Brokers are continuously in a race to generate quality Leads . Content Marketing is one of the channels that brokers are often exploring.
Content is a source of traffic which can work in two ways, early in the marketing funnel to generate leads and later in the funnel, during the consideration stage, as a channel that can convert leads by nurturing a relationship with the audience and positioning the brokerage as a thought leader in the client’s eyes.
The thought leadership approach will ensure that the brokerage is positioned at the top of the trader’s preference when the time is right and they intend to start trading.
Without continuous production and relevant content, this form of marketing will not become a stable traffic and lead source. Content as a strategy should be perceived and implemented as a long term marketing strategy.
Content can be one of the most powerful tools in your marketing weapons arsenal, as the concept rests on the simple idea that humans are continuously in a need to learn more and of course be entertained.
Allowing them to become part of that story through your content is what will eventually build and secure the brokerage – trader relationship.
In recent years, we have seen marketers coming up with and testing new ways in which content could be used to increase lead acquisition for your brokerage, for example:
Ebooks
Ebooks are one of the most commonly used and most successful content tools that can become one of your most lucrative lead generation channels. As mentioned above, traders seek new knowledge every day. Offering traders a piece of knowledge is a means for building a relationship with your website visitors and eventually converting them into a lead.
| Marketing tip Use Ebooks to educate traders and inform them about your products or teach them something. This will make your ebook more valuable and offer you the ability to communicate to the target audience you want. |
Easily Shareable Content
Every piece of content written should be prepared in a way that would easily allow the reader to share on social media or create captions. Make sure that you have included shortcut buttons and links within your content piece.
Where possible, your content should build an emotional bond with the reader, which will make the article or content piece worth sharing.
| Marketing tip Content sharing is a fantastic way to increase lead generation in a shorter time frame. The reason being that it is directly reaching the desired audience by one of their own. Therefore, the reader is more likely to trust your content as it has been shared organically within their social circle. |
Promoted Content
Creating valuable and educational content is not always enough. The content piece needs to be promoted to ensure that it is going to reach the intended target audience.
There are many ways in which content can be promoted depending on the broker's KPI’s and available budget.
Some of the most common ways are promoting content on social media channels as well as native content ads via direct media buying or programmatic content ad platforms.
Therefore, when preparing your media budget, ensure that you have planned for a certain amount to be allocated towards your content marketing.
| Marketing tip Brokers often invest in writing a lot of content that is never promoted. If your budget doesn't allow for both, focus on creating less and higher value content that can be promoted, rather than producing more content that will be posted organically with less ROI. |
Social Media
Being active on social media channels can present a one of a kind opportunity for brokers. Social media can help brokers ramp up their leads if they are creative, consistent, relevant and timely with their content.
Social media acts as a direct line of communication between traders and brokers, allowing instant interaction and enhanced client relationship management.
This is very important as well as a necessary step that all brokerages should invest in, to enhance their lead generation via social media.
| Marketing tip Knowing that keeping up with the needs of social media channels can be quite challenging, one can employ tools like natural language generation algorithms to automate their social media channels and serve traders unique posts as well as important and constant updates as they happen. |
Guest Blogging
Creating valuable content is not enough. It's all about how you'll reach the intended target audience. Therefore, simply publishing content on your own blog will not give your brokerage the desired outcome.
Find highly reputable websites and partner with them. Reach out to an audience which already follows and respects the partner's website. If they trust the source of the articles, it will be faster to convert them into leads.
Furthermore, this type of approach is more subtle, and therefore, an effective way of advertising to the target audience, as it is less invasive than a banner advertisement.
It engages the audience by intriguing interest and creates awareness of your brokerage whilst making the user experience native.
| Marketing tip Guest blogging is a win-win scenario for both the brokerage as well as the partnering website. It allows the broker to expose your brand to interested audiences whilst at the same time it offers the partner website additional free content which quite often editors are looking for. |
Content marketing applications and funnels can be endless. All you need is creativity and an appetite for testing the various techniques necessary.
Other than the above, you could engage your audience by creating content in the form of quizzes, reports, newsletters, video, and infographics.
Creating different types of content can boost lead generation and help brokerages build long lasting relationships with their traders. Remember, content is king, so invest in it.
