Blog

A last-minute blog post about last-minute blog posts

I’m sitting here at my desk and my eyes are darting between the clock and the blank page in front of me. I’ve got a meeting to go to in 15 minutes, and I need to write a post for our blog right now. But there’s a big problem: I don’t know what to write […]

September 17, 2014

CIA style guide secrets revealed!

ICYMI: The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) released their style guide to the public a while back and it is filled with goodies. Several blogs have already examined the CIA Style Manual and Writers Guide for Intelligence Publications in detail, but we want to bring it to the attention of the financial services industry. Why is […]

September 10, 2014

What a weak summer box office can teach us marketers

Even with plenty of monsters, angry apes, super heroes and ninja turtles, box office returns for the summer of 2014 were down approximately 15% from the previous year. Can this relatively weak (movies still made over $4 billion, after all) summer return tell us anything about marketing? We think there are actually three important points […]

September 3, 2014

Crafting your email etiquette

Have you ever sent out an email and immediately wished you had waited a few minutes before doing so? We all have. That’s why we have put together this list of five (or six) things to get into the habit of doing any time you are about to hit “Send.” Remember: this blog post is […]

August 27, 2014

“Back to school” reading list for financial services marketers

It’s time to go back to school, financial services marketers. Here are five books – related to both marketing and investing – that we’ll be reading over the next few months. Web Analytics 2.0: The Art of Online Accountability and Science of Customer Centricity Avinash Kaushik We can’t learn enough about analytics. Although this book […]

August 20, 2014

What can a salad teach us about marketing?

Several very pioneering – and possibly hungry – researchers tested the idea that an aesthetically pleasing salad would influence a diner’s expectation of the quality of the salad, the eventual enjoyment of the salad and, ultimately, the price someone would pay for that salad. Imagine three salads: a simple tossed salad, a second arranged to […]

August 13, 2014

Walking backwards – a marketing lesson

What can walking backwards for 25 years teach us about marketing? Apparently, quite a lot. Mani Manithan has spent the past 25 years walking backwards. It began as a form of protest. But as the years have passed he now finds walking normally to be a challenge and uncomfortable. Face forward Does Mani’s problem sound […]

July 29, 2014

Ready to blog? How to get started the right way

Starting a blog is a great way to reach out to your clients and prospects, and the folks at Ext. Marketing Inc. are asked all the time for tips on the appropriate first steps for getting started. We tell people that starting a blog can be broken down into the following three steps: 1. Choose […]

July 9, 2014

How to generate coverage from the financial media

Being proactive will help you create and execute on an integrated marketing strategy that includes targeted media coverage.

July 2, 2014

A proofreading checklist for commentary writers

If you write monthly, quarterly, semi-annual or annual commentaries for use in marketing tools, MRFPs, fund sheets or newsletters, this post is for you. It’s a proofreading checklist tailored for all us financial services commentary writers. As we’ve written before, there’s nothing better than having your work reviewed by a professional editor or proofreader (like […]

June 25, 2014

Deep product knowledge matters

When it comes to financial services marketing, deep product knowledge matters. Why? Because the industry is undergoing constant regulatory and product change, and knowing how it all fits together is essential to continued success. We believe that continuing education is important for your long-term growth. This post illustrates, however, why deep product knowledge is essential […]

June 18, 2014

Give your PDFs a new lease on life

You and your marketing team work hard to produce great looking newsletters, reports and brochures. Your beautiful creations leave the printing house, crisp and colourful, only to sit quietly on a desk, waiting for someone to pick them up and read them. Why not give them a new lease on life? If you can make […]

June 4, 2014

Three strategies to deliver the best creative possible

Are you on a creative team? Are you passionate about writing and/or design? If so, you probably find yourself brainstorming now and then – but maybe not enough. Brainstorming is a skill, and practice makes perfect, so here are three longer-term strategies to make brainstorming a more frequent part of your daily schedule … and […]

May 28, 2014