The Social Way Forces A Rethinking Of Old, Controlling Ways

When something is new, a little scary and yet ubiquitous, it may be human nature to want to limit what you absolutely need to know about it. Jersey Shore, for example, is something I’ve decided that I don’t need to follow.

In the case of investment company Web sites, mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) marketers early on realized that their sites wouldn’t be e-commerce sites. That freed them (us as I was on the inside at that point) from thinking about transaction funnels, search engine optimization and other best practices that e-commerce sites need to master in order to survive.

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How PPC Content Advertising Might Aid In The Online Battle For Roth IRA Conversions

It doesn’t happen often but sometimes the Universe helps with the blog-writing.

All week I’ve vacillated between two disparate topics: the Roth IRA Conversion Centers that are appearing on asset managers’ Web sites and pay-per-click (PPC) content advertising. Thanks to the Universe for showing a way to address both topics in a single (OK, little long) post.

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Slow Site? Optimize—Or Forfeit Search Traffic

Have your repeated requests to speed up your Web site been falling on deaf ears? There’s a change in the works that might give you the argument you need for IT to move site optimization up to the top of the priority list.

Watch this video from Google on the global benefits of a faster Web and then let’s consider how their advocacy on this could affect the success of your firm’s digital marketing strategy.

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Your Talking Heads Don't Have To Be Dead-heads

Look, videos on some asset management sites are starting to show some life.

One out of five online video viewers say they now watch less TV on a television set due to the time they’re spending watching online videos. That’s according to the Magid Media Futures™ 2009: Opportunities In Online Video study. Pew says online video-watching now surpasses participation in social networks.

But, let’s be honest. It’s a stretch of the imagination to think that mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) Web sites are reaping the benefits of heightened interest in online video. The state of the art right now in our industry features two guys reading a script on a Teleprompter over one another’s shoulders.

Would you turn off TV to watch those videos at the end of a long day? They are…hmm, how to put this?...not what you would watch before you sleep, maybe for help in getting to sleep.

We’ve recently stumbled upon videos on three sites that dare to be different. They feature talent with a pulse, they’re not framed in teeny-tiny boxes on the site and, well, they’re interesting.

First Trust's Economic Commentary
First up is First Trust Portfolios’ Wesbury 101 - Economic Video Commentary. "This Is Not a 'Sugar High'" featuring Chief Economist Brian Wesbury is the second such video published on FtPortfolios.com this month. Wesbury delivers an animated commentary, and we especially like the inclusion of charts and graphs in the video. If your videos aren't including graphics, why even bother? You could get by with less fuss and expense with a podcast and a headshot.

Oh and who called our attention to this? Financial advisor Adam Zuercher when he tweeted about it to his 360-some followers, illustrating the viral quality of video and the reason you want to offer it on your site. Note that the video can be downloaded.

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A Look At How Asset Managers See The Second-Half

The third week after the close of the quarter? Hey, that means there might be new commentary on mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) Web sites.

(In fact, not all sites have been updated yet, have they? But you know who you are and you know better than me what your "bottlenecks" are.)

As a speed-reading approach to reviewing what appears to be predominantly positive outlooks, I turned to Wordle.net for the visualizations below of what T. Rowe Price, First Trust Portfolios, OppenheimerFunds, BlackRock and Fidelity Investments expect in the second half of the year. Interested in others'? You can create your own in a snap.

T. Rowe Price U.S. Stock Market Quarterly Market Wrap-up

 

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