Author: admHonWpAdm

Picture this: I am eight months into my graduate position at Honner working as an Account Coordinator in Sydney’s bustling CBD. One weekend, I’m visiting my family and friends in Brisbane, attempting to explain to them (yet again) what my job actually is.

The top three responses thrown back at me are:

1. “I don’t actually understand what you do.”
2. “Your job sounds intense!”
3. “Can you please clarify – isn’t PR the same as marketing / advertising?”

These almost automatic responses have led me to believe that a) my family and friends have not been paying attention to my detailed–post-work-debrief-phone-calls as I walk home, or b) it’s difficult to articulate to those outside our industry what we do on a daily basis. The latter conclusion is not helpful for all those university students and almost graduates who may be interested in working with us but just don’t know that such a niche field exists.

If you are a PR student or grad reading this, you might think you have a pretty good understanding of what a job in PR will involve, but you might not have thought of specialising in financial services PR, and what that would be like.

In light of this, for all those reading wherever you are in the world, let me break down these questions for you.

How I found myself working in financial PR and what the Account Coordinator role is.

After getting through the struggles of university, I completed a Bachelor of Business, majoring in Public Relations and Economics. It was a pairing a lot of people were sceptical about, and at times I thought the goal of marrying both disciplines would be unattainable.

My worries subsided when I was offered a position at Honner. I was discovered on LinkedIn through a mutual connection (and realised the platform really is a form of resume in this digital age) and was soon embarking on an exciting new chapter in “the big smoke”.

For those on the brink of entering the workforce for the first time, I implore you to appreciate the (what can seem mundane) tasks that you are given each day, as they can be a stepping stone to a bigger lesson down the track.

Some examples of this would be compiling media lists, clipping coverage or completing a media search for a new business client.

From these tasks alone, you learn the following things:

• Which journalists are currently at different publications (something you need to stay on top of as this changes frequently)
• What beats those journalists are writing on
• Timely industry announcements and news
• Activity that’s happening within the business outside your scope

My role has expanded over time as I have gained more experience. I now attend regular client facing meetings, write media releases announcing executive appointments, assist with drafting posts for the social media channels of my clients and Honner, take part in presenting PR campaigns and have a role in creating new business projects.

Since beginning my career journey at Honner, I have grown immensely (both professionally and personally) and continue to increase my skillset and knowledge with the support of my peers, mentors and senior leadership team.

Financial PR might sound intense, but it isn’t as scary as you think!

So you’re thinking PR (enter thoughts of Roxy Jacenko) and finance (and now Wolf of Wall Street). That’s a whole lot of intensity meshed together in one job. Working at Honner opened my eyes to how not scary financial PR is.

If fashion and makeup is the extent of your knowledge of PR, then you would be glad to know that it’s possible to incorporate that into working in a finance related job that might not seem so glitz and glam. Dress to impress!

The most intense part of the job is having to keep up with the fast paced, high performance industry that leaves little room for errors. However we’re all human, so when you do make those errors, it’s a steep learning curve.

As much as it is intense, it is exciting – think chasing stock market prices moving, crisis communications, having coffees with some of the country’s best journalists, client anniversary events, roundtable media lunches with high level executives… my heart beats faster just thinking about it all.

Our clients include some of the world’s biggest asset managers and top Australian banks and superfunds, as well as innovative fintech companies that are transforming the landscape. This is an industry where our clients are doing mutli-million dollar deals, responsible for making sure that hundreds of thousands of retirees are able to have a secure financial future, and even engineering financial products that have the capacity to help solve some of the world’s biggest problems, like climate change.

On top of this, Honner has a great team culture. In fact, we recently celebrated our team quarterly social event at ten pin bowling.

Why you should specialise in financial public relations and how they work together with marketing and advertisings

The three areas of communication are largely separate but often cross paths with each other. Unlike advertisers and marketers, in public relations we aim to persuade our audiences through the spectrum of owned and earned media and digital channels. This Forbes article sums it up quite nicely. Honner is a great example of how public relations can work alongside the other two specialities as we expanded our services to be an integrated communications firm with the addition of a marketing expert.

Each day working in financial public relations brings something new to the table.

If working at Honner sounds interesting to you, email jacqui@honner.com.au with your resume and get in touch!

