What does an email newsletter say about an investment management firm?

These days, email marketing can come with a stigma. Don’t we all dread checking emails and browsing through messages that are too self-serving? So, how do we get through to people? Subscription newsletters are important, as they can provide a low-cost avenue to support broader lead generation and nurture programs. Let’s breakdown what your weekly, monthly or quarterly newsletter should contain to help avoid having it land in the dreaded unopened bucket.

What will make a reader stop before clicking delete?

At MBC Strategic, we know that one of the keys to marketing success for asset management and financial services firms is to highlight differentiators in a meaningful way. This means finding out what your target audience truly cares about and talking directly to those needs in your communications. This needs and wants-based approach can be effective for email newsletters by enabling real connections that will help weather turbulence in the financial markets and be of great assistance in retaining customer loyalty or attracting potential investors or intermediaries.

A recent article in Institutional Investor claims that investors are more interested in the stories asset managers can tell than in data about their track record. Asset managers and financial services firms, therefore, face the challenge of identifying narratives about their companies, their brands and their investment processes. For more on how to bring storytelling into your marketing communications, you can read our article on Storytelling in the Investment Industry.

The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving as new programs, innovations and platforms are created and impact the changing technological world. While these changes have the potential to introduce exciting business opportunities for your firm, they can also represent a new range of challenges and uncertainties. For example, with so many new and promising digital marketing tactics at your disposal, how high should your business prioritize email campaigns and newsletters in 2019?

Well, more than 34% of the people worldwide use email, about 2.5 billion people. Whether targeting institutional consultants or retail investors, chances are good that you can reach them through email, and then the goal is to make that contact point impactful and memorable.

Three important pillars for using email marketing:

• Use creativity and good design

• Have an educational viewpoint

• Weave in topical discussion

Use Creative Content—Even in Investment Newsletters

Be personal and stand-out with a clean design, with a cohesive, layout for a strong brand appearance and thought-provoking content. Email marketing is a vibrant and powerful way to connect with people. Be bold. Also, remember to create empathy in order to build trust.

Michael Brenner, CEO of Marketing Insider Group, says that it’s natural for company executives to want to talk glowingly about “why we’re great” and “how awesome our products are.” But that has little to do with what consumers are interested in. “Empathy is the counter intuitive secret to success in content marketing,” says Brenner. So again, don’t talk only about yourself, but also speak to the needs and wants of your investor audiences. If you know they’re concerned about an upcoming recession or interest rates hikes, acknowledge that and give them something they’ll find worthwhile.

Trust is the most important commodity in our industry and is fundamental in achieving marketing success by breaking through the noise of the investment industry and to get in front of the eyes of investors. Our white paper, The Brandability of Trust, goes in more depth about how you can build trust across your brand.

Take an Educational Viewpoint to Investment Email Marketing

By including exclusive insights such as whitepapers and blog posts that showcase your knowledge and differentiate your services, you are showing clients that you are an expert in your field. You are showing them that you care about their wants and provide a fresh take on their needs by thoroughly analyzing and crafting content carefully.

Quarterly newsletter of topical blogs for IRA custodian STRATA Trust Company

Providing investment marketing services across hedge funds, alternative investment managers, mutual funds, and SMA providers, when we craft a newsletter, the first question we ask is “What are we providing and to whom?” A properly executed messaging strategy helps asset managers understand clients on a deeper level and distill their unique value proposition into something that will resonate strongly with their audiences. Our experience and expertise in financial branding further set us apart in the investment marketing space as we bring years of experience working with compliance and creating memorable financial services content.

Topical content and engaging delivery across investment email newsletters

It’s all about attracting the right audience. McKinsey and Company states that email marketing is nearly 40 times more effective at garnering new customers than the combined marketing force of using Facebook and Twitter. This all lends to staying relevant within the industry and your peers to potentially generate and nurture leads while growing your email list. Keep in mind that email marketing in financial services has its unique pitfalls and roadblocks, so it is key to work with an internal or external resource that understands the complexity of the investment marketing landscape.

Newsletter of opinion and analysis of key economic and investment issues for investment advisory firm Atlanta Capital

WHERE MBC STRATEGIC CAN HELP

We believe that having high-quality content will lead to more readers and a wider reach for your brand. We help our clients strategize and schedule the right newsletter campaign, promoting awareness and improving customer loyalty through consistent, curated copy honed by our two decades of investment copywriting. By sharing your unique perspectives on the industry, you will be able to better stand out from the crowd and offer actionable and valuable advice to your potential leads and current investors.

Navigating the niche world of financial PR and marketing, we help our clients to flesh out their stories and offerings in a way that differentiate themselves from the sea of asset managers, alternative investment firms, and service providers. Investors—whether retail or institutional—need stories on the nuances of your investment strategy, as well as the plethora of educative financial topics, if they’re going to see you as a trusted resource. The firms that stand out are those that have a precise investment-related public relations and communications plan in place.

To learn more about how MBC Strategic can improve your financial and investment marketing and branding solutions, please give us a call and contact us today.