5 Ways Top Advisors Find Their Best Content
What might just be the most underrated superpower in marketing?
Knowing what topics, questions, and ideas actually matter to your best clients and prospects.
It's a lot like investing. Making wise investment decisions isn't about spinning up a magic 8 ball theory. It's about looking at practical indicators–what's worked in the past, what fundamentals look like on earnings reports, etc.
The same is true of content. It shouldn't be a mystical guessing game. It's more science, less art.
If your marketing is struggling to resonate with–and engage–your ideal clients, here are 5 ways that we help our clients find the best topics that matter to your ideal audience.
1. Look at past content performance.
It's surprisingly common for your most successful content to be ones you wouldn't expect. You can learn a lot by clicking Analytics > Last 12 months. (Here's my top post on LinkedIn from 2023.)
2. Look at your client meeting notes.
Another shockingly easy one–look at your meeting notes from the last 2-3 weeks. What problems did you solve? What did you recommend? What was the impact or outcome?
3. Comment on headlines.
Headlines have many problems, but they also provide common ground. It's like watching the same TV show as your audience. What stories you highlight and how you respond to them tells your audience a lot about who you are. Common ground is powerful.
4. Follow a few role models.
The best way to beat writer's block is to NOT live in a content bubble. Find a few people who are succeeding in the marketing arena and take note of what they focus on and how they say it. I have saved folders on LinkedIn and X (Twitter) with great posts for inspiration later.
5. Survey your clients.
This might be the most significant one that very few advisors do. It's more than just discovering what your clients and prospects care about. It gets your audience more invested in what you create. We commonly see increased shared content when your clients have a say in what you create!
Never Lose an Idea Again
One final note to help you put these ideas into practice... I find that my best ideas come to me when I'm anywhere BUT my desk–in the shower, walking the dog, or rocking my son to sleep.
And reliably, it's slipped my mind by the time I'm at my desk. Thankfully, we've fixed that. When I (or one of our clients) have a lightbulb moment, we capture by:
Recording a voice memo and getting it transcribed as notes
Saving an article we found with a few typed thoughts for context
Keeping all of them organized on a board for content creation
I send mine to Melissa, our project manager. Our clients have the same access, sending us articles, recordings, outlines, or whatever else they use to capture their thoughts.
When it's time to create, we whip out that list and breeze through. Best ideas on tap, so to speak.
Whatever you choose, just remember: we don't find our best content by pulling it out of thin air. Find inspiration that gets your wheels turning, and ride the momentum.
Marketing is all about working smarter–no more time-consuming, brute-force approaches or outsourcing for stiff content that erases the best of your brand.
This is what we do for exceptional, established advisors who have something worth saying. If you want to learn more about our approach to content, check out our process guide and click the button below.