Antony Catalano says he’ll grow (not shrink) his newly purchased regional newspaper empire to greatness, but is he really the white knight that many are hoping? And what does the acquisition mean for financial services firms seeking to reach the millions of potential customers living outside Australia’s capital cities?

Last week, journalists at five commercial TV newsrooms in regional Australia were informed of the bad news – they would no longer have jobs from Friday. WIN News said the newsrooms in Orange, Wagga Wagga, Albury, Dubbo and Wide Bay would be closed based on the “commercial viability of funding news in these areas”, or rather the lack thereof. It was just the latest in a string of bad news for regional newspapers and broadcasters, deemed a “devastating blow” for regional Australia by one reporter and dubbed a “crisis that demands government intervention” by the journalists’ union.

However, there was one announcement in recent weeks that seemed to represent some light at the end of the tunnel for regional media. The purchase of 160 regional and rural newspapers from Nine Entertainment in April by Antony Catalano has raised hopes of better times ahead for publishing outside of Australia’s biggest cities – and even increased optimism about the potential for white knights to emerge for the media sector more broadly.

That’s good news for brands trying to reach the large proportion of Australians living in regional areas. However, before we crack the champagne cork to celebrate a new era for local news, we need to see details of Catalano’s plan to turn around the business’s flailing advertising revenue.

With around 8 million people, or around 32% of the population, living outside of capital cities, this is a market too big to ignore.

The $115 million acquisition of Australian Community Media, which includes The Newcastle Herald and Canberra Times, by Catalano and Thorney Investment Group, marks the first major divestment by Nine after it acquired Fairfax last year. Of Fairfax’s newspapers, Nine only wants to keep the metropolitan mastheads — The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Financial Review — as it focuses on high-growth digital assets, leaving the fate of the regionals hanging in the balance.

While few newspapers have had an easy time in recent years in the face of digital disruption, it is regional papers that are doing it particularly tough. ACM’s profits more than halved from $169 million in 2012 to A$67.5 million, as returns from Fairfax’s metro businesses rose by 26%. Regional broadcasters are also doing it tough.

So while the ACM acquisition price is a fraction of the $2.8 billion that Fairfax paid for the newspapers when it acquired rural press in 2007, it is encouraging that the buyers, as well as rival bidders from the world of private equity, have seen value in the business.

Focusing on the big guns

There had been considerable concerns that the business might be broken up, depending on the buyer, and that private equity especially might take the oft-followed route of increasing profitability by cutting costs and jobs. However, Catalano has been quick to say he wants to “grow the business, not shrink it to greatness” .  He said he hopes to avoid shutting any newspaper and doesn’t expect to shed staff, although he told the Sydney Morning Herald there is “some stuff” in the portfolio that doesn’t make sense, signalling some consolidation or closure of mastheads is likely.

Catalano has identified seven of ACM’s larger papers as key players in the group – The Newcastle Herald, Canberra Times, Illawarra Mercury, The Border Mail, The Examiner in Launceston, The Ballarat Courier and Bendigo Advertiser. He believes the populations these mastheads serve makes them valuable assets. He added that he plans to invest aggressively in these papers, noting that advertising sales are based on audience size, which is in turn linked to quality journalism.

Interestingly, Catalano has also said the Canberra Times should be producing its own political coverage. He wants to return the masthead to “its former strengths” as more of a national publication with a bigger influence in federal politics.

Why regional audiences matter to brands

For financial services companies seeking to convey their message to a broad audience, regional papers are an important way to reach people outside the major cities who may not read major metropolitan or national newspapers With around 8 million people, or around 32% of the population, living outside of capital cities, this is a market too big to ignore[i].

The most obvious alternative is News Corp, which owns several regional publications—including The Illawarra Mercury and The Queensland Times—reaching around 3.2 million readers. Strong interviews or exclusive stories in The Australian often run in the publisher’s regional newspapers.

A less obvious  channel for achieving wide reach across metropolitan and regional areas is radio. At Honner, we’ve found that Radio Release, which distributes audio news releases packaged with audio grabs from the company spokesman, is an effective and efficient way of achieving coverage on multiple radio stations on behalf of our clients.

A company spokesperson needs to do only one interview, which will then be delivered to more than 500 commercial and community radio stations across metropolitan and regional Australia.

