When it comes to crafting written finance content, research is key.
Whether you’re writing a blog post, creating a marketing presentation, or working on a white paper, taking the time to find high-quality, reliable sources can make all the difference.
I don’t know about you, but I personally don’t have time to start my financial content research from scratch every single day – ain’t nobody got time to be combing through manual pieces of information every single time!
But before you even get started, there are a few things you should bear in mind that will help you with your finance content research process:
1. Start with a clear focus
Arguably the most important thing you should consider before even putting fingers to keyboard.
What are you specifically trying to learn or find out? Having a simple goal in mind will help you narrow your search to find the most relevant information, rather than wasting time going down different internet rabbit-holes.
2. Use multiple sources
Don’t just rely on one website or publication – look for a variety of perspectives to get a well-rounded view. Here are a few of my shortcuts for finding a robust selection of research sources.
Sign up to a news aggregator
Often, you don’t even need to bother doing most of the initial research yourself. A news aggregator is a great way to stay up-to-date on the latest news.
When you sign up to a news aggregator, you can pick the right topics and allow other people (or algorithms) to do the legwork in finding the latest news stories for you. This is a great way to stay informed about current events, as well as to get a variety of perspectives on the news.
A few of my favourite news aggregators are Google News, Reuters, AP News, Feedly (US-focused), and News Now (UK-focused).
Set a Google alert
If you’re looking for stories on a particular topic, company, or person, you might want to set a Google alert, so you can be among the first to know when new information about said topic appears on the web.
Google Alerts are easy to set up and only require a free Google account. You can choose to receive your alerts as soon as they appear, or once a day or week. Of course, you’ll need to tweak your preferred settings for this because you could end up with hundreds of notifications every day!
Subscribe to a specialist publication in the finance industry
If you’re looking to stay up-to-date on the latest news and developments in the financial services industry, subscribing to a specialist publication is a great way to do so.
Not only will you receive timely information and insights, but you’ll also benefit from the in-depth analysis and expert commentary that these publications offer. Whether you’re looking for general news or more specific information on a niche within the finance industry, there’s a publication out there that can meet your needs.
In contrast to the other options, this one will obviously cost money. But considering the opportunity cost of you and your team members having to do the digging, the investment in specialist finance content is worth it.
Given the range of topics I write for, I’ve been investing in subscriptions with the Financial Times, the Economist, and the Times – all of which offer different perspectives to help me formulate my own thoughts on any given topic.
And not that I need to remind you, but any (relevant) subscription you take out on behalf of your firm is usually a business expense you can claim back from HMRC.
3. Check the credibility of your sources
When you’re looking for information on financial topics, it’s important that you make sure that what you find is coming from a reliable source. Check for things like author credentials, date of publication, and external references.
Look for finance content articles from established publications or from regulatory websites (if appropriate). These sources will usually have accurate and up-to-date information that you can use in your content.
4. Take good notes
As you complete your research, be sure to use a reliable method of keeping track of what you find so you can easily go back and find it later.
You can do this by bookmarking websites, taking brief notes, or even clipping entire articles or web pages to a note taking app like OneNote or Evernote. This will save you time in the long run, especially if you’re writing a series of articles.
To wrap it up
So there you have it. These are usually my go-to methods of getting the first portion of my content strategy workflow started. After I get a substantial overview of what’s out there, it then makes it much easier to know where to start with my research.
If you’re having trouble finding good sources of information, try asking an industry expert. As long as you ask politely, finance “influencers” can be an excellent source of information and can help you understand complex topics.
And, of course, we’re all about working smart, so if you’d rather skip ahead and have the research done for you, get someone else to help!
