Julie Knowler, Marketing Coordinator, Clear Path Analysis - 6th August, 2016

In times of economic uncertainty, fear of an unknown future causes many companies to cut capital expenditure on marketing initiatives.

Investment management however can be insulated from this storm through its unique ability to prosper regardless of market falls or rises. Making the right decisions on how to make the most of a good crisis is key though.

Institutional investors are aware that market change means market opportunities but rarely do their return objectives differ given the long term nature of their liabilities.

So what should marketers keep front of mind?

1. Has Brexit changed their fundamental objectives of delivering long-term returns? Near totally, no it hasn’t. The 20, 30, 50+ year liability they were investing against on the morning of the Brexit vote was the same as that which they faced results were in. So don’t lose focus, talk to that need and don’t be too distracted by the short term fallout.

2. A good crisis means disruption and disruption allows for new ideas to flourish. The Brexit result went against the status quo that the electorate shies away from uncertainty, i.e. a move to an unknown future. Be creative in your ideas and show that you can think outside the box too, that you can embrace rather than shirk change and have new ideas for how to make it work for clients.

3. Take advantage of the search for information. According to a recent survey we conducted*, 73% of institutional investors said that they collected information at the point of ‘assessing a potential change’ as opposed to the 9% who did so ‘to verify or support a decision’. So be pertinent and in front of them whilst they’re hungry for information.

4. Now is a good time to make communication channel changes to reach new audiences. Your existing client base already knows you and where you are, it’s those who are searching for information who you haven’t engaged with before that present the biggest opportunity due to their current receptiveness to new opinions.

5. And lastly, talk to and with your audience, find ways to show you’re on the same team and have the same long term interests as they do at heart. Clients and prospects want re-assurance that you understand them and their needs.

To learn more about our ideas on how to improve your content marketing get in touch with us.

Previous content marketing clients include Northern Trust, Guernsey Finance, Erste Asset Management, SimCorp USA, Prudential Retirement, Russell Investments (USA), BNP Paribas Investment Partners and FTSE Russell.