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Whether you are a super fund, fund manager, or a life insurer, the overarching imperative of a content marketing program remains the same. If you give your audience engaging content, it can assist with retention and drive sales. Here we suggest some of the kinds of content that might suit different financial services audiences.
The aim of a targeted content marketing program is to solve your customers’ information needs and to build trust through real engagement. As a trusted adviser, you are far more likely to attract and keep business, so remember, it’s not about you, it’s about them. And the more you educate, entertain and inform your audience, the more commercial return you can expect to see from your investment.
Superannuation funds
Member engagement is a hot topic for super funds. If you look at the ASFA website for inspiration, there are a number of research and editorial pieces which could serve as potential content springboards.
These include finding new and different ways to help members understand the reality and relevance of their super such as tools to make calculating and forecasting easy; access to hard figures and statistics relating to lifestyle in retirement; helping members visualise their retirement and offering accessible tips on how to achieve tangible goals.
Updates on regulation are also always of interest. Try to explain these in plain and simple English with a focus on how they affect members (‘what this means to you’).
Fund Managers – Institutional
Institutional investors are generally looking for more in-depth market commentary than their retail counterparts, and tend to be more interested in overarching asset allocation decisions, and specific commentary on financial markets.
Institutional investors are also looking for sophisticated analyst-style commentary of the type that might typically be introduced at investment committee or trustee level, for example – but would clearly not be suitable for a consumer audience. Take a look at QIC’s knowledge centre, which provides some meaty investment insights and economic updates for a global institutional audience.
Fund Manager – Retail
Retail investors are also interested in market commentary as it pertains to their portfolio, but the commentary should be more accessible than for institutional investors. Asset allocation within a diversified portfolio is also of interest, but again, targeting the commentary to match the investment portfolio is a great idea. Hints about some of the basics: how to invest, tax implications of various structures and other targeted pieces of actionable information are also well received.
Use of case studies or ‘examples’ with hard numbers to illustrate the point works very well for this audience. For some good examples, check out Certitude Global Investments’ website, which provides some great market insights and educational pieces that are regularly updated and effective.
Regulatory reform affecting retail investors is another area of interest, again with a ‘what does it mean to me’ (the investor) focus.
Life Insurance
The need for more widespread education and understanding springs most readily to mind when it comes to insurance. Australians in general are underinsured, and seeking to address this by explaining the benefits of life and other kinds of illness and disability insurance is a good place to start.
Hard figures supported by case studies of real people with stories to tell are very effective in demonstrating the point, as are step-by-step guides to getting cover and understanding how it works. Jargon and product speak here perhaps more than anywhere else is your enemy – so focus on avoiding that and putting yourself in your audience’s shoes. Explore TAL’s dedicated consumer website, A Voice for Life, for some great facts and visuals that are highly engaging and relevant to their audience.
In the end, the sky, or rather, your imagination is the limit when it comes to the content you decide to share. Just remember that your best chance of success is giving your audience the information they value and that’s relevant to them.
This blog was originally published here on June 4, 2013.
