Many registered investment adviser (“RIA”) firm principals are looking to expand their firm’s online marketing efforts. Often, the first step of a firm’s online marketing strategy is to a launch a new or redesigned website. While this initial step is important, many firms soon become disappointed when the website fails to generate significant online traffic. While having a professional looking website is a step in the right direction, RIA websites without unique and regularly updated content will generally just serve as an online marketing brochure for existing and prospective clients already familiar with the firm. To attract new prospects to the website, RIA firms need to invest in the creation of valuable and unique content. The addition of an online blog to the firm’s website is a great second step in furthering a firm’s online marketing reach. A well designed and committed blogging strategy should be a critical component of a firm’s online search engine optimization (“SEO”) strategy. However, as consultants to thousands of RIA firms, we see a number of common mistakes made when an investment adviser attempts to start a blog for the first time. This post highlights some key do’s and don’ts for launching a successful RIA firm blog.
A successful blogging strategy has an exponential long-term impact. The longer and more often you blog as an advisor, the more unique online traffic your firm’s blog and website will generate over time. It’s vital to understand that a blog is a long-term investment. In our observations, we see that most blogs take over 12 months to gain traction. With that said, a blogging strategy can be a cost-effective way to grow your RIA firm if you’re willing to invest the necessary time.
In addition to being cost-effective, blogging allows you to simultaneously broadcast helpful and timely information to current clients and prospects. By regularly authoring and distributing thoughtful content, a blog can help build your firm’s credibility and reputation as a thought leader in a niche and/or local geographic market.
So, are you ready to start a blog yet? Here is a quick rundown of some DO’s and DON’T’s when starting a blog for your RIA firm:
- DO have a content strategy.
- Frequency: How often and when? Make sure you are consistent. We generally recommend that advisors post unique content at least 2 times per month at a minimum.
- Cultivate a collection of evergreen content. Evergreen content is relevant regardless of time (day, week, month, or year). It is valuable content that remains relevant to your audience no matter when they read it. This type of content is what will help your blog rank more favorably for keywords and build ranking power with search engines.
- Know the right keywords to target to optimize your posts for better SEO value.
- DO use images to create more attractive posts.
- Not only do images make for a more attractive post, but images also help articles stand out when shared through social media channels.
- DON’T just write to write.
- This will only create noise. Write content of value to your clients and targeted prospect niche.
- For example, does your firm cater to physicians at local hospitals? Make sure your posts address specific topics relevant to that audience (e.g. how to optimize paying off medical student loans) and not too generic (e.g.. how to save for retirement).
- DON’T rely solely on organic traffic.
- Be sure to increase engagement on your blog through other online marketing channels. Don’t be afraid to share your content through social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.
- Consider starting a monthly newsletter to help increase blog traffic by highlighting several of your recent and relevant blog posts.
- DON’T forget to link to other resources on your website.
- This may include prior blog posts, white papers, or external resources. If you find yourself only linking to external resources, it’s likely time to invest in the creation of additional relevant items a prospect could download from your website.
- DO test your content and DON’T be afraid to make revisions when necessary.
- Be sure to test your strategy often, especially early on. Find out what works and what doesn’t. It is ok to alter your content strategy along the way. Check metrics such as click rates, page views, and keywords to see what content is most engaging to your audience.
- DO be patient.
- Creating and managing a blog (or any digital content for that matter) is a long term investment. Remember most advisors don’t see a return on their investment for at least 12 months.
As RIA compliance consultants, it’s also important to remember that any online content that your firm publishes is considered to be advertising and subject to traditional RIA advertising rules and regulations. It’s important to establish the proper compliance policies and procedures before embarking on an online marketing strategy as all online content will be examined in detail during a regulatory audit.