One of the challenges of producing content as a financial adviser is striking the right balance between audience engagement and compliance.

Businesses in other sectors might make bold claims or focus on best-case scenarios to attract customers. For financial advisers, taking this approach could place them on the wrong side of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules.

In addition, trust is important to the financial advice profession.

Your clients and prospects need to feel confident sharing their financial information and personal goals with you. They need to know that you’ll be acting in their best interests over the long term.

Claiming “investments will deliver returns of 8%” in a blog may attract the attention of potential clients initially, but if these returns don’t materialise, it’ll erode trust. What’s more, readers who make decisions based on your claims alone could find that it has disastrous consequences for their long-term finances.

So, ensuring you stick to the FCA’s “clear, fair, and not misleading” rule about communications is essential. But that doesn’t mean you should settle for dull, uninteresting content.

Here are five tips that could help you produce content that’s compliant and engaging.

1. Understand your compliance boundaries

Making sure you understand the FCA’s financial promotion rules is a crucial first step. If you’re an appointed representative, your network might have particular wording or rules you need to follow in addition to those of the FCA.

Keeping everything you need to check that content is compliant – from risk warnings to a list of topics to avoid – can be useful. It’ll mean you’ve got everything to hand when coming up with content ideas or writing, and that your marketing is consistent.

Remember, things change. Regularly reviewing your compliance notes can help ensure your latest blogs continue to reflect current rules and guidance.

2. Focus on education

Rather than viewing your content as a sales tool, changing your mindset to focus on education can help you to craft content that is both compliant and engaging.

From a compliance perspective, an educational approach means you’re less likely to make unsubstantiated claims or promises when you’re writing. With many people feeling confused or overwhelmed about aspects of their finances, educational content can be interesting and valuable to prospective clients too.

It’s a strategy that could help your business build trust with prospects before they even get in touch.

Educational content might include explainers, market insights, or the latest financial news.

3. Make storytelling part of your strategy

Complex tax rules and effectively using the right financial products are an important part of financial planning. However, covering only these could mean you miss out on promoting the soft benefits of financial planning and an opportunity to create compliant content that appeals to readers.

Instead, you might use content to tell a story. For example, working with you meant that a couple nearing retirement are feeling excited about the milestone rather than apprehensive as they felt before.

Storytelling that draws on real journeys can make technical ideas more accessible and demonstrate the far-reaching benefits of financial advice without having to discuss complicated rules in each piece of content.

If you choose to use real client stories, be sure they are anonymised or you have the appropriate consent forms to be compliant.

4. Define your audience

It’s important to make sure the content you send to clients or prospects is appropriate for them.

If your clients are made up of retirees with a low risk profile, content about Innovative Finance ISAs or Venture Capital Trusts could be confusing and lead to some of them making decisions that aren’t right for them.

Defining who your audience is means you can tailor the tone, topics, and complexity of the content to suit them and stay on the right side of compliance rules. In some cases, you might benefit from segmenting your clients to target them with appropriate content.

5. Include risks and drawbacks

When you speak to clients or prospects, you’ll outline why an option could be right for them and highlight the potential risks. Taking the same approach to your content could help ensure it’s compliant.

Using an ISA to reduce tax liability when investing may make sense for many people, but noting this isn’t always the case means you can avoid your content being misconstrued as personalised advice.

Finally, be sure your content includes appropriate risk warnings that are clearly visible and easy to understand.

Get in touch

If you need help creating regular content, The Yardstick Agency’s content team could offer the support you’re looking for. Our writers produce blogs, guides, and more that are both engaging and compliant, helping you communicate effectively with your audience.

Get in touch to find out more by emailing hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or calling 0115 8965 300.