Do you feel stuck trying to calculate the advantages of starting a blog and whether or not it is worth the investment for your financial company in 2024? Whether you are an independent financial advisor, an owner of a financial advisors’ agency, or in the financial tech space, chances are you are mostly a numbers person.
However, you are probably going to have a hard time predicting the return on investment of your blogging efforts, especially if you are just starting out. After all, blogging is not an exact science. Moreover, it is not an easy or simple task.
If you want to achieve any success with your blogging, you have to invest plenty of effort and time in the beginning. And for people in the financial industry, time is an extremely valuable commodity and not usually readily available. The last thing you want is to invest all your energy without seeing any results.
Expecting huge results after you publish your first few articles, is not very wise. Think of creating and developing your blog like you would grow a plant. First, you have to prepare a place for the plant. Choose the spot in your garden where it is going to reside or buy a pot.
Secondly, you have to make sure your plant grows in favorable and nourishing soil. Then you have to buy the seeds. After you plant the seeds in the soil, it is time to start caring for your new plant.
You have to water it, ensure it gets enough sun, remove the weeds, and take appropriate action to help it grow. Similarly, just by creating a blog you are NOT automatically going to generate business.
I repeat, you are NOT automatically going to generate business.
That is not how things work. The same applies to all your digital marketingefforts. The results will not be immediately apparent.
Nevertheless, this is not an excuse to give up on the idea of blogging. Whether we like it or not, the internet has changed the game for businesses. More importantly, it has changed the way people consume advertisements and media in general.
Nowadays, individuals often consult various resources before making a purchase decision. It is highly likely that a person would do their own research before reaching out. Instead of pushy, outbound marketing tactics, companies are now embracing inbound strategies.
Modern-day consumers don’t like pushy sales where a product or service is persistently and impertinently shoved in their faces. The majority will come to your business on their own, and that is why it is important to spark interest.
A perfect way to do this, is through blogging, and that is why you must have an active blog in 2024. Blogging is still the most effective inbound marketing approach for companies and remains the number one tool for bringing tons of qualified leads to your business.
We consider this one of the main motives for you to start blogging. Now, we will review 6 additional essential reasons why you need an active blog for your financial company in 2024.
So let’s dive straight into it starting with:
Blogging isn’t a new concept for advertising your financial agency or personal brand. Many people in the financial industry are already veterans of blogging and have been in the field for years.
One great example is Michael Kitces , a renowned financial blogger. Your first instinct is often to search for other successful people who write financial content and mimic their brand voice and style. However, this could be a devastating mistake.
“Why?” you may ask.
When you consider it, your chances of success as a copycat are negligible. Since many have probably adopted this approach, the online space is saturated with blog posts presenting identical financial subjects written in an identical style.
By doing this you will get lost in a sea where all the fish look the same. You won’t be recognizable because you won’t be providing any added value and will seem the same as everyone else.
So, your first job is to find your brand voice if you haven’t already, and implement it in your writing. This will help you differentiate yourself and create your brand authenticity, one of the most crucial success factors for any company.
Don’t make the mistake of blending in. While this may seem like a good idea and bring some short-term results, this approach has labeled many brands as unoriginal. This is inescapable as consumers like authentic brands and stay away from ones that are not.
Reason #2: Blogging Helps Your Business Be Findable
If your content is relevant to your target audience you have already taken a huge step towards attracting vast amounts of traffic to your business. Good quality content is key. Answer the main questions people have about the service or product you provide, and address their main concerns.
Google prefers that content match users’ search intent. Moreover, every new blog post adds one more index page to your website, thus increasing its ranking on the search engine. The recommended quantity of blog posts is approximately four per week, but something is better than nothing.
Posting often has many advantages, and you should certainly do it to maximize the results of your blogging efforts. However, the quality of the content and the frequency of your postings alone, won’t get the job done.
Don’t rush to complete a blog post so you can move on to the next one. Promote your blog post to spread awareness. Social media channels are a great way to do this.
Also, make sure to identify and include the right keywords in your title and content.
There are many great tools like keyword tools out there that can help you find the right keywords. Also, make sure to craft an enticing and clickable meta description.
Although it is not as important to search engines as it used to be, it is still a major determinant of whether users will click on your post or continue scrolling down.