A pivot to radio is timely for brands given the medium is growing audiences at a time when other forms of “old media” are struggling. Despite the rise of many digital listening alternatives such as podcasts and music streaming services, industry data shows Australian commercial radio audiences reached an all-time high in 2018 and have grown by 12% over the past five years. The Infinite Dial Survey released by Edison Research in May found that radio is still the most popular audio platform, with 83% of the population aged over 12 listening to radio each week.

Grappling with digital will be key

So, back to the question of whether Catalano can save ACM – and develop a model that might be the saving grace of regional newspapers more broadly.

While he is right to believe credible journalism is key to the success of the titles, it is uncertain whether that alone be enough to turn around collapsing advertising revenue.

Earlier this month, Warren Buffett’s declaration that most conventional newspapers are “toast” highlighted the urgent need for publishers to solve the digital conundrum. While Buffet, whose company has acquired a series of mostly small newspapers in 30 different markets since 2011, has now come to the view that it’s the big newspapers, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post, that are likely to survive because they have devised a digital product and business model that will take them beyond the age of print.

The Washington Post was returned to profitability after Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos purchased the masthead in 2013 and used his internet savvy to turn around its fortunes. Bezos told CNBC in interview in September that his optimism at the time of the deal was based on the view that while the internet had destroyed most newspapers’ advantage, it offered “one gift; free global distribution”. While The Post’s old business model relied on generating a high revenue per reader, Bezos helped it develop a new strategy that focused instead on acquiring more readers.

Catalano told The Guardian he’ll grow revenue through a digital expansion of the newspaper titles he has purchased but hasn’t decided how. He said he’s still grappling with what the right model is for subscription for digital newspapers. He’s looking at a subscription model similar to the free-to-air’s streaming services, which would collect reader information for targeted advertising rather than putting up a paywall.

Whether Catalano is the white knight the sector has been hoping for will be borne out in time. However, it’s refreshing to hear media owners talking about investing in quality journalism, making this deal the brightest light on the horizon for Australian regional media we’ve seen in a long time. Watch this space.

We’re living in an era of low trust in experts – whether they are people, governments or organisations. The Australian financial services industry in particular has come under scrutiny as the fallout from the Royal Commission continues to bite. Yet according to PwC’s Global Consumer Insights Survey , more than one in three consumers surveyed ranked “trust in brand” among the top three factors, other than price, influencing their purchase decision.

So, when the Honner Content Team pulled together an outline of what a firm needs to do to transform its content marketing process – we recognised the need to elevate the idea of authenticity to be a major element of the process.

The Honner infographic: Turning Content Marketing into Conversations details the key steps to executing a winning content marketing program and how to nurture a conversation with your customers.  In last week’s blog we dealt with the Ideation and Mapping step. In this week’s blog, we’re focusing on the important third stage of the process – Seek Authenticity.

The need for firms to be authentic has altered the content marketing landscape in recent years as consumers are becoming increasingly immune to the traditional communication practices and are fatigued with paid and owned promotions. But many firms are still struggling to understand the importance of integrating authenticity into their content marketing.

So as a content marketer – how do you embrace and embody an authentic approach? Here are eight strategies that bring a more authentic style to your content marketing process:

1. Find your voice: Customers today will ignore self-promotional, and biased or manipulative, content. People want to connect to other people – not bland corporations – and one of the biggest mistakes we see at Honner is a lack of personality with content. A brand voice allows a firm to deliver this personality. It could be entertaining, quirky, or inspiring and help to differentiate your firm – especially in the financial services sector as the language many financial services firms use is notorious for still feeling artificial, convoluted and product focused.

2. Harness the power of user-generated content (UGC): Some of the most authentic forms of content you can use are produced by your own customers (user generated content). According to recent research by Stakla, the influence of User Generated Content is unmatched across industries. Nearly 80% of people say user-generated content highly impacts their purchasing decisions (up from 60 percent in 2017), but marketers are still slow to adopt the use of UGC.

Tripadviser is the ultimate example of afirm which grew into a global brand based on the wisdom of the crowds and an ever-growing army of contributors who provide their services for free.

User generated content can also work for financial services brands. A good example of this comes from Mint (the personal finance app) with the #mymintmoment campaign. Mint encouraged submissions of photos of special moments, such as paying off a loan, weddings or a holiday – and offered $1,000 to the winner. This was an excellent way to build authentic content that appealed to people’s emotions.

