurpose that content by:
- Picking out two or three of the best tips to include in your weekly email newsletter, with a link back to the full post on your website.
- Making a series of YouTube shorts or TikTok videos that break down each tip.
- Creating an infographic listing all 10 tips and sharing it on Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly Twitter).
- Offering an online workshop that covers the 10 tips in more detail as an incentive to encourage people to join your email list.
Those are just some of the ways you can repurpose a single piece of content into multiple formats to expand your reach.
Tip #3: Create a Content Calendar
Consistency is one of the keys to success when leveraging content marketing. It’s difficult to build an audience of loyal followers if you’re publishing content sporadically.
Putting together a content calendar can help you stay organized, so you know what to publish and when. There are plenty of online tools you can use to create your calendar. At a minimum, it’s helpful to include:
- The topic being covered
- The content format
- Your desired publication date
- Where the content will be published
- Your goals
If you’re repurposing content or plan to, you can also include a section in your content calendar to record notes about how it will be reused.
When you have your content calendar ready, you can use automation to ensure your posts are published on time. Scheduling tools allow you to decide when you want your content to go live and on which channels.
Tip #4: Consider Made-for-You Content
Content creation takes time, and if you’d prefer to let someone else do the heavy lifting, you might consider made-for-you content. You could work with a third-party content marketing service or hire a freelance content specialist to create blog posts, articles and other content for your firm.
A third-party service may ask you questions about your goals and who you want to reach, then develop a customized content marketing plan for you. With a freelancer, you may need to offer more direction concerning the topics you want covered and the content format you prefer.
While both require a financial investment, they can also save you time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do RIAs Need Content Marketing?
There are many ways to market your RIA firm, and content marketing isn’t a requirement. It can, however, benefit you to focus on content creation as a marketing tool if you’re trying to connect with prospective clients online. Content marketing can be a complement to other marketing strategies, such as digital ads or influencer promotion.
What Is the SEC’s Marketing Rule?
The SEC marketing rule is a framework that determines what RIAs can and cannot do when marketing their firms. For example, you cannot make misleading or unbalanced statements in your marketing, nor can you include client testimonials without making the required disclosures. Observing SEC marketing rules is essential for maintaining compliance.
How Much Should an RIA Spend on Marketing?
Setting your marketing budget often comes down to how much you can afford to invest and your expected return. The average advisor spent $17,400 on marketing in 2022, but your firm may choose to spend more (or less) to realize your goals. If you have limited funds to spend, you might focus on lower-cost initiatives, such as encouraging your current clients to send more referrals your way.
Bottom Line
RIA content marketing may be unfamiliar territory for your firm, but it can have a powerful effect on your growth trajectory. If you’re not exploring the possibilities of content marketing yet, that’s something you may want to consider if you’re ready to attract more clients.
Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business
- Scheduling tools can help you automate some of your marketing processes, but you may see better results by working with a third-party platform. SmartAsset AMP, for instance, is designed to help growth-focused advisors connect with targeted leads and nurture relationships automatically. Schedule a demo to learn how you can use it to expand your book of business.
- Regardless of which content marketing channels you pursue, it’s important to monitor and track results. For example, if you’re sending out email blasts, consider how often those messages are being opened and how frequently your readers click through to your website. Tracking your progress can help you figure out which marketing efforts are working, and which ones are not.
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