Five things to avoid when creating graphs and charts
Using a chart or graph can be a simple and eye-catching way to display information that might otherwise need paragraphs (or pages!) of text to explain.
When done well, your audience should be able to scan and interpret your graphics quickly and easily. When done not-so-well, simple graphics can confuse a reader. Here are some things to avoid doing when visually displaying information.
3D and other special effects
Using 3D and blow-apart effects can make your data hard to interpret. Think about a 3D bar chart for a minute. The 3D effect is created by angling the bar upward. What part of the bar is your reader supposed to be looking at? The front (the lowest part) or the back (the highest)?
If you’re not there to explain the data, don’t be surprised if your readers can’t figure it out on their own.
Blow-apart effects, which we often see with pie charts, create similar issues. The parts of the pie are harder to compare when they’re blown apart, which can lead to misinterpretation of your data (source). Remember, your readers should be able to interpret a well-designed graphic at a glance. Don’t make them work for it.
Your readers should be able to interpret a well-designed graphic at a glance. Don’t make them work for it.
Odd scales
Another way to make your readers work is to challenge their assumptions. And most readers assume that most charts start at zero. Starting a scale with a number other than zero can distort your information, leaving the impression that your data has been skewed.
Information overload
Trying to present too much information on a line graph reduces your readers’ understanding of what you’re trying to say, because it makes it difficult to find the data points on your graph. Similarly, too many bars in a bar chart can make it hard to distinguish between groups of data. You’ve seen these charts, where all the information just blends together.
If you have too much information to present, consider creating a series of charts by grouping different sets of data in a logical way. If that doesn’t work, it might be best to skip the chart in this case and tell your story with text.
Too many/non-contrasting colours
Eye-catching graphics use colour, but using too many colours can leave your chart looking messy. It can also confuse readers as they start to lose track of which colour was supposed to represent which piece of information.
Six is the maximum number of colours you should use, but most sources will tell you a three-colour palette is ideal. And if there’s any chance your chart will be printed out or viewed in black and white, choose a palette with plenty of contrast.
Skipping the text
A well-designed graphic is a great way to present information for visual learners. You know, those people whose eyes glaze over when they see paragraphs of text followed by more paragraphs of text. But don’t underestimate how important it is to reach all types of learners. There are plenty of people who will struggle to interpret a line chart no matter how simple it seems or how well it’s designed.
To make the biggest impact and reach the widest audience, use a mix of graphics and well written text. Your readers will thank you.
For effective and engaging design ideas follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
3 unexpected sources for content ideas
Content, content and more content! You’d think that after a few years of content marketing you’d run out of ideas. We’ve found the opposite is true.
We actually have more ideas as every day passes. One of the tricks is to find sources of inspiration, and the more unexpected the source the better. Here are three to get you started.
The magazine stand
In an on-demand world, what’s news today is often irrelevant tomorrow. Blogs, social networks and industry news sites can react to events and trends as they happen. Is it any wonder the future of print looks bleak?
Still, there are a handful magazines that have shown they have staying power, and marketing teams can learn a lot from them. Good Housekeeping, National Geographic, People and Sports Illustrated have all maintained paid circulation bases of more than three million subscribers. That’s huge in a world that largely believes “print is dead” (source, paid circulation data for consumer magazines).
What are these magazines doing right? They each have a very specific audience and they write exactly what that audience wants to read. Because let’s be honest, you’re either the type of person who picks up Good Housekeeping or you’re not.
They also write about evergreen topics that hit home. Content for print magazines is written months ahead of their publication date, and this content can’t be stale by the time the latest issue hits the stands. Same goes for your marketing copy.
Finally, they use solid, informative headlines that aren’t meant to mislead. Yes, we get how and why clickbait works. But it also annoys, because it’s often misleading. Who among us strives to annoy our target audience? We didn’t think so.
Over (virtual) cocktails
It makes sense to find inspiration in industry-specific LinkedIn and Facebook groups, or by following the big thought leaders on Twitter. But don’t overlook your friends’ personal feeds. If your social network is wide, many of your online friends and acquaintances are bound to overlap with the audience you’re trying to reach. And we know they’re smart, savvy consumers.
