They say money talks, but what if it could sing?
Talking about money in an engaging way can be a hard task, the topics are always fairly complicated and, as a result, it can be difficult to keep readers interested in what you’re trying to say.
It’s not exactly a sexy industry, so when writing about finance, you have to utilise other skills in order to make your content stand out and engaging to readers.
These are our 10 top tips on how to approach content marketing for financial services…
1) Helpful is interesting
Being helpful is the easiest way to avoid being boring.
If you’re offering genuine insightful information, this is always going to be interesting to those who need that insight.
If you’re answering a question, again, to those who need the answer, you’re bound to be interesting.
2) Write like you speak
Clarity always triumphs. Keep your message clear, and write how you speak
Write naturally, and try to keep business lingo to a minimum. You may think that using highly technical language will make you sound clever, and clever is what the people want, right?
Unfortunately, trying to sound clever is the quickest way to put people off.
Clarity always triumphs. Keep your message clear, and write how you speak. Unless you speak in corporate gobbledygook, then maybe get someone else to do it.
3) Be specific
You need to relate to your reader, but you also need to offer them something they can’t get anywhere else.
Making your content marketing topics specific is a great way to reach the defined personas you’re looking to attract.
Take this piece. By being specific to financial services, we’re hoping to address a clear problem for a clearly defined audience within a clearly defined industry.
It may get less readers as a result, but those who need the insight will be far more likely to read to the end.
4) Let your sense of humour show
Knock knock…
Who’s there?
A boring topic.
Ah okay, well here’s a funny hat.
By using a light touch (the funny hat), you can make a boring topic more engaging by letting your sense of humour show through.
Make a joke. Make a pop reference. Be colloquial. Be different in your approach. If it’s natural, and doesn’t detract from the message of your content, it’ll help to keep your reader interested.
5) A relatable analogy is like a picture book…
Often, boring simply means confusing.
Finance is a complicated industry, with complicated issues to solve. Meaning, most content marketing within this industry will be aimed at people who know a lot less about the topic than you.
To sidestep this fact, you can introduce difficult concepts to readers through relatable analogies, putting the information in terms everyone can understand.
6) Keep it brief
All things considered, if what you’re writing about isn’t all that interesting, people aren’t going to want to spend a lot of time reading about it.
Keep it brief, maybe invest in an editor to keep your content concise and to the point.
The less time you can use to say what you need to say, the better the engagement will be.
7) Don’t overwhelm
The bottom line is, content must be approachable.
Break up your difficult content. Make it digestible. Signpost key aspects. Use large headings, or bold significant sentences. Create bullet points, or numbered lists. Images or video content. Just keep it fresh and easy to tackle.
Remember, formatting is your friend.
8) Consider a visual approach
Can the story you’re trying to tell be better told via a more visual medium?
Image and video content can engage in a way that words sadly can’t, with this being especially true in today’s world of fast paced consumption.
When the time or message is right, it’s definitely worth investing in video or interactive content to tell your story, this will boost engagement and provoke a discussion around your services.
9) Offer the best guest content
Just as the right celeb can sell a certain product to a certain audience, in the world of finance, having the right expert associated with your brand can be a great boost to your content marketing efforts.
Through interviews, or guest posts, you can bring in outsider insights to offer your audience a greater understanding of a certain topic. This is a great way to show your educational intentions by going the extra mile in the interest of your audience.
10) It’s okay to be shocking
There a few ways to make a potentially boring subject more interesting using shock factor.
Offering surprising facts or statistics can shed new light on a certain topic. They can raise awareness, make people think a different way, and serve to hook your audience in.
Data has the ability to shock, and, if you have the stomach for it, creating a bit of controversy around it can be an effective approach.
Some may not like it, but anger means engagement. By starting a debate, you can create interest around industry issues, which is the whole reason you’re doing this.
Food for thought…
We know money talks, now it’s up to you to decide what it sounds like…
Again, here’s how to give your financial service an interesting voice –
- Be helpful
- Write like you speak
- Be specific
- Be funny
- Be relatable
- Keep it brief
- Don’t overwhelm
- Consider a visual approach
- Utilise guest content
- It’s okay to be shocking!