An online broker’s content marketing can make or break the firm: enlisting the help of a digital content agency for brokers seems like a no-brainer once you’ve tallied up all the pros and cons.

Generally speaking, people try to outsource work they simply can’t do themselves, like litigation or dentistry! Companies also prefer to pay others to perform functions they can’t handle economically at the scale they require, like courier services, or those that would dilute the business’s focus, including IT and recruitment.

ADigital Content Agency for Brokers can help brokerages focus on their core business while delivering expert content solutions.

However, aside from lacking certain skills and saving money, there is another good reason to utilise a third party: when the results of getting it wrong can completely outweigh any possible benefits of having a go at it yourself.

There’s nothing stopping you from taking a hacksaw to some faulty plumbing in the office bathroom, for example, but you may not enjoy having to explain why the whole floor is now underwater ;)

Key takeaways

• Sticking to what you’re good at and relying on others for the rest is usually a winning strategy.
  
• Digital content agencies possess specialised skill sets you’d be hard-pressed to build in-house. This expertise makes your marketing budget go much further.
  
• Their core competencies aren’t limited just to content creation – they can also provide invaluable advice on marketing strategy, new trends, and competitors’ game plans.
  
• Of course, the ultimate goal is to gain more, and better quality, conversions and generate higher user engagement. First, though, you need to know exactly what to ask for – here are our top broker content tips when outsourcing part of your digital marketing:
  

1. Intelligent use of digital analytics tools

Quantify what matters, not just what’s easy to measure.

Even if handled completely in-house, every broker content plan comes with a price tag attached. Naturally, it can be hard to justify the extra expense of hiring an external digital content agency in the face of questions about what your own marketing department is doing.

However, what should guide this decision isn’t just dollars and cents, but the total bang you can get for each buck. This can only be evaluated by looking beyond simple metrics like webpage hits, new subscribers, and of course revenue growth.

Disregarding the details of the entire customer acquisition journey means ignoring most of what’s going on behind the scenes. You can, effectively, save money by tracking a broker’s content campaign’s RoI more granularly – a digital marketing expert will be able to give you new insights into which tactics are working and what should be tweaked.

2. A content agency for brokers offer a fresh set of eyes

Generate new insights and approaches.

Though the profession of marketing is often associated with creativity, the fact is that ideas which look good on paper often don’t quite work out in real life. Even when you’ve come up with a concept that perfectly portrays your broker, content plans that get the message across can still be hard to draft.

An external content agency, especially one that specialises in the financial industry, can give you a better idea of what has been tried in the past, what resources were required, and how it all turned out. In many cases, they can also shed light on any blind spots your in-house marketing team may have. For a broker, content tips that reveal new opportunities and ways to mine these can, by themselves, justify an agency’s retainer fee.

3. All functions under one roof

Take advantage of a full-service content solution.

A broker’s content marketing is only as good as its weakest link. Dropping the ball with any aspect will inevitably harm your brand’s overall appeal.

Now, it’s not always easy to figure out exactly what graphic designers, web developers, copywriters, editors, and all the other professionals needed to set up a broker content campaign get up to. Still, it is a fact that polished web pages, emails, and other broker content solutions handily outperform indifferently designed ones. It’s much easier to get this right when you employ an experienced team rather than random freelancers.

These kinds of integrated broker content solutions stop a lot of things from falling through the cracks unnoticed. It’s easy to see how relying on people who are used to working closely together reduces cost while speeding up the cycle between ideation and publication. In addition, the collegial atmosphere a dynamic digital marketing agency fosters between its employees creates special room for spontaneous creativity.

4. Connect effectively with different demographics

Don’t sell only to the usual suspects.

Most of the people working for your organization probably have a background in finance and are comfortable speaking to others in the same boat. Still, how many of your potential clients have MBAs and will respond positively to jargon-heavy, technically-orientated messages?

There’s no need for any broker’s content strategies to suffer from this kind of disconnect in terms of the tone, viewpoint, or emphasis prospective investors expect. A content agency can help you bridge gaps between different age groups, spark interest among new market segments, and deal with often-overlooked issues like regional localisation.

5. Make sense of social

Build genuine engagement, one click at a time.

One demographic a lot of broker content strategies are built around is that comprising the younger generation of upwardly mobile investors. Unfortunately, reaching them can be hard. Overwhelmed by information and advertising, cynical about most of what they read, and with differing levels of financial sophistication, they’re tough targets for any broker content plan.

Come to think of it, much of the above describes social media users of any age and income level. Making the most of the limited time during which they’re willing to lend you their attention requires entertaining, challenging, and informing them all at once.

What’s more, a broker’s SEO, social, and branding strategies need to be closely aligned for best results. This, along with understanding the intricacies and best practices of each social platform, is frequently an area in which a digital marketing agency’s input can be of some help.

6. Better SEO and visibility with a content agency for brokers

Build web traffic and authority – the right way.

Browsing the internet, you’ll soon realise that most brokers’ SEO practices follow much the same pattern as that of other businesses. In fact, understanding what you need to do is pretty simple…it’s the how that’s likely to give you trouble.

The reality is that, when it comes to boosting the visibility of a broker’s content marketing, there are no reliable shortcuts or foolproof “growth hacks”. Success relies on doing the right things as well as possible while avoiding certain pitfalls. Unfortunately, the line between one and the other is often blurred and moves over time; this is why any broker’s SEO strategy can benefit from some outside expertise.

7. Help with establishing a clearly defined brand

Learn to own your voice.

You cannot be all things to all people and trying to please everyone only makes you look ridiculous. This principle implies that a broker’s content campaigns have to be tailored according to both its chosen market niche and the actual, nuts-and-bolts USP of the business. These elements need to be obvious and definite, not only to your prospective clients but also to your in-house sales and marketing team.

Let’s take a moment to assess the kind of emotional resonance your content marketing is going for. What drives clients into your arms: sustainable and equitable investing? Aspirations to a certain social status? Bucking the system?

Answering these types of questions requires a peculiar mixture of self-awareness and cynicism that not everybody possesses. It’s far too easy to simply restate your company’s vision and mission statements, and call that your brand.

Any broker’s content strategy should be underpinned by a clearly defined company identity – ideally, one about which people can become passionate. Nailing this down, however, demands a certain detachment, something which an outside digital marketing agency can provide.

8. Greater PR Reach

Gain the interest of those who matter.

According to my own personal and completely unscientific estimate, about 85% of press releases may as well never have been written. Many just aren’t tailored to the right audience; they read like the company bragging about itself, to itself. Others simply aren’t sent to the right people and, at best, end up gathering digital dust in somebody’s spam folder.

Your content does no good to anybody if it’s simply sitting there in the ether, unpromoted, unread, and unloved. Ideally, you’ll harness conventional media to spread the word far and wide, though this avenue isn’t available to just everyone.

A digital marketing agency can also introduce you to possibilities like content syndication and guest posting. If your marketing budget is sufficiently princely, you can even consider PPC and search engine advertising to increase traffic to high-performing content.

Final thoughts: What the right content agency for brokers can do

In situations where it’s hard to quantify or predict the impact of any given decision, there’s a strong temptation to confuse activity with effectiveness – and this is usually the case with content marketing. It can easily end up seeming like you’re doing a lot without actually getting anything done!

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the complexities of marketing a broker or trading platform online, it may be time to consult a digital content agency. You will find that such a company not only takes care of the nuts and bolts of a broker’s content creation but quickly becomes an invaluable strategic partner. This takes some of the pressure off your in-house team while also setting your brand on the path to becoming a respected thought leader.