Listen closely to what those friends are saying, and you’ll pick up plenty of tips on what works and what to avoid in your marketing copy. For example, we’ve learned that our friends are completely over people “reaching out” just to “touch base.” Don’t even get them started on “leveraging” that “value-add.” These are just a handful of phrases we try to avoid, now that we know their power to annoy.
And if social networking isn’t your thing, listen over real cocktails. Or scotch. Or simply coffee. The same principles apply regardless of your drink of choice.
Your front-line staff
We all want to write copy that engages and entices our ideal customers or clients. That’s the job, and we love what we do. But how often are we writing the copy we think our customers and clients want to hear? Have we checked by conducting extensive surveys or focus groups? These are both good ideas, by the way, but maybe a bit time consuming for every project.
Instead, have a conversation with your front-line staff. Your receptionists, call centre staff, sales team or anyone who has daily contact with customers. Ask your staff what questions they’re hearing over and over again, and write content that answers those questions. Or put something together that addresses common complaints or highlights what your customers love about working with you.
Learn to look at employees in every department as potential sources of inspiration, and start writing.
Need more help generating fresh content ideas? You can reach us at 416.925.1700 or info@ext-marketing.com.
Blogging essentials for financial services professionals
Getting a company’s blog up and running is an exciting challenge – it’s one of the greatest opportunities to engage with clients and prospects.
Here are 10 things to always keep in mind during the early days of your company’s blog.
Get the right writers on board
People with a lot of customer contact are great sources for helpful blog topics. Out of that group, find the strongest writer – that may not be who you expected – and let them solve problems with well-written posts. That said, the more writers you have writing, the more content you have being generated.
Customers come first, not your company
People may not be that interested in the day-to-day of your business. Ask yourself: What advice can we provide? How are people using our products? The best posts generally solve customer problems.
Don’t worry too much about SEO
As Google changes its algorithms to be more “social,” keywords are becoming less and less important than whether or not the content is being shared. Keep this in mind when creating your editorial calendar.
Market your blog
Businesses tend to shy away from promoting something that may not be perfect, especially if someone thinks it might hurt the business. That said, if you don’t promote your blog, no one will know about it and you’ll be wasting valuable resources. Avoid the soft-launch approach. Be proud of your blog!
Always include a call to action
Hopefully your company is blogging to increase business, not just to be trendy. With a call to action, you’re driving your readers to engage with your company. A call to action can be as simple as including a link to another page on your website or a request to contact you with any questions (via phone or email).
Expect weak results in the short term
Many famous bloggers have called blogging a marathon, not a sprint. So stay dedicated and positive when you’re starting out. As you build up content, you’ll see more success.
Consider a blogging consultant
Think about partnering with a corporate blogging consultant who understands the needs of your business, and who will help you build a blogging strategy around your resources, brand and long-term goals.
Post frequently
Every blog post is another opportunity to engage a client or prospect. If you post once a week, you’ll get about 50 opportunities to share your message. If you post every business day, you’re in the mid-200s. Your company’s sweet spot is likely somewhere in the middle.
Decide how much you want to know
Are you interested in the terms “page views,” “bounce rates” and “pages per visit?” Do “keywords,” “unique visitors” and “loyalty” sound like things you want to spend time thinking about? Be honest.
Stay positive
There’s no place for snarky remarks, attacks or cheap shots in business blogging. Online readers can cut and paste – or take screen shots – and post them to social networks.
It’s time to start blogging, so keep these 10 tips in mind and enjoy yourself!
Contact us today if you want help getting your company’s blog started or if you’re looking for content ideas. You can reach us at 416.925.1700 or info@ext-marketing.com.
Whitepaper tactics that work
Even though social media, video and other areas of digital marketing get so much attention these days, we still believe that whitepapers play an important role in your marketing strategy. Here are five best practices to help you get these valuable pieces done right.
Set the right tone
Your whitepapers should be written in conversational tone … and in the third person.
There are fewer and fewer situations that require a very formal tone. As our conversations get more casual, our writing follows. Exercising restraint is important, as whitepapers are fairly “academic,” and are often read by people who are well-versed in the topic.
Solve the right problem
Writing a whitepaper may be one of the most challenging marketing exercises, so make sure the problem you are solving is one that your audience truly wants solved.
To make sure your topic engages your readers, do a little research into their needs. Survey your sales team, research online and, if you have the relationships and resources, talk to your clients directly.
