Many RIAs spend dedicated time creating high-quality materials, but many fail to realize their full potential.
Rather than let valuable materials fade away after their initial use, they can be repurposed into different formats to extend the life cycle for years after initial publication. By creatively repurposing your materials, you can reach new audiences, reinforce your key messages, and maintain a consistent flow of high-quality materials.
This article explores the following for investment firms:
Let’s get started.
Repurposing is the practice of taking existing materials and modifying them for different formats or purposes.
Especially for long-form materials, you can repurpose sections, paragraphs, or even quotes to create dozens more opportunities to catch the attention of your audience.
All of a sudden, you can strategically maintain a robust presence without the need to continually think of new things to say.
For some unknown reason, RIAs feel that materials only serve a purpose in the immediate days and weeks after their original publication. Unless the materials are focused on incredibly near-term information, most of what you write can be strategically used for many years in the future.
Let’s explore the benefits that repurposing can give you in more detail.
People are inundated with information. Your audience no longer has the time, interest, or patience they once did. This is not just a phenomenon among the new generation of professionals, it applies to everyone.
Tough love is needed here.
According to 2023 data from Constant Contact, a marketing automation software tool, only ~35% of people on your distribution list open your email. Of that ~35%, the average time someone spends reading an email is 9 seconds.
Let’s keep going.
Some people might spend up to 5 minutes reading your email. But in reality, most will forget the vast majority of it in the weeks ahead unless they are reminded in some way.
The investment industry can take a leaf out of the broader B2B sales and marketing industry. On average, the industry is built around the knowledge that people need to be reminded of something 6-8 times before a purchasing decision. While purchasing decisions in the investment industry come with a far greater cheque size than most other industries, the principle remains the same.
In terms of tangible benefits, repurposing your materials increases the ROI on the resources you spend putting them together. Each thought leadership piece can serve multiple functions, which extends its lifespan and effectiveness. This approach not only saves you time in the future, but also ensures that your communications reach a broader audience, and thus increase the probability of positive outcomes.
This last point is particularly important. Any audience contains a mix of preferences for how to consume information. Some are more visual learners, others prefer text. Some prefer in-depth articles, others prefer snippets. Strategically repurposing your materials ensures that your message is reinforced through various touchpoints, and increases the likelihood of audience engagement.
So, how exactly do you repurpose your materials?
RIAs often create detailed and insightful materials such as white papers, quarterly letters, and case studies.
By repurposing these materials, you can effectively extend its lifespan and broaden its reach.
5 tangible examples that investment firms can follow include:
By following these strategies, you can ensure your thought leadership materials deliver benefits long after their initial release.
Want to know more best practices to establish your firm as a thought leader? Check out our insights library here.
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