In our recent blog post “Do’s and Don’ts when Starting your RIA Firm’s Blog,” we discussed how a blog can help expand a registered investment adviser (“RIA”) firm expand its online marketing efforts. So you started a blog, now what? First of all, it’s vital to remember that building a successful blog does not happen overnight. Most importantly, remember the content you cultivate should be helpful and relevant to your specific audience. In addition to your content being helpful and relevant, you also have to make sure you are properly promoting what you’ve written to your proper target audience. Since building organic search engine traffic and an avid social media following can take years, be prepared for a long process that is unlikely to yield immediate results. Perseverance is key.
So, how do you promote your RIA firm’s content and generate blog subscribers? Here are a few quick tips to consider:
- Build Influencer Relationships:
- It is important to build relationships with other “influencers” in your target market to help share your content. These influencers are often other “centers of influence” such as local or specialized accountants, estate planning attorneys, insurance brokers, or business coaches. Some of these influences may already have a strong online or social media presence or similar to you, be looking to expand their online presence. Be sure to inform these centers of influence about your new online content efforts along with a few recent blog posts that could be particularly relevant to their clients or prospects. With a little bit of luck, these potential referral sources may share your content.
- Remember content sharing is a two way street – you have to give to get. If you want someone to share your content, you have to remember to share their content too. You can also repurpose their blog posts which are relevant and useful to your audience (with their permission, of course), and share it on social media. Or perhaps, one of your influencers would like to write guest posts on your blog?
- Use Social Media to Engage and Share the Message:
- Did you write a new post? Share it on social media! Be sure to link to your post and tag a picture. Using a picture in your post makes it more visually appealing to followers scrolling through their feeds.
- Don’t be afraid to use multiple social media channels. Don’t just stick with one (i.e. Twitter or Facebook). Share your content on multiple channels to increase exposure. Over time, you’ll get a better sense for what social media channels are most relevant to your audience. Never assume as you can often be surprised.
- Did your post mention specific businesses or influencers? Be sure to tag and mention those relevant to your blog post on social media. They may be willing to share your social media content with their followers too.
- Be sure to share your content when your audience is online. If your target market isn’t typically online at 7:00 am, don’t tweet at 7:00 am. It will only get lost in their feed.
- Link to your Content through Emails and Newsletters:
- Do you send out a monthly our quarterly newsletter to your clients or prospects? Newsletters are a great place to link to a few of your recent blog posts with brief summaries.
- Do you have a list of email subscribers? Share educational content with your subscribers! Be sure to send your emails at the best times for open and click-through rates. You don’t want your messages getting lost in your recipients’ inbox by sending it at the wrong times.
As RIA compliance consultants, it’s important to remember that any online content your firm publishes, whether it be a blog post, social media post, or a newsletter email, is considered to be advertising and subject to traditional RIA advertising rules and regulations. Your firm must establish the proper compliance policies and procedures before launching an online content strategy as all content will be examined in detail during a regulatory audit.