Use third-party facts
Back up your points and arguments with some facts – and make sure these facts aren’t all from your in-house team.
This is where we come across one of the most significant limitations of whitepapers: they tend to take more time to produce than other materials. If possible, you should include some independent research to support your findings. This will enhance the credibility of your work.
Let your designers run wild
Whitepaper doesn’t mean “blankpaper” or “boringpaper.” Luckily for you, not everyone knows this, so design is a way to stand out from the crowd.
Make your whitepaper look professional and easy to read, use a larger font, don’t crowd the copy, and experiment with design elements and themes that break up the whitespace.
Incorporate graphs, charts and infographics
Amid your facts and findings, well-crafted visual aids will help keep your reader’s attention.
Every data point can be backed up with an engaging chart or graph. We think whitepapers are begging for infographics. Since you’ll have so much data to work with, it should be fairly simple to create some easy-to-read infographics that will surely engage your audience.
So, as you develop your social platforms and other digital marketing endeavours, don’t forget about whitepapers and the unique value they add to a robust marketing strategy.
Do you want to create more insightful and engaging whitepapers? Let us help. Contact us today at 416.925.1700 or info@ext-marketing.com.
A writing lesson from Warren Buffett
If your readers can’t understand your writing, you’re wasting their time and yours. That’s why plain language writing is so important.
It doesn’t help that financial services is filled with jargon and technical terms that are truly hard to simplify.
Nevertheless, forward-thinking companies in the financial services industry know why plain language is essential and so do the regulators, as even the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) has got into the game with its A Plan Language Handbook.
Who do you think the SEC got to write the preface? None other than Warren Buffett, who wrote: “To succeed, I don’t need to be Shakespeare; I must, though, have a sincere desire to inform.”
To succeed, I don’t need to be Shakespeare; I must, though, have a sincere desire to inform.
Yes, it’s another keeper from the Oracle of Omaha.
Financial services communications needs plain language
Very few people need to understand a research paper on particle physics … and very few people would even try. From a practical, day-to-day perspective, knowing or not knowing what’s inside that research paper will not affect our lives. So physics papers can stay technical.
But let’s look at financial services communications.
Articles about, let’s say, diversifying an investment portfolio are read by many people with different knowledge levels, from your son to your grandmother. Although their investment knowledge varies, the importance of diversification, for example, does not.
Understanding financial concepts can make or break a healthy and happy retirement for all readers.
Plain language writing can help the financial services industry build trust
The implications of language that obscures, confuses or misdirects are broad. Readers may think the writer is hiding something, is out of touch or simply does not care. Even worse, the reader may misinterpret such convoluted writing.
Obviously, people who write financial services copy (from brochures to monthly commentaries) are not hoping for or expecting these outcomes, but that doesn’t stop these unwanted feelings from forming.
Unfortunately, plain language writing is not easy.
That Buffett wrote “sincere desire” is telling. Because the deeper you get into plain language, the more you realize that putting together a short list of plain language rules, or a “tips and tricks” document, is going to be difficult.
In many ways, plain language is more of a mind shift than a technical one. Here are a few more plain language resources that can help you get started:
- Federal plain language guidelines
- Plain language from Canada’s public works
- Rules for writing plain English
- BC Securities Commission plain language style guide
Given that we are all affected by the financial world, “readers” are not just investors and savers, but everyone. And everything that gets in the way of plain language writing should be removed.
Plain language writing is worth the effort. If you want to learn more, contact Ext. Marketing Inc. at 416.925.1700 or info@ext-marketing.com.
26 MORE blog and newsletter content ideas for advisors to use
The potentially unlimited number of ideas for a blog or newsletter can stop you from even starting such a beneficial project. We can help you focus on topics that resonate with clients. How? We’ve put together a list of 26 MORE blog and newsletter ideas, giving you a whole year’s worth of content!
27. Services overview
What financial planning (and other) services do you provide? Let your clients and prospects know.
28 to 39. Monthly market review
Stuff happens all the time, so help put things in perspective.
40. Estate planning 101
People don’t like talking about the end. But they have to, so help make it easier for them.
41. The downside of robo-advisors
Robo-advisors are on the rise but they are certainly not for everyone.