3. Develop case studies: A personal case study can be an effective way to showcase your firm’s role in solving customer pain points, regardless of the level of sophistication of an audience. When building case studies:

• Consider using real client examples. In some cases, however, the customer might want to remain anonymous.
• Try to focus on the customers journey. Start with defining the problem the customer was trying to solve and the process from their viewpoint (rather than the product promotion). Quantify the ultimate benefit a customer received.
• Use images that reflect real customers (not cliché stock images).

4. Conduct customer insights research: Customer insights studies, done right, reveal an understanding of the behaviours and perceptions of certain customer segments. This is a powerful way to echo the voice of customers and present a true view of the community mindset. This strategy can also bring greater awareness to certain issues in society and start to quantify the social impact of those issues.  As an example, in January 2019 market researcher Momentum Intelligence undertook a survey of 6,000 borrowers, looking at their sentiment towards mortgage brokers in the lead up to the final Royal Commission Report. The research highlighted that Australians are much happier paying commissions than suspected. A white paper was built off the back of the research and generated strong coverage across mainstream and consumer media.

5. Utilise your opinion leaders and influencers: Your target audience is far more likely to trust a person rather than a corporate message. Particularly if that person has already built up a solid reputation. Many firms utilise the profile of their CEOs or other key executives to deliver their content via their LinkedIn connections.

6. Prepare for the hyper-personalised content to redefine the future of content marketing:  AI and personalisation will eventually allow firms to offer consistent, personalised experiences – based on customer preferences and past behaviour. The downside is the investment in technology and resources needed. The underlying premise of personalisation is for financial services firms to not just “flog product” but to become a trusted advisors to their clients. We are already observing the role of AI in content curation where personalised recommendations are based on a user’s interest. Strategies include using online surveys to find out more about customer preferences, the use of geolocation, website behaviour data and email engagement. The State of Marketing Report from SalesForce stated “53% of customers now expect the offers they receive to always be personalised, and 62% expect companies to anticipate their needs”.

7. Highlight the purpose-led approach of your brand: Brands are increasingly expected to make a difference and contribution to our society – not just earn a profit. The 2018 Accenture report To Infinity and Beyond found that “Companies are under the spotlight like never before as they struggle for competitive advantage in the context of this reality. Their customers aren’t just making decisions based on the stalwarts of product selection or price. They’re now assessing what a brand says. What it does. What it stands for.”

8. Bring to life your positive corporate culture: This purpose described in the previous point also extends to how firms treat their employees. Many firms are now more overt with exhibiting how their culture is coming to life within a firm. Today customers care less about corporate philanthropy and more how the firm treats their employees and is helping to solve the world’s social problems (e.g. financial literacy). The 2019 Deloitte Global Millennial Survey revealed that “millennials and Gen Zs are putting their money where their mouths are when it comes to supporting businesses that make a positive impact on society.”

Resources and stories to help you harness a more authentic voice

1. Paul Cheal’s SmokeSignal Blog: in an age of distrust; trust matters

2. ‘the key: how corporations succeed by solving the world’s toughest problems’ by Lynda Gratton: Organisational change expert Gratton shows that it is now critical that corporations step up to play a more positive role in the world by building inner resilience and leveraging their unique capabilities to address complex global challenges such as climate change, financial literacy and youth unemployment.

3. rachel botsman is a leading expert and author on trust in the modern world. Her highly acclaimed work Who Can you Trust? explores how technology is revolutionising human trust. Botsman reveals this is the age of “distributed trust” and if we are to benefit from this radical shift, we must understand the mechanics of how trust is built, managed, lost and repaired in the digital age.

4. Harvard Business School professor Frances Frei gives a crash course in trust: how to build it, maintain it and rebuild it – something she worked on during a recent stint at Uber. “If we can learn to trust one another more, we can have unprecedented human progress,” Frei says.

5. simon sinek – ‘start with why’: Sinek developed what he calls the “Golden Circle which reinforces that it’s not how you do what you do, but why you choose to do it.  The why is what motivates and inspires us – and it ignites the spark within us”.

6. The 2015 HBR article ‘the new science of customer emotions’ highlighted…… “when companies connect with customers’ emotions, the payoff can be huge”.

7. Read our Honner Blog “Purpose is now a comms must-have, but it’s got to right true to label.

Next week we’ll publish the fourth in the eight-part content marketing series, Create. Curate. Multiply
If you’d like help creating a well-researched content marketing strategy, or more information on Honner’s 8-Step Content Marketing Model, contact Honner’s Head of Marketing Solutions Craig Morris.

