Finance Archives - Digital Storyteller

What We’re Listening To: Podcasts

At Digital Storyteller, we’ve always got a new podcast in our ear, but lately, we’ve been listening to a few specific shows more than the rest. Whether you’re looking for some entrepreneurial inspiration or a heavenly combination of seedy language and insider sports knowledge, you’ll find something you like in this list of our favorite podcasts:

How I Built This by Guy Raz

I’d listen to Guy Raz talk about anything — he’s perfectly calm in his demeanor, yet he’s got a voice that keeps you engaged for an entire hour-long episode (sometimes several.) However, it’s Guy’s guests that keep me coming back for more. Many are the founders of brands we interact with every day — Wikipedia, Bumble, Beyond Meat, to name a few — and all have stories that will leave a lasting impression. Be prepared to take your entrepreneurial spirit to a new level with this one.

The Barstool Rundown with Dave Portnoy

As a former pro golfer, it only makes sense that CEO Andrew loves listening to Dave Portnoy talk about sports. Dave’s straight-forward (to say the least), somewhat crass, and completely informed on everything sports. Listen to this one when you’ve got headphones on — or your kids do — and get ready to laugh your way to the Fantasy Football championship.

I Love Marketing with Joe Polish

Joe Polish and Dean Jackson have been having killer conversations about marketing for over 15 years, and now we get to share them. They use their podcast to talk about new marketing ideas, direct mail ideas, lead generation, lead conversion, getting referrals, stick strategies, email marketing, psychology, books, people, and overall productivity. As they say: “Every week is a new adventure…and it will always be fun.”

Planet Money

Planet Money comes from NPR (who also happens to be the creator How I Built This) which means you can guarantee three things: top-notch production quality, universally engaging guests, and informative content that you’ll actually listen to. Their podcast Planet Money is the economy explained. The format is this: Imagine you could call up a friend and say, ‘Meet me at the bar and tell me what’s going on with the economy.’ Now imagine that’s actually a fun evening.

ESPN 30 for 30

30 for 30 is a unique podcast amongst the rest, as it is formatted differently depending on the season. In some seasons, each episode is dedicated to a different topic, while several seasons have deep-dived into specific moments in sports history in the fashion of a weekly series. While any sports fanatic will be dying to listen to them all, our favorites episodes include the entire “Sterling Affairs” series (season 5) and “Yankees Suck” (season 1, episode 2.)

Freakonomics

Each week, Freakonomics Radio tells you things you always thought you knew (but didn’t) and things you never thought you wanted to know (but do) — from the economics of sleep to how to become great at just about anything. Dubner speaks with Nobel laureates and provocateurs, intellectuals and entrepreneurs, and various other underachievers. Special features include series like “The Secret Life of a C.E.O.” as well as a live game show, “Tell Me Something I Don’t Know.” We like it because it makes us feel smarter every time we listen (or at least more interesting, anyway.)

May 28, 2020/by Amanda Rogers

Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, News

Why your business needs its own blog

Blogging, especially when combined with social media, is a powerful way to promote your business online. There are still many business owners that are hesitant to make the jump and start a business blog, but they’re missing out on a big opportunity.

There are several reasons why business owners don’t blog:

It takes a commitment of time and resources that can be overwhelming.
They don’t know how to get started from a technical perspective.
It can be challenging to develop a loyal, engaged following on a business blog that focuses on one specific topic.
It can be difficult to consistently come up with interesting business-related post ideas.
But starting a business blog doesn’t have to be an intimidating or overwhelming experience. Once you get started, the benefits of a business blog can make the effort worthwhile.

Here are 7 of the biggest reasons you should start a blog for your business:

Easily update your entire audience at once.

Beyond your company website, a blog is a fantastic tool to keep your audience in the loop about your business. While a website might be more practical in content and straightforward in tone, a blog offers more flexibility to connect with customers, to share updates in a way that shows who you are, not just what you do.

Think of your blog as your direct communication channel. It’s a space to talk in-depth about your products and services, share timely content, and comment on relevant industry trends in a way that lets your brand personality shine.

Build long-tail relationships and drive traffic.

A chief reason every company needs a blog is to increase its visibility. Put simply, the more blog content you create, the more opportunities you’ll have to show up in search engines and drive organic traffic to your website.