42. Financial plans vs. financial products
Novice investors could use some clarification because they often confuse and conflate the two.
43. Managing emotions
Many retirements have been compromised by panic and reactive selling and buying, so help people conserve their wealth.
44. Making insurance part of your long-term plan
Not everyone knows that protecting their assets and their loved ones is an essential part of their wealth plan.
45. Preparing for portfolio reviews
Make sure your meetings are as productive as possible by letting your clients know what to bring and what to expect.
46. How to choose an advisor
Briefly describe the key traits, skills and experience that prospects should look for.
47. Why do-it-yourself isn’t for everyone
Make sure you give a fair and balanced summary.
48. The benefits of dollar-cost averaging
Though fundamental to long-term investment success, dollar-cost averaging is not well understood.
49. Mutual funds vs ETFs
Let your voice be heard in this growing debate.
50. Long-term investing
Explain the benefits of long-term investing in a short case study.
51. Diversification
This is another fundamental of investing success that may not be completely understood.
52. Your business beliefs in action, Part 2
Finish the year where you started – by demonstrating your core beliefs as a successful advisor.
There you have it: 52 blog and newsletter content ideas. A year’s worth of content to share with your clients.
As we mentioned in our previous post, it helps to create an editorial calendar so you know what’s coming up and when you’ll need to brainstorm more ideas.
Now all you have to do is write!
If you want help creating content, contact us at 416.925.1700 or info@ext-marketing.com.
An unexpected prescription for advisors with writer’s block
So, you’ve committed to writing a blog or a newsletter and things have been going well. Then one day you feel like you’ve run out of ideas.
You’ve contracted a case of writer’s block and the symptoms are unmistakable: a blank page, the urge to do something – anything – else, insecurity.
Have no fear. Writer’s block is no big deal if you’ve got the right prescription, and here are three things that you can do immediately:
Check in with your Twitter feed
This is highly counterintuitive because social media is rarely mentioned as a way to be more productive. But there are a millions of writing ideas dropping through your Twitter feed right now. Reach out and grab one.
There are ways to refine what you’re looking at on Twitter. First, create a locked list of your competitors. If you haven’t created one yet, make one today and see what they are writing about. Now build off or critique the ideas regarding something they’ve shared.
Second, turn to specific people who have great ideas and see what they’ve done recently. Now write your take on an idea of theirs.
Carry your idea journal
If you’re going to be a reliable source of content, an idea journal stores your ideas before you forget them. After work today, go out and buy a notebook. It can be a stylish Moleskin or a tried-and-true Hilroy. Just make sure it has space to write down your ideas when they pop into your head, no matter how odd they may seem at the time.
We get our best ideas when we’re nowhere near a computer. We got the idea for this post while walking to a client meeting.
Seek the opinion of your clients
Asking your clients for topics they’d like you to cover acts as a good touch point, plus their feedback will hopefully provide many ideas for future posts.
There are a few ways you can ask: face to face or by personal email, SurveyMonkey, blog post or social networks like Twitter and LinkedIn. Pick one or two and see if it works for you.
We’ll be writing more about advisor communications in the coming months. Until then, give these three strategies a try – they may be the cure for writer’s block that you’ve been seeking.
If you’re looking for content ideas or tips to become a more effective writer, contact us at 416.925.1700 or info@ext-marketing.com.
The only writing and editing resources you’ll ever need
Even though there are thousands of writing and editing resources to choose from, you don’t need a bookcase filled with them to be a great communicator in the financial services industry.
If you can spell, have a broad vocabulary and know the core rules of grammar, you’ll be ahead of the crowd. And if you have a few style tricks up your sleeve, even better.
To make your life easier, we’ve narrowed down the list of writing and editing resources to just seven.
Dictionaries
You only need two dictionaries to make sure your spelling is correct:
1. Canadian Oxford Dictionary: the #1 dictionary for Canadians
2. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary: good if you’re writing for a U.S. audience
Thesauruses
If you’re looking for another word but it’s just out of reach, grab one of these thesauruses instead:
3. Concise Oxford Thesaurus: an Ext. Marketing Inc. favourite
4. Roget’s International Thesaurus: it can’t hurt to have a second thesaurus, can it?
Style guides
Things get dicey in the world of style guides and to say there are differences of opinion is an understatement. It’s also important to note that when you start picking and choosing from these resources, you’ll have to make your own in-house style guide.