The Honner Content Team has pulled together a bumper outline of what a firm needs to do to transform its content marketing process. The Honner infographic: Turning Content Marketing into Conversations details the key steps to executing a winning content marketing program and how to nurture a conversation with your customers.

Over the next few weeks we will put the spotlight on each key stage, outlining key strategies and tips to maximise each step. In the last blog we looked at the need to Listen Deeply. This week we’re focusing on the second stage: Ideation and Mapping. This is all about turning your insights into concrete content ideas that are aligned to the business’s objectives and will therefore delight your CEO.

1. Who is the content/editorial team? When determining your key content decision makers, an effective and inclusive strategy is to create an editorial board with representation from across the firm – not just marketing. The team should meet at least quarterly and constantly refine the long-term content program – taking the customer insights gathered in the first stage and developing the ideas and opportunities which will form the backbone of your content program.

2. Think like a CEO. Before you decide what content to create, the best advice we can give you is – ask yourself what is important to your CEO.  Your content marketing goals should be developed off the back of your business goals. Many firms make the mistake of thinking that content marketing is all about acquiring customers, but content should also be designed to drive loyalty with existing customers. The business objectives could fall into one of these four categories:
   1. Be an industry thought leader
   2. Build awareness/perception of the brand/capability
   3. Generate leads/sales
   4. Build customer loyalty/cross sell
3. The art of brainstorming. Encourage your team to develop ideas beforehand so prior to the session, communicate the purpose/challenge, and any background information that will help orient their thinking. A good starting point when brainstorming is to focus on the pain points of your customers and build a range of ideas off the back of these. The brainstorming process is about encouraging creativity and big ideas, so focus on quanity not quality and don’t judge. Get the participants to think like a journalist – because the role of a journalist to cover stories (not content) that engages and connects. Once the brainstorming session is complete, you can decide which ideas are the best to implement.

4. Develop the editorial calendar. Once you have identified your best ideas, it is time to map out a dynamic plan which documents the content you will develop over the next 12 months. It will ideally link the content to personas and the business objective and outline success metrics for each piece. It will also help you focus on quality over quantity and ensure you are developing content to support your most important business priorities.

5. Utilise ‘evergreen’ content: When planning and updating your content, remember it doesn’t always have to be about starting from scratch. Look for interesting and relevant content you already have within your business that will not immediately date and find new ways to use it to engage your audience.

6. Identify the channels you will use to communicate. You should know from your customer persona analysis where your target audiences are spending the most time and what their pain points are. For example, a financial adviser might appreciate a few slides that explain share market returns to their clients far more than a lengthy online article. For each piece of content, document the format you will use and the channels you will use to promote it.

7. Plan but also be agile: While planning is great, the content marketing process also needs to be agile and able to quickly respond to emerging themes that are of interest to your customers. Keep an eye on the latest news and developments in your industry so you can keep your audience informed. If you can be timely with your content, clients will appreciate the responsiveness.

8. Remember it’s not all about blogging: As you plan to develop your content, remember that content can take many different forms including infographics, videos, blog posts, long form research, podcasts, case studies using real people, checklists, photographs, webinars and testimonials. In fact, the more you mix it up, the more interesting it will be for your audience.

Content planning tools

1. airtable: Along with its calendar feature, Airtable gives you the opportunity to put everything in one place for your team’s ease of collaboration. It’s highly visual and can facilitate meaningful conversation between your team.
2. content dj: Content DJ is a great choice for people who are developing websites, and is also a good option for people trying to improve their website for their customers. But what’s one of the main things that website needs? Good content, of course! With this content planning option, you can find content from around the web, use your own, and aggregate a lot of different options in order to give your company and your customers the highest level of value. You can also use Content DJ for data collection,  so you’ll be able to see how your content is doing and look at what adjustments you can make.
3. content idea generator: Hubspot has a simple, free tool that allows you to generate post titles in seconds to inspire your thinking. Simply answer a set of questions about your business and this tool generates hundreds of suggestions for blog posts and social media updates.
4. gather content: With a central location for everything and the ability to store what you need and collaborate on all of it, Gather Content is another good planning tool. It lets you store content, organise it and can even help to generate ideas and create fresh content. You’ll also get help with rules and guidelines, so you can make sure you’re tailoring content that’s strategically important to your business.

