Every financial markets business has what it takes to create content.
And not just any old content. An infinite bank of scroll-stopping content. Content that grabs people’s attention, resonates with them emotionally, and turns a profit.
Most firms in the financial markets struggle to do this. But it’s not because they lack knowledge or expertise.
It’s simply because they don’t know how to convert their knowledge and expertise into content that is fit for marketing purposes.
Once you know the makings of a strong marketing message, and how to generate dozens of content pieces from one core idea, then you have what it takes to effortlessly create impactful content—forever.
And that’s exactly what we’re going to show you how to do in this article. So read on to find out how to turn your financial markets expertise into infinite, scroll-stopping content.
Know your audience
Before you can get your content engine up and running, it’s important to know who your content is actually for.
Because content that tries to please everyone, pleases no one.
The purpose of content marketing is to establish your status as an authority in your niche, and through that, build a pipeline of client enquiries.
So when you’re creating content, create it with your ideal client in mind.
Grab a pen and paper, and write out the following about one of your existing clients:
- What kind of business are they?
- Why do they need your service?
- What challenges did they face before they started working with you?
- How did your business help them overcome those challenges?
- What problems do you solve for this client on a regular basis?
From now on, you’re going to create content as if it were addressed directly to that ideal client.
Like you were on a consultation call with them, offering your guidance and insight.
The challenges this client faces, their need for your service, and the problems you help that client solve will be the raw material from which you mine your content.
Be specific
Most financial markets businesses fail at content marketing because they think too big.
We tend to think instinctively that the best content will lie in the big juicy topics. The ones that you could write a whole book about.
But the reality is in fact the opposite.
It’s not the big broad topics that make for impactful content. It’s the super-specific stuff. The real nitty-gritty.
Specificity is what captures people’s attention and engages them.
For example, what’s a more compelling opening sentence:
- Here’s how I generate sales leads with thought leadership content
or
- Here’s how I generated 25 leads in 60 days using thought leadership content
Here’s another one for good measure…
- PR is vital. Here’s why
or
- PR is vital for DeFi startups. Here are the 7 reasons why
See what we mean?
When you narrow down who you’re talking to, and what you’re talking about, your content instantly becomes more engaging.
Yes, it will mean you cut out everyone who’s not your target audience. And that’s precisely the point.
Focus on the stuff that only a few people talk about, and that only a few people want to read.
Or rather: the stuff that only you know about, and the stuff that only your prospective clients want to read.
Build a bank of content
One of the biggest challenges of content marketing is the ability to keep coming up with ideas, month after month after month.
The secret is to have a system or framework for idea generation.
To quote Top 100 LinkedIn creator Justin Welsh: systems are there when motivation isn’t.
We’re going to show you a quick system you can use to generate content ideas. Think of it as a scaled down version of a full-blown content strategy. Just to help get you started.
First, segment your area of expertise into topics and subtopics. The more subtopics and the deeper you can go, the better.
Aim for at least 5 subtopics per broad topic.
Next, within these subtopics, we’re going to separate ideas by content objective.
For each subtopic, scribble down at least one idea for each of these objectives:-
Informative content
Informative content should be just what the name implies: insightful, actionable and educational.
Your goal is to give the reader something they can immediately apply, or a clear learning for them to take away from it.
That could be a “how to” piece, or an article on how market trends are changing, or a video that answers frequently asked questions.
Inspiring content
Inspiring content should make someone feel the successes they want to achieve are within reach.
The key here is relatability. Most of us are not inspired by a success story alone. But rather when a success story has a humble beginning. Or starts from a situation similar to our own.
Inspirational content could be an anecdote that ends in a lesson learned, or a list of previous mistakes, or an explanation of how you’d get to where you are now if you had to start all over again.
Provocative content
This is content that gets people talking. Content that asks important questions, or offers a hot take on what’s happening in your market.
Perhaps there’s a widely held perception that you strongly disagree with. Or an industry best practice that’s outdated. Let people know about it, and why you think that is.
This one can feel scary, but remember, all you’re looking to do is create conversation. We’re all adults and professionals here.
As long as you have the knowledge and expertise to back up your claim, you’ll be alright.
Create a schedule you can stick to
Once you’ve completed one round of that exercise, you should have a pretty long list of ideas.
Now it’s time to work those into a consistent publishing schedule.
The key here is to be honest with yourself. Consistency is king.
If you think you’ve only got the time and energy for two posts a week, stick to two posts a week. There’s no point trying to write content everyday if you end up burning out within a fortnight.
This is an all-too common cause of failure that can easily be avoided. So take it slowly. Pace yourself.
Mark out the days you want to publish content in a calendar, and systematically fill in each one with a different content idea from your list.
Do this until you have at least a month’s worth of content in advance. If you don’t have enough content, repeat another round for another subtopic until you do.
Bonus tip: scan your content and make sure that from day to day, you have a good variety of different moods, formats, messages and objectives. Content loses its impact when it starts to feel predictable and formulaic.
Key Takeaways
And there you have it. That’s how to go from a completely blank slate, to a content calendar packed full of compelling ideas.
Here are the key things to remember:-
- Know your audience; write content with your ideal client in mind
- Be specific; narrowing the focus of your content instantly makes it more engaging.
- Use systems to generate ideas; systems are there when motivation isn’t. Use them to keep coming up with ideas month after month.
- Segment ideas by subtopic and objective; this will help you unlock dozens of offshooting content pieces from one core idea.
- Have a schedule you can stick to; consistency matters more than frequency. Have a schedule you can keep to in the long term.