by Tony Vidler       

Every financial adviser should have a blog by now…especially now when so many consumers have so many questions about money, and so much time to google them, and so many opinions to read that it is overwhelming.  Becoming a trusted voice online has probably never been easier for an adviser in reality.

It has been one of the best business development tools for professionals wanting to establish expertise and authority publicly for some years of course, but with the rise in local search together with the abundance of opinions out there it is probably easier than ever to become the accessible adviser who consumers turn to in order to turn off the noise.

The statistics tell us that blogs matter to the people who we want as customers, even if you personally don’t feel there is much merit in blogging.  Some of the stats I have read from various sources include:

• Companies in the B2C space who blog generate 88% more leads that those who don’t.

• Companies who have published more than 50 blog posts average a 77% increase in leads generated than those with less than 50.

• 21% of blog readers use the blog to help them decide whether to buy particular products or services

• 17% of blog readers use the blog to help them discover products or services

• 14% of blog readers use blog content for assurance that the products or services are essentially “as promised”

These statistics should provide some reassurance to professional advisers that putting your thoughts, opinions and expert guidance into generic written content has commercial merit.  Tomorrows clients are reading todays blogs from people positioned as thought leaders and experts.

Blogging is a shortcut to establishing professional credibility and authority, and it helps articulate your particular areas of expertise along with your style.  You write about what you know about, and bring your own perspectives, style and opinion.  Today’s consumers are actively looking for professionals with expertise and the ability to articulate it.  Blogging also helps potential customers find the right professionals through search, or to find out more about a topic before deciding to engage anyone in particular.  The professional they are likely to choose to work with is the one who they have been taking online guidance from and whose opinions they already respect and subscribe to.

Blogging will get you more business opportunities than your competitors who do not do it consistently – and consistency is incredibly important.

It is undoubtedly one of the smartest marketing tools for professionals today.  It is also still woefully under-utilised by financial advisers.  Producing a regular professional blog that provides relevant content for your target audience will:

1. enhance your brand and market position

2. contribute to you being recognized as an expert

3. help you reach potential new customers

4. assist with your search engine rankings for getting found online

5. help promote particular products or services

6. be a valuable part of your client communications strategy

7. provide fresh content for your website, enhancing its search engine rankings

8. help you arrange your own thoughts into valuable and concise information packs for customers

I think the business rationale is compelling: Advisers really should be providing a professional blog if they wish to be seen as an authority.

But I suppose that is true only if they want more customers.

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