2015 – A Year for the Content Juggernauts
In 2015 we saw many firms accelerate their content production. Firms like BlackRock, JPMorgan, SSgA, even WisdomTree, produced more thought leadership more frequently than in previous years. So do all firms need to produce volume like the aforementioned? No but there is some baseline of “enough” required to ensure relevancy. I’d set that bar at 10 unique pieces (inclusive of whitepapers, market commentaries, blogs, etc.) per month for a credible US retail-oriented asset manager. (Contact us and I can tell you why 10).
After reaching that level, an intriguing question to consider: what do we want our content convey? I believe high-quality content conveys a firm’s investment process and philosophy contextually relative to current global market events, in a tone and style resonant with the primary target audience. Firms focused on RIAs will want their content to convey something very different than firms primarily different channels. The first step towards designing conveyance is to understand current state. Ask does today’s content convey our process and philosophy via a unified tone and do we believe that resonates with our primary target?