Next week we’ll publish the third in the eight-part content marketing series, Seek Authenticity.

If you’d like help creating a well-researched content marketing strategy, or more information on Honner’s 8-Step Content Marketing Model, contact Honner’s Head of Marketing Solutions Craig Morris.

Aah the Met Gala, fashion’s biggest night out. A chance for us mere mortals to drool over the finest haute couture and read all the gossip about our favourite A-list celebs.

The 2019 Gala has been and gone and it did not disappoint. The fashion elite were out in force, the outfits were extra, and the champagne flowed.

But with awards season fast approaching, as finalists for ‘PR Agency of the Year’ at the Rainmaker MAX Awards, Honner has taken the opportunity to look a little deeper.

Here are our five lessons from fashion’s main event.

1. Embrace the theme

Whether your awards event is cocktail or fancy dress, embracing the dress code is a must. The Met Gala is known for its over-the-top themes and most of the invitees prepare for months. This year Kylie and Kendall Jenner nailed it in feathers and Cardi B made a fabulous Disney villain. Gwyneth Paltrow, however, studiously ignores the theme every year, much to the annoyance of fashion watchers. Don’t be a Gwyneth.

2. But keep it tasteful

The Met Gala is a great excuse for extrovert celebs to go big or go home. Take Lady Gaga with her four outfit changes and red-carpet striptease, or Katy Perry who dressed as a chandelier. Those of us who live in the real world, however, have our reputations and dignity to consider, so if in doubt about your outfit choice – don’t.

3. Engage your audience

Fashion aside, events and awards are a great excuse to boost your social media profile. Kim Kardashian tweets and posts on Instagram before, during and after the Met Gala to guarantee maximum publicity. So, if you or your team are up for an award, be sure to let your followers know.

4. Keep the host sweet

US Vogue Editor Anna Wintour famously handpicks every guest for the Met Gala, and making the cut is no easy feat. Supermodel Coco Rocha and fashion stylist Rachel Zoe have both been blacklisted for wrong-footing Wintour, while invitees who decline an invitation will never receive another. The lesson here is if you are lucky enough to be invited to an awards event, thank the host and clear your schedule.

5. Mingle

While you are unlikely to be shelling out $35,000 for a ticket like the Met Gala guests, make the most of awards season. Industry events are a great excuse to get out of your comfort zone by mingling with your peers and making new connections.

Help Honner win!

Now we are on the other side of the awards fence, we need your help to take out the title of Public Relations Agency of the Year at the Rainmaker MAX Awards this year! Please take a minute to vote for us here: https://www.financialstandard.com.au/voting/

We appreciate your support!
The Honner team

Our blog last week Far from the Madding Crowd – outlined how brands are increasingly grappling for a share of voice to effectively engage their target audiences as content marketing reaches a saturation point.

The Honner Content Team has pulled together a bumper outline of what a firm needs to do to transform their content marketing process. The Honner infographic: Turning Content Marketing into Conversations details the key steps to executing a winning content marketing program and how to nurture a conversation with your customers. A good conversation always starts with listening.

Over the next eight weeks we will put the spotlight on each key stage, outlining key strategies and tips to maximise each step. This week we’re focusing on the first stage: Listen Deeply. Many firms skip this stage, relying on their gut instincts and jumping straight to execution. Unfortunately, they often end up building content programs around what is important to them rather than their customers.

If you get this listening stage right, it will allow you to provide that fresh angle and ensure your program is truly grounded in dealing with the pain points of your customers. It will also ensure your content program is crafted with an awareness of your competitor strategies.

Strategies to use at the listening stage:

1. Develop customer personas. Firstly, identify your different customer groups (e.g. individual investors, retirees, financial advisers, institutional investors, for-purpose firms and influencers such as asset consultants). Start to map the key concerns, challenges and pain points against each of the personas. Also outline the different publications and channels these personas are using to consume content and undertake research.

2. Interview your employees. Mine the insights from those internal resources who are close to the client/market to gain their views on what they are hearing from clients. They should be able to give you first-hand insights on the key pain points that drive decision making.

3. Create a Customer Advisory Board (co-operative content). A great way to get an inside look into your customers’ minds and opinions is to set up a Customer Advisory Board. This is made up of key customers and influencers. It is designed to listen to customers (not sell) and can help you shape the research agenda as well as other initiatives, such as product development or competitive intelligence. This works particularly well for institutional asset management clients and independent financial advisers – and also provides a networking opportunity for participants.