Reason #3: Blogs Help You Multiply Yourself And Your Expertise
Have you ever dreamed of a machine that you can program to duplicate yourself? To clone yourself with the same knowledge and expertise to multiply your business efforts and impact.
Your blog can act as that hard-working soldier for your business. Every industry has content that is considered evergreen. What is more, creating blog posts with evergreen content will more likely perform better over time.
In this way, it will attract attention cumulatively and reach hundreds, thousands or even hundreds of thousands of prospects. You can utilize a blog to attract, educate and guide your visitors to become buyers, without the need to start from scratch each day with every new phone call.
You can even direct customers to your blog posts if they are eager to learn more about certain subjects. You no longer have to waste time repeatedly explaining the same thing. Just recommend the relevant blog post which will save you time and, more importantly, help your prospect or customer gain a better understanding, making a buying decision easier.
Also, remember to revise old blog posts occasionally (use this checklist), as this has been proven to increase traffic. It also helps you stay up to date with your topical content and replace outdated statistics with fresh data, graphics, and links.
Reason#4: Blogs Help You Be More Customer-Oriented
We’ve already touched on this, but can never stress enough the importance of adapting your content to your target audience. When writing, you should always keep your customers in mind. Developing detailed buyer personas can help you achieve this with ease.
Buyer personas can assist you in defining and understanding your ideal customers or prospects. You can have more than one buyer’s persona. This will help you identify the different needs, interests, behaviors, and concerns of specific groups of people.
You can categorize your target market by demographics, motivations, and goals. The more extensive your profile, the better. When you have collected enough information about your ideal customers, you can tailor your writing efforts to accurately match the ideal message and content they are looking for.
Avoid focusing explicitly on your company and your services in your blog posts. After all, visitors will go to your “About Us” page if they want to learn more on their own.
You don’t need to shove it in their face. Sure, you should include a call to action in your content, but make sure it is not annoying and always focuses on the consumer’s benefit.
Creating various guides and checklists is a great start. Also, if you are not utilizing the power of storytelling, you are certainly missing out. Here is what Gary C. Halbert, one of the best copywriters that ever lived, has to say about storytelling.
“And do you know what is the most often missing ingredient in a sales message? It’s the sales message that doesn’t tell an interesting story. Storytelling—good storytelling— is a vital component of a marketing campaign.”
Furthermore, by telling a story, you don’t even have to try to sell your product or service. It will happen naturally since consumers will witness the value you have provided to others, and the unique way in which you do business.
Reason #5. Receive Valuable Feedback
One of the greatest benefits of blogging is the opportunity to receive feedback in several different ways. For instance, if you have a “Comments” section, it can be used to:
- Display whether users found this piece of content valuable.
- People can ask questions so that you become more aware of their concerns.
- Some other experts or non-experts may provide a valuable opinion or insight into the matter.
- It creates a lot of engagement in a “social media” type of way.
It is incredibly important to adopt active listening as a part of your content strategy. This way, you can learn more about what customers like or don’t like about your product, service, or content. You can then easily adjust your marketing strategy focus to match the needs of your target audience.
You may wonder how important feedback from business consumers is. It is a known fact that people are more likely to trust other people than businesses. The great thing about feedback, is that it provides an unbiased opinion from other people about your business. This is extremely influential to the purchase decision of your potential buyers.
Reason #6: Creates Authority For You and Your Business
Last but certainly not least, having a blog will position you as an expert in your field. Consumers would love to engage with you on a continuous basis if you provide industry insights, help them manage their finances better, and update them regarding current trends.
By doing this, you will soon become a preferred resource of information, giving you the unique opportunity to convert interest into revenue. Furthermore, blogging is a great way of establishing trust and loyalty with your customers.
When your customers become your brand advocates, your authority will constantly work for you. Another hidden benefit is that in your effort to provide valuable information and assert your expertise, you will educate and develop yourself even further, constantly learning more about your business area and your customers. You can achieve this development by feeding yourself knowledge within your niche through blogs, books, podcasts, and even online courses.
So, What Should You Do Next? Just Ignore All of This or Start Blogging and Take Advantage of All These Amazing Benefits?
In 2024, blogging could be the missing piece of the puzzle for your financial company’s success. With recent events attracting an excellent online presence, effective digital marketing channels have become crucial for the survival of your financial brand.
So, take action now. Plant the seeds today so that you can reap the sweet fruits the future will bring if you start your financial blog in 2024.
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