Six Words that Should Define Your Content Strategy

A lot has been written about content strategy for financial advisors, and I’m about to write even more. But first, I’ll give it to you in six words so you can skip the rest if you want.

Here’s it is: Stuff your clients want to read.

The two core questions here are:

• What kind of clients do you like working with?

• What do those people care most about?

If you already have clients that you like working with, then you’ve got a head start. Send them a one-question survey that simply asks: What is your greatest financial concern right now?

However they answer, those are the topics you should write about. Do it once or twice a year. You’ll never run out of content.

Some people may disagree that your content strategy should be so simple as “Stuff your clients want to read.”

They would probably say it should be something like “Stuff that drives your business goals” or “Stuff that hits popular keywords” or “Stuff that demonstrates your expertise.”

But I would disagree right back at them.

Here’s why: All of those strategies are driven by what you want. You want your business to be successful, you want your site to rank well in search results, you want people to view you as an expert. Of course you do – that makes total sense! Those are all worthy things to strive for.

But if you want your content to connect with your clients, your strategy can’t be self-centered – it has to be client-centered.

Your content will still be infused with your perspective and your humanity – you’ll just be writing for your clients.

Don’t get me wrong – this strategy ends up helping you as an advisor in the end because it connects to one of the primary reasons advisors create content in the first place: To give your clients another way to talk about you. When you send a newsletter or blog update that resonates with them, they are much more likely to send it along to friends and family – more people like them.

That’s the magic of relevant, resonant content – people want to share it.

Next time you’re writing something, ask yourself, “Will my clients want to read this?” If not, save it for your Christmas card.

Then go write stuff your clients want to read. Everyone will be happier in the end.