There’s a misconception among some financial advisers that every piece of financial blog content needs to be packed with complex language and content. Though it’s natural to want to provide value to your readers, this shouldn’t be the case.
Financial blogging is about sharing information accessibly, increasing website traffic and boosting search engine rankings. At Clients+, content marketing for financial advisers is our bread and butter, so we understand that an engaging financial blog article should possess:
A Visually Appealing, Easy-to-Read Structure
The amount of time that a new visitor spends on your website is very low, generally speaking. If you want to increase that figure, you need to capture their attention as soon as possible and encourage them to stick around.
The best way to do this is with a visually appealing, easy-to-read structure.
Large chunks of unbroken text can, in particular, be off-putting. Most readers scan blog articles and they won’t be taking everything in if you’ve structured it in this way. Break up those big paragraphs and intersperse them with:
- Bulleted and numbered lists
- Pull quotes
- Video content
- Images
- Headings and subheadings
- Infographics
If you know you’re guilty of the above and you’re looking to make improvements to your website content, Clients + is here to help.
A Clear Understanding of The Intended Audience
Whatever you’re writing, it matters that you understand your audience. This is particularly important for expert financial content, as you’ll need to know the level of expertise you should be aiming your words at. Get to know your target audience better by:
- Reviewing your existing customer data
- Looking into your competitors
- Monitoring reader comments on your blog
- Establishing a social media presence and directly interacting with followers
- Conducting client surveys
Once you know who you’re trying to engage with your articles, you’ll be in a better position to establish your brand’s tone of voice, creating an identity for your financial planning firm that allows you to come across as professional and reliable.
Create a tone of voice that speaks to the core values of your company and adopt this across all your forms of content.
When you know your tone, you’ll also be in a better position to include some thought leadership in your blog content, rather than just dryly delivering financial information. This personal touch will only further interest and hold the attention of your readers.
Purposeful, Problem-Solving and Succinct Content
Don’t write financial blog articles for the sake of writing financial blog articles.
If we’ve learned anything from offering website content writing services to a wide range of clients, it’s this: Purpose and intention matter greatly.
When you’re creating a financial article, start with an idea – a topic on which you plan to inform your audience – and go from there. Don’t let the idea germinate after you’ve started writing, or your work will lack direction, flow and snappiness.
Given that most blog content out there online is fairly short form, you need to use your economy of words wisely. Every sentence must have a purpose. Every sentence must do one of the following:
- Inform the reader
- Engage the reader
- Demonstrate an understanding of the reader
This ties directly into the point above, and the need for clear audience understanding. If you know your clients’ pain points, then you know the kinds of solutions that they’re after. One of the biggest mistakes you can make with your content is to be writing about the wrong topics.
A Professional Level of Quality, Free of Mistakes
Even small mistakes make an impression.
Spelling and grammar errors will lose a financial planner more credibility than you might expect. Potential clients want to head into a financial relationship with full trust in their adviser, and these kinds of errors threaten that trust.
Be sure you’re fully proofreading every piece of content that you put out there, and try to make everything you produce something you’re proud to share.
Similarly, make sure all the financial information and expertise that you weave into the piece is 100% accurate and up to date. Readers want to see that you know your stuff, and they want to be able to trust in your word.
If you’re concerned about your ability to consistently produce content at this professional standard, free of mistakes, you can always reach out to Clients+ for financial blog writing support.
If you’re interested in trying out our client portal today, you can start a 30-day free trial that comes with one free piece of content. If it’s not for you, there’s no minimum subscription period, and cancelling is as easy as clicking a button.
