The Problem with Generic News Feeds

Lots of advisories and financial firms have news feeds on their websites, and these feeds pull articles from reputable sources across the web. Typically, integration is fast and maintenance is nil.

But there is a problem with generic news feeds, and it has to do with just how easy they are to use.

Your clients trust you because of your knowledge (or, more specifically, the knowledge they perceive you to have), and because of what you’re able to do with it. That’s why one of the best ways to engage both prospects and clients is to share your knowledge through content. 

Informative articles, videos, ebooks and whitepapers give prospects a taste of the expertise that could be guiding their financial strategies, and help clients maintain a sense of confidence in the relationship.

But a generic news feed doesn’t originate from you or your firm. Any relevance or value contained in it is completely independent from the knowledge you purport to have. And the reality is that, because of how easy it is to integrate, the feed on your site will almost certainly not be the only—or the most convenient—one your prospect or client has access to.  

Remember that your website’s main purpose isn’t to be a convenient source of financial news, it’s to promote your professional value and unique outlook. It’s not there to channel all the various voices in the industry, it’s meant to help cut through the noise to a clear, nuanced perspective. 

So if you’re already invested in sharing your specialized knowledge with the people you want to engage with, then there isn’t much harm in having an additional generic feed on your website. But if you treat that feed as a stand-in for content marketing, you aren’t likely to see any benefit from it.