4. Get to know your enemy. Today you can get a lot of transparency into your competitors’ content strategies. Check out your competitors’ websites and social media profiles to get a sense of what they’re producing and sharing.

5. Have your fingers on the pulse: Gathering customer insights is essential to any winning Content Marketing program. But you also need to ensure these insights are in real time to be nimble and respond quickly to new pain points or new events. The most successful content pieces are often those that are first to provide insight into a recent issue or event. But in order to do this, you need to be able to pick up on these new themes or be prepared when a key event occurs (e.g. market correction, interest rate change). Timing is critically important.

6. Undertake keyword research. Keywords reflect the voices of your audience. Search queries are effectively a vote that yells “I want content about this topic!”. It’s important to do some effective keyword research as it impacts where your brand ranks in online searches. You can simply do a Google search on key terms that are important to your firm and customers. Look at how your competitors rank relative to your own firm. If they rank higher, check how they are optimising their content for search. Also check out some of the tools available online, below, in the tips section of this blog.

7. Newsjacking. Again, timing is everything. So, take time to monitor the stories that are trending and gaining key media traction now. Be nimble or opportunistic and start to write about those topics. Newsjacking is defined as ‘the art and science of injecting your ideas into a breaking news story so you and your ideas get noticed’. But don’t just jump on the bandwagon – look to add some fresh perspective and more value to the story.

8. Undertake A/B testing on headlines: Did you know that 8 out of 10 searchers will read headline copy before clicking a post, but only 2 out of 10 will actually read the post (Copyblogger)? A/B testing can you help to identify what messages convert most effectively. So, test two different types of headlines and see which one performs better. If you want some inspiration try a headline generation tool like portent.

9. Mind the emotional gap: According to a harvard business review article, “when companies connect with customers’ emotions, the payoff can be huge”. It is no longer sufficient to read the initial comments, qualitative data and insights from customer surveys. But identifying these emotional motivators is difficult, because customers themselves may not even be aware of them. You need to unlock the attitudes, emotions and intent of your customers – you need to understand the ‘why’, or the context. These could be factors like ‘protecting the environment’, ‘be the person I want to be’ and ‘feeling secure’. This context is essential to identifying specific customer pain points, addressing them, and feeding back to customers material that will connect with them at a deeper, emotional level.

10. Incorporate insights from metrics: Being able to analyse metrics on the performance of your existing content can help you learn from the past and shape the type of content you want to produce in the future.

Honner tips and tools to play with

• buzzsumo is a one of the top social media analytics tools to gain insights on how prospective clients find your content, how you can lead them to your content using SEO, and when it’s best to publish content. BuzzSumo only shows you 10 ideas unless you pay the $99 a month fee. Simply visit the BuzzSumo website and place your particular query in “inverted commas” to search on the exact phrase (e.g. ‘emerging markets’ or “income for retirement”). The tool also shows you the most popular blog posts and how well they perform for the each of the major social channels.
• sem rush is a great tool to research competitors’ traffic on Google and the keywords which are enhancing their rankings. Just type in the relevant website domain and you’ll get useful data related to SEO. The free registered account reveals the top 10 organic keywords driving traffic.
• ubersuggest is a keyword idea generation tool. It provides a complete list of keywords, generated by search terms people are using on Google and the terms that providing traffic to your competitors.
• answer the public provides content marketers with valuable data about the questions people ask online. Simply input a keyword and it fetches popular queries and generates a graphic with the questions and phrases people use. This provide content creators with keyword suggestions.
• Honner also provides qualitative market intelligence services. These include:
  • in-depth personal interviews with key decision makers such as CEOs, institutional clients, and executives;
  • designing online surveys that provide deep insights; and
  • bespoke competitor reviews services.

Next week we’ll publish the second in the eight-part content marketing series, Ideation and Mapping. This second stage is all about turning the insights you gain in part one into concrete content ideas that are aligned to the business agenda of the firm. It is also about being organised and having a central map of your long-term content agenda, so you can keep all stakeholders in your business informed and engaged in the content process.

If you’d like help creating a well-researched content marketing strategy, or more information on Honner’s 8-Step Content Marketing Model contact Craig Morris. Also, if you have some strategies and tactics on using market intelligence to improve your content strategy – share your thoughts with me in the comments below.