Blogs provide the perfect platform to strengthen your SEO strategy. By creating fresh and well-written articles that incorporate long-tail keywords, images, and videos, you’re boosting your chances of getting seen, generating traffic and converting leads.

Improve internal linking.

Unlike inbound linking, internal linking is something that is completely within your control. This means there’s no reason not to use them within your blog posts. It can help visitors with site navigation, pointing them to the most important pages on your website.

Internally linking to other blog posts and pages on your website can also improve your SEO success. The more relevant links you have, the more likely it is you’ll rank better, which can lead to more traffic and potential leads.

Get feedback from customers.

Good business websites do a solid job of giving customers the information they need, but it is usually done so in a one-way manner. There’s often no room to ask questions, comment on content, or start a conversation.

This is why a blog is so powerful. It creates a two-way conversation with customers, leads, and industry peers. With a more relatable tone and an interactive platform, you can encourage feedback and discussion in the comment sections of your blogs.

Having in-depth conversations with your customers is a great way to build trust and authority in your brand. Plus, it allows you to examine your business from your audience’s point of view and make changes to improve your services.

Build your email database.

Email marketing is a solid marketing strategy. But it’s not always easy to get people to sign up. This is where a blog can help. It ensures your business stays top of mind and helps reinforce your audience’s need to keep updated.

If people find your blog content informative, relevant, and engaging, chances are they’ll trust that your email newsletters are as well. To push them towards signing up, include internal links in both your blogs and newsletters. This makes it easier for them to read about promotions, new products, or business updates.

Provide in-depth explanations of products and services.

Blogs allow for in-depth explanations and teaching about what your products and services can really offer. For example, you could write customer case studies, explore specific benefits, or provide easy-to-read “how-to” guides on your most technical services.

The more your company produces content like this, the more it will be seen as an authority in the industry. This not only builds up your knowledge bank, but it also breeds innovation and creativity – the deeper and more complex your posts are, the more ideas you’re likely to generate.

Easily increase brand exposure.

Blogging is a simple way to get discovered via social media. Every time you write a blog post, you’re creating content that people can easily share on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and other channels. This helps expose your company to audiences you might not even know yet.

On the other hand, blog content helps fuel your social media output. Instead of trying to pull new social media content ideas out of a hat, you can simply promote and link recent and relevant blog posts. You’re simultaneously strengthening your social media presence and bringing in new visitors. It’s a win-win.

If you’re looking to reach new audiences, build your brand and stand out from the competition – take inspiration from the reasons above and get started on a business blog.

Having a blog not only provides a strong foundation for your marketing, but it’s also fun and inspiring – and a great way to share ideas, generate new ones, and build a community of like-minded and engaged people.

Content creation and blog management are just two of the many services we provide at Digital Storyteller. Contact us to learn more and schedule a FREE 2-hour brand storytelling session today.

May 28, 2020/by Amanda Rogers

Financial Services Companies, News

A Guide To Understanding Financial Terms

At Digital Storyteller, we specialize in creating content for companies in the Finance Services Industry. While we’ve become experts during our time here, navigating financial terms and acronyms can be confusing for someone who is not familiar with the industry.

In our Brand Storytelling session, we narrow down exactly what the client wants to convey in their messaging and how to bring that message to a broader audience. We ask these types of questions: Who is your audience? Where do you want to focus your attention? How do you want your brand to be portrayed to your intended audience? How do you build an audience of value?

To begin, you have to consider the type of content you are sending out to your target audience. What is the brand you are trying to portray with your content? For our financial service companies, that often means everyday inspiration and relevant business information — a quote from a beloved thought leader or an information video on the current state of the economy.

Once you have defined the brand that is going to be portrayed, start aggregating content. Anyone can easily start a conversation around a financial topic, the struggle is keeping the conversation and audience captivated. Sending out content multiple times a week is key to keeping the conversation relevant and interesting. It doesn’t matter how many people are sharing your content, what matters is that it is getting to the right people.

A key part of implementing this content is creating a framework. Create a framework that implements various types of content to create one big brand story. So for some of our financial services companies, we focus on helping small businesses understand their financial statements and how to implement proper financial reporting. Be specific with your audience and how you can help them in both the future and the present.

