In my last blog, It’s Good to Be Content King, we spoke about several rules advisors should follow when building a communication plan. Those rules are a great place to start, but where will all of that content come from?
The good news is there is a final rule for that too, and it’s something I like to call the Communication Pyramid. This concept has many different variations between industry leaders, but here is my take on it:
Catered content is at the base of the pyramid.
This content is part of the content libraries from marketing sources that advisors can white label. The best part about this content is it is easy, professional, and low cost. The downside is availability. When more advisors receive content from the same source, the more widely used that content becomes. This content is a good base for advisors to pull content that needs to be communicated but doesn’t need custom.
The best practice for catered content is to pull relevant communications with the best quality and scarcity and use this as a base to build from. After all, the more exclusive the content, the less likely someone else is using it. Avoid having catered content be the only communication type in your strategy.
Curated content is all about shared material.
What are other industry leaders saying that corroborates the financial advisor’s message? What holiday recipes from celebrity chefs should clients try making for the holidays? This is content that is written and branded by someone else that advisors can use in a variety of ways. Sharing content digitally is a great way to find an audience. Many apps can consolidate many sources out there to the top few relevant to the advisor (apps like Flipbook, Apple News, and Feedly).
The best practice for curated content is to look for timely pieces and share them while the topic is trending. A lot of curated content often goes stale quickly.
Custom content is the best content for an advisor to use.
Custom content exists nowhere else and is explicitly written to fit an advisor’s practice uniquely. This content is often done as ghostwritten copy for company brochures and websites or as single pieces meant to stand the test of time.
The best advisors don’t stop there. They put together their blogs, podcasts, videos, and eBooks and get this information out to the world. The big drawback of this content is the cost. Custom content is expensive, whether the price is paid with hiring a ghostwriter or an on-staff writer. On top of that, custom content takes time to write, which can take advisors and staff members away from doing what they do best.
The best practice here is to start with a monthly blog, video script, or announcement that is no more than 500 words in length. This is manageable to write quickly and more affordable if ghostwritten.
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This article is Part 5 of The Modern Advisor’s Guide to Content Marketing series.
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