If you are aiming to attract a younger client base, your communication plan may need a shift to the digital. That means moving your marketing online, which is where most young people get their information.
“You have to be doing something like blogging,” says Jillian Bannister, marketing director with Ext. Marketing Inc. in Toronto, “because that’s the expectation of Generation X and Y.”
Blogging is effective only if you keep a consistent flow of posts. You should plan on at least one blog post per week, Bannister says. But if you really want to excel, aim for two or more per week.
The challenge is to come up with topics that will appeal to your clients and the general public on a regular basis.
Here are three tips on how to keep those ideas coming:
> Know your core subject areas
Select a few broad topics to cover in your blog, so you can be on the lookout for ideas that apply to those subjects.
Once you have your categories defined, Bannister says, you can find ideas that fit into
them as you’re reading the newspaper or considering economic issues. “You can see how these topics can translate into a post under those headings.”
If, for example, you would like to focus on insurance planning in your blog, you can look for the insurance-planning angle of topics you encounter as you read newspapers, magazines and online posts.
> Use existing material
You probably already produce a lot of traditional content on a regular basis — such as presentations for client seminars and reports that are distributed at meetings.
Not all of your clients have seen all the material you produce (some haven’t read the full report or didn’t go to your event), according to Richard Heft, communications director with Ext. Marketing. So, you can use some of that material in your blog.
For example, you may have included some intriguing statistics at the end of a report on personal finance. You can use that information as the starting point for a blog post.
> Ask for suggestions
Talk to your clients about what they would like to read about.
“That’s a very strategic move because now you’re writing exactly what your clients want to read,” Bannister says. “It’s going to get read and it’s going to have impact.”
You can also ask your team members, family members and friends what they are interested in reading about.
Social gatherings are good opportunities to listen for ideas. For example, someone you meet at a party might tell you that he or she is confused about the way Canadian education savings grants are applied to registered education savings plans. If this one person wants to know more about this topic, chances are other people would also be interested.
That doesn’t mean you should follow all suggestions. Feel free to take a pass on any topics that you feel do not reflect your business goals.