There’s no doubt about it. Financial services marketing is challenging. There’s a lot to think about from keeping the regulatory warlords satisfied to creating energetic and engaging campaigns. So, if you’re asking Should I Hire a Content Marketing Agency for My Finance Brand? we’ve got you covered with the essentials. In light of the global pandemic, economy and continuous need to perform in a competitive space; we’re looking at the pros and cons of hiring a marketing agency. Let’s do this.
You Need a Content Marketing Strategy
First things first. Don’t think you can side-step a content marketing strategy. Yes, the daily FX trading volumes rocketed 18% year-on-year in March to a record $2.2 trillion due to more people staying at home during the pandemic. And yes, a number of brokers reported record account openings in the first 6 months of 2020. But does that mean you should be complacent? Well, no.
An airtight content marketing strategy is as important during periods of increased trading activity, improved consumer interest and brand success as it is during quieter times. As the world reopens, finance brands including brokers need to be prepared for a possible slump and that means doing everything to stand out from the crowd. Similarly, as the importance of digital has been further emphasised, it’s time to shape up.
Before delving into the financial details, it’s essential to remember one thing. Bad content writing won’t win you business. So whether you’re hiring inhouse or outsourcing your content, choosing very cheap or underqualified writers won’t help you in the long run. If you’re going to focus on content, you’ve got to do it properly. That means implementing an omni-channel approach tailored to the audiences of each platform. That requires strategy, experience and a sound knowledge of today’s digital landscape. Simply plucking an intern and asking them to write a blog here and there is not good enough.
2020 Content Marketing Stats
If you’re still not sure why putting energy into content marketing matters, let’s eyeball the latest 2020 stats:
- The content marketing industry is expected to grow by $269.24 billion during 2020-2024 according to the latest market research report by Technavio.
- Content marketing growth will be fuelled largely by an increase in social media usage. While an estimated 3.6 billion people use social media worldwide in 2020, the number is projected to increase to almost 4.41 billion in 2025.
- Companies spend 46% of their budget on content creation.
- 70% of marketers are actively investing in content marketing. Taking your eye off the ball could see competitors soar in front of your eyes.
- 78% of companies have a team of one-to-three content specialists.
- Articles that are >3,000 words get 3x more traffic, 4x more shares, and 3.5x more backlinks than shorter articles.
- The majority of companies (67%) use organic traffic to measure their content success.
Why Hiring a Content Marketing Agency is Good Idea
So, it’s clear that content marketing is on an upward trend. If you want to make your mark in the finance realm you need juicy content in many different forms. So why is hiring a content marketing agency a good idea?
#1 You can budget accordingly
Covid-19 might have given the FX industry a boost, but it hasn’t been the same story across the finance space. Bank job losses hit a six-year high during the first quarter with the world’s largest investment banks cutting 2,800 front-line jobs. A reported 22% of UK fintech jobs are either under immediate or moderate risk in light of the pandemic. The number of people on payroll has fallen for the first time in years. So as a finance company it’s really important to get your budget under control and monitor your payroll and expenses closely.
By hiring a content marketing agency, you don’t need to take anyone on full-time in house if it’s not needed. Content marketing agencies can focus on your social media presence alone if you don’t have time. Or, work on a whitepaper or video script as and when it’s needed. This helps to ease the financial burden of having someone on a payroll.
Agencies need to be paid (of course). But rates are competitive, and you’ll have access to content marketing experts with a track record of proving the success of finance brands. Open, honest communication is the best way to draw up a deal all parties are happy with. You also won’t have to waste valuable working time on a length recruitment process looking for the required content marketing talent. Additionally…
- No need to allocate holiday pay
Full-time employees are usually entitled to 20 days holiday per year. Therefore if you hire in-house you must budget accordingly. By outsourcing work as and when is necessary; you won’t have to worry about such obligations and can streamline your spending.
- It’s scalable
The challenge for many new finance brands is knowing how many marketing staff they will need. It’s an age old problem faced by all startups. The benefit of outsourcing your content marketing is that it’s scalable. That means you can add or remove services as your business evolves. Start up brokers and hedge funds find this a safer option than hiring an entire team.
- No need to pay sick pay
In parts of the world such as the UK, employers may be eligible for things like statutory sick pay where employees receive £92.05 a week for up to 28 weeks if they’re too ill to work. This, of course, is another thing you don’t need to think about when outsourcing.
- Negotiating bonuses isn’t an issue
Many people make their money in commission or bonuses! When you outsource, a rate will be agreed at the start so you know exactly where you stand financially.
At Contentworks, our Rockstar solution is just €4,900 per month and includes:
- High-quality content to generate a buzz around your brand
- 3-channel social media management for Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
- Influencer marketing helping you to connect with the brightest minds in your sector
- On-going strategic advice
- On-demand content marketing support when you need it the most
- Monthly reporting to ensure you stay on top of progress
Of course tailored solutions are also available.
#2 Financial marketing agencies are compliance ninjas
From ESMA fine-print to the rules of ASIC and CySEC, content marketing agencies for the finance sector have compliance nailed. This means you won’t have to navigate through the minefield of rules and regulations alone and can instead put your trust in compliance ninjas who know about risk warnings, transparency, GDPR and MiFID II jargon which improves the integrity, fairness and efficiency of the financial markets.