Finally, in order to captivate audiences, you must add some creativity and personality to your content. Think about this: How do you portray your brand personality? What is going to make someone want to learn more about your company? And how do you simplify that for someone who may not be as educated on financial literacy? Finding ways to include simple language to describe complex ideas can be difficult but it is necessary to create high-quality content.In order to help our clients get specific about how they want to portray their brand to their audience, we conduct a Brand Storytelling Session. This session includes a 2-hour brainstorming meeting to discuss how the leaders of your company view your brand, how others view your company, and how we can bridge the gap between those two points of view. Contact us for more information and to schedule your Brand Storytelling Session!

May 19, 2020/by Amanda Rogers

Financial Services Companies, News, Social Media

5 Essential Social Media Tips For Financial Services

Despite the industry’s old school tendencies, the use of social media in financial services organizations is no longer an option. According to research from Medium, at least 98% of all Fortune 500 companies use at least one form of social media.

At the advisor level, Putnam Retail Management found 84% use social media for the finance industry business. Ninety-two percent of them said social media has helped them gain new clients.

The average asset gain for financial advisors using social media was $1.4 million in the 12 months before the Putnam survey. The most effective advisors using social media in financial services increased assets under management by 10% in just a year.

Is your financial services organization using social media effectively? If not, you’re losing business to your competitors.

Of course, finding new clients is not the only benefit of social media. And at the same time, there can be plenty of challenges to using social media in a regulated industry. Here’s everything you need to know about developing a social media strategy for financial services in 2020.

1. Focus on compliance

FINRA, FCA, FFIEC, IIROC, SEC, PCI, AMF, GDPR—all the compliance requirements can make your head spin. Many advisors and agents now work remotely. It’s critical to have compliance processes and tools to guide their use of social media.

Get your compliance team involved as you develop your social media strategy. They’ll have important guidance on the steps you need to take to protect your brand.

For example, they can explain separating personal and business use of social media. They should also weigh in on what kinds of links advisors share.

It’s also important to have the right chain of approvals in place for all social media posts. For example, FINRA states: “A registered principal must review prior to use any social media site that an associated person intends to use for business.”

2. Archive everything

This falls under compliance, but it’s important enough that it’s worth calling out on its own. According to FINRA, “firms and their registered representatives must retain records of communications related to their “‘business as such.’” Those records must be kept for at least three years.

3. Conduct a social media audit

In a social media audit, you document all your company’s social channels in one place. You also note any key information relevant to each. At the same time, you will hunt down any impostor or unofficial accounts so you can have those shut down.

Start by listing all the accounts your internal team uses regularly. But remember—this is just a starting point. You’ll need to look for old or abandoned accounts and department-specific accounts.

While you’re at it, make note of the social platforms where you don’t have any social accounts. It might be time to register profiles there. Even if you’re not ready to use those tools yet, you might want to reserve your brand handles for future use.

SIX is a Swiss finance company. When they conducted a social media audit, they discovered 80 unofficial social media accounts. Among them were dozens of fake accounts on Facebook. Fake accounts create a significant risk for financial companies and can erode public trust.

4. Implement a social media policy

A social media policy is a living document. It guides social media use within your organization. That includes accounts for your advisors and agents.

Your compliance, legal, IT, information security, human resources, public relations, and marketing teams should all have input into this document. It will help you maintain a consistent brand identity while reducing compliance challenges.

It will also define team roles and approval structures so everyone understands the workflow of a social post. This clarity upfront can help reduce frustrations that social media in financial services might not move as quickly as it does in other industries.

Using social media for finance industry purposes can also come with security risks. Be sure to include a section in your social media policy that outlines security protocols for the less-sexy aspects of social media. For example, prescribe how often to change passwords and how often software should be updated.

5. Commit to doing it right

The Putnam survey found that an active presence is a critical component of a social media marketing strategy for financial service accounts. Simply creating a social profile is not enough. Zero percent of the advisors who have only a passive presence on social media gained new assets through social channels.

Compare that to the highest achievers. They brought in average new assets under management of $15.3 million. Eighty percent of those high achievers pay for a premium level of service on a social network, rather than sticking only to free tools.

Training is also an important factor. The high-achieving advisors were much more likely to have received training. They learned from colleagues or a consultant, rather than figuring out how to use social tools by themselves.

Don’t you think you need training? Consider that 61% of those Putnam surveyed identified themselves as social media experts. However, Putnam found only 15% of them really were.

And when you’re ready to take your social strategy to the next level, we have the tools to help!

May 11, 2020/by Amanda Rogers

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