5. The Canadian Press Stylebook: this is what Canadian newspapers use
6. The Chicago Manual of Style: a more literary alternative to the above and very important for writing in the U.S.
7. Editing Canadian English: an extremely useful resource from the Editors’ Association of Canada
Although there are plenty of other style resources, from The Elements of Style to Eats, Shoots & Leaves, the books mentioned above are more than enough to ensure clear and consistent communications.
For more writing and editing advice, please contact us at info@ext-marketing.com or 416.925.1700.
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 about.
We should have seen this coming. We’ve written about running out of ideas before, and we’ve also written about how to avoid it from happening again; for example, here, here and here.
What’s the simple solution? How can we avoid this stress?
First, create an editorial calendar. We’ve done that – so far so good. Next, sustain the editorial calendar. We slipped on that, which is why you’re reading a post like this today.
Not all is lost. There is a very straightforward way to get out of this situation.
After we post this we’re going to follow a simple process for staying on top of content deliverables. We will:
- Set up a content brainstorm
- Invite a core group of our best “idea” people
- Open it up to the broader team (where, truthfully, many of our best ideas come from)
- Assign the topics to people who want to write them
- Schedule our posts in the editorial calendar
- Book another content meeting long before we are out of posts, so that we never run out of ideas again
That’s it. Hopefully, we won’t have to write a confessional post like this again.
If you need help with your marketing strategy or execution please contact us at 416.925.1700 or info@ext-marketing.com.
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 look like a Kandinsky painting and a third arranged in an extremely neat manner, as if built by a chef with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
As the researchers confirmed for us, we do in fact eat with our eyes first.
As the researchers confirmed for us, we do in fact eat with our eyes first. The Kandinsky-esque salad apparently tasted better, was thought to be more complex and more liked, and would command a higher price.
What does your marketing salad look like?
Gone are the days of wordy brochures filled with product jargon.
The rise of infographics, digital and social marketing, and integrated microsites has helped show a customer your company’s value proposition or product details in a more thoughtful way.
Gone are the days of wordy brochures filled with product jargon.
Last year we stressed the importance of having your summer interns conduct an audit of your marketing materials – this year we urge you to do the same, but then take those old but impactful materials and give them the “fine art” treatment.
Do you have a company factsheet that touts sales or investment growth over time? Throw in the latest numbers and make it an infographic!
Is an old product gaining new traction in the market? It might be time to build a microsite so your wholesalers can spread the message easily – and follow up immediately.
And remember, if Kandinsky is too weird, then a Warhol is cool, too!
Contact us at 416.925.1700 or info@ext-marketing.com to discuss how we can work together to make your next salad – that is, your next project – more enticing and more successful.
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 familiar? Trying something new – or something long-forgotten – isn’t always that easy for people in the financial services industry. As a result, it’s possible for sales and marketing groups to avoid the new and become set in their ways.
Maybe that comfort in the status quo is where the old adage if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it came from?
However, we financial services marketers operate in a rapidly changing business environment where it can become absolutely necessary to relearn how to “walk normally” just like Mani needs to. Don’t take a backwards approach – keep pushing ahead!
We financial services marketers operate in a rapidly changing business environment where it can become absolutely necessary to relearn how to “walk normally.”
Stop before you walk
So you’ve turned around to the possibility of change. But it’s important to avoid changing just for the sake of change.
Ask why are we going to walk down this path of change?
Think about the current focus on the customer-centric, advice-based marketing model for instance. It was born out of the proliferation of investment products. Those companies that weren’t prepared to change course – away from a pure product push toward a more client-oriented approach – may have found their messages falling flat.
Today, we face other great challenges and are, in turn, presented with tremendous opportunities. One example is the great shift in communications and how people receive messages from companies. Social media, mobile and more engaging digital options should be on every financial services marketer’s mind … and their to-do list.
Find a strong footing
There are a number of new ways to get your message out – microsites, infographics, digital flipbooks, videos/animated vignettes and all of the possible tie-ins with social media. Each offers a unique way to convey a message and value proposition – to tell your story – to new and existing clients.
If your clients and prospects want this type of communication, give it to them.