For instance, when you make a social post about trading, risk warnings must be included. If you don’t do this, you could land yourself in hot water.
Chances are, you have a compliance team. But if they’re busy, they won’t want to trawl through your content making making edits time and time again. This can also create delays in getting marketing campaigns up and running. Financial marketing agencies work closely with your compliance team to ensure your content marketing plans don’t get held up.
Financial marketing agencies attend finance events and may go on to become financial marketing thought leaders, (Director Niki interviewed at a recent seminar below). This means they stay focused on the latest regulations, news and trends in the sector.
#3 Agencies know what works in the finance space
If you plan to rush your strategy or guess it then it’s time for a rethink. Content marketing for finance isn’t about a quick tweet here or a website update there. It’s about knowing what works for the sector, engaging your audience and retaining existing traders.
Yes, this does require expertise, which is why many finance brands go down the agency route. Here’s a quick overview of some of the key marketing strategies used by successful finance brands. Take a look and see if you can handle it all in-house or if you need an agency.
Social media hashtags for finance
Hashtags categorise your tweets and help them to show up more easily in a Twitter search. In general terms, you’re better off using fewer high-quality hashtags related to your business and what you’re promoting than a bunch of borderline irrelevant ones. On Twitter and Facebook, it’s been found that only using 1-2 valuable hashtags is ideal.
Niche finance hashtags could include: #finance #investment #daytrading #forextrading #stockmarkets or mention of trading pairs such as #EURUSD depending on the contents of your post. You could also use trending hashtags to show you’re down with the latest developments such as #2020election #USElections #brexit.
Top tips for hashtag use:
- Use tools to research trending hashtags. Twitter comes with a native search feature that lets you keep up with the latest trending topics and hashtags. From your Twitter dashboard, click on the #Explore tab. Then select the ‘trending’ tab to get a list of the topics and hashtags currently trending in your region, industry or globally.
- Make the most of listening tools. These help you to identify important hashtags and topics mentioned alongside your brand. Check out the hashtag analytics to see what’s proving popular.
If it all seems like too much hard work – contact us.
Video creation
Video has become the most commonly used format in content marketing, overtaking blogs and infographics. 72-hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every 60 seconds and 82 of Twitter users watch video content on the platform. A whopping 100 million hours of video are also watched on Facebook every day. And with 87% of video marketers stating that video has increased traffic to their website, it’s well worth incorporating video into your finance marketing strategy.
What kind of videos work well for finance? Well, there’s:
- Short explainer videos. These can promote a new feature or product such as this Dark Mode clip from Revolut. Don’t forget to use the Pinned Tweet tool for optimum visibility.
- Staff commentary. Going behind the scenes, featuring key team members and building your campaign around important business figures improves authenticity. This is a big part of Ellevest’s strategy on Instagram.
Education Centres
More and more brands are waking up to the fact that education can lead to improved acquisition success. Education centres are all about giving clients the tools needed to use your products and services effectively. So, if you’re a forex brand, you need to produce evergreen content around frequently asked questions such as ‘how can I trade forex?’ or ‘what are the most frequently traded currency pairs?’
But that’s just the beginning. Your education centre needs to be relevant and updated. That means trending content on popular currency pairs, oil moves, Bitcoin volatility and gold. It also means covering popular events like NFP or elections.
You might also want to split your content into easy-to-navigate beginner and advanced sections. This will help consumers skip to the content they really need and lower bounce rates. All new blogs can be promoted via social media, which should in turn direct people back to specific content with a clear call to action.
Top tip: Think about what’s going on in the current climate and adjust your content accordingly. For example, providing an e-book for Q4 trading, will allow you to built your acquisition database.
All this is super exciting but it’s a lot of work with the average blog article now taking up to 4 hours. If you don’t have the time, your marketing runs the risk of being executed poorly. That’s why dedicated content marketing agencies come in useful, saving you time, money and energy.
#4 Agencies can execute a plan
The financial markets have been greatly affected by covid-19. While the Dow entered a bear market once the virus was declared a pandemic, oil prices also plunged into negative territory. Indeed, prices fell so much that some traders paid buyers to take oil off their hands. The price of the main U.S. oil benchmark fell more than $50 a barrel to end the day about $30 below zero, the first time oil prices have ever turned negative. A financial services marketing agency follows trends in the sector to be relevant and on point. They will also work with you to understand:
- Your target audience
- Your competitors
- The characteristics of your regions
- Your KPIs
- Your style and brand voice
By creating and executing a strategy for you, your financial services agency saves you a ton of time and stress.
#5 Agencies Can Work Remotely
Remote working has been thrust into the spotlight as a result of covid-19. Indeed, lockdown situations emphasise the need for a strong digital presence and highlight the importance of having a capable digital team.
Content marketing agencies like Contentworks are fully digitised and focus on growing the online presence of brands. Through open, regular communication, it’s perfectly possible to develop a strong business relationship with an agency and trust them to deliver exceptional work. Of course, only work with companies that you properly vet and be sure to check out their portfolio.
Remember, you can always have your chosen agency sign a NDA (confidentiality agreement) as this will offer you protection and show the third-party agency you’re serious about formalities. Don’t commence any work until all documentation has been returned.
So, should you hire a content marketing agency for your finance brand? Contentworks Agency works with brokers, banks, fintechs and techs to provide expert outsourced solutions. Arrange a call with our team now.