10 Examples of Great Content Marketing for Investment Banking Firms

10 examples of investment banking firms that are utlising content marketing

“Content is King” - Bill Gates, 1996

Content is King” – Bill Gates, 1996

Bill Gates predicted in 1996 that content would be king in the future. And he was right! 

Content is everywhere, and the internet is built on content. 

What do blog posts, social media updates, videos, podcasts, reports, emails, and press releases have in common?

Yes, they are all forms of content.

More importantly, they are all forms of content marketing currently being used by investment banking firms across the world. 

Everyone who searches for anything will use a search engine to find what they are looking for. With 49% of users saying they use Google to discover or find a new item or service.

The same is true when looking for an investment banking firm. 

Google is always your first port of call.

Do Investment Firms Really Need to Think About Content Marketing?

You might be thinking but why is this necessary for an investment firm? 

Investment firms have been built off word of mouth and the art of relationships for centuries, why change something which has worked so effectively to date?

The simple answer is that the big players in the game are dominating online because their content marketing strategies are cutting through.


70% of investments banks have little to no content!

But here is the key point; around 70% of the investment banks we looked at had little to no content, let alone a content marketing strategy.

Just imagine if an investment firm did decide to take content marketing seriously? 

Think about what they could achieve.

When you see this situation purely from an ROI perspective within such a lucrative industry, content marketing is woefully underutilised.

And if you add into this the fact that everything is becoming increasingly digitised as a result of a global pandemic, an investment in content marketing could make more sense than ever.

Content Marketing for Investment Banking Firms

Businesses are increasingly looking to content marketing strategies as a way to communicate with their audiences, become a source of knowledge, and build trust. 

An investment banking firm might be asking the following questions:

  •  Why should we use content marketing?
  •  Where is the best place to start?
  •  What is the best approach for an investment banking firm?
  •  Are there any examples of how content marketing works within investment banking firms and how are they working?
  •  What are some results investment banking firms are seeing from content marketing?
  •  How can I apply those examples to our investment firm?

Luckily for you, we have answered all of these questions. 

This article will provide you with practical examples of content marketing by investment banking firms. These examples which are taken directly from investment banks, and they are still using these examples today. 

The idea is that you can see what other firms have done and understand why it is working for them.

As a result, you can evaluate these lessons and decide which strategies you might want to apply as part of your own content marketing plan.

Approaching content from this angle means you will get further quicker and more efficiently. In addition, you’ll gain an idea of what you can achieve from any content marketing efforts.

It also gives you and your firm an idea of what the benefits of investing in content marketing could be. And why it would be worth investing in content marketing as an investment banking firm too.

Different Types of Content Marketing

Image: different types of content marketing

Content marketing can be created in many ways. Everything you read or see on the internet counts as content. 

Here are a few examples of content marketing which investment banking firms are already using:

  •  Blog articles
  •  News articles
  •  Videos
  •  Images
  •  Infographics
  •  Press releases
  •  Social media posts
  •  Emails/Newsletters
  •  Guest blogging
  •  Landing pages
  •  Podcasts

If you want to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition you need to identify and create different ways of communicating why you are a great investment banking firm. 

By creating content which is relevant and interesting for your clients, you can create a relationship with them. Once you have developed that relationship, people will use your website as a key reference point for information.

Content marketing can allow you to develop trust. Trust in that you are reliable and dependable. And, most importantly, that you can help them achieve their goals. 

What can an investment banking firm achieve with content marketing?

Now let’s imagine you are looking for an investment banking firm. 

Where do you start and where do you look first?

Chances are at some point you will conduct a Google search for “investment banking firms”. 

Let’s say you are located in Charlotte NC, so you conduct a Google search for “charlotte investment banking firms”.

content marketing investment banking firms

What do you find?

You will see a mixture of blog posts, directories, and actual firms.

search engine results for the keywords charlotte investment banking firms

The first actual firm you come across is Dragonfly Capital (the highest positions are dominated by blogs).

screenshot of dragonfly capital investment banking firm content marketing investment banking

On their homepage, they have a banner image carousel. It includes a mixture of images from around Charlotte, where they are based. 

They also have detailed information about who they are, what they do, and where their focus is. 

As a result, a potential client’s first impression of what this Charlotte investment firm is all about it set.

Ranking first for “charlotte investment banking firms” gives them ample opportunity to gain high volumes of traffic and leads.

Not only does the firm rank for that crucial keyword. But it also ranks for 28 other keywords. With two of these appearing in the top 4 search results, along with gaining other SERP features.

keywords dragonfly capital ranks for - showing how content marketing for investment banking firms could improve it

As such, these keywords have a huge impact on Dragonfly Capital’s potential lead generation and website traffic. 

And this will continue on an upward trend if they manage to hold this position. 

On the whole, these high ranking keywords have helped Dragonfly Capital gain more traffic and grow as a company.

dragonfly capital's keyword ranking and traffic graph as example of content marketing for investment banking

Yes, the numbers are small. But that is relative to the number of searchers looking for investment in Charlotte.

The key difference is that whilst loads of people search for more popular search terms. For instance ‘garden tools’. The value on each transaction is tiny relative to the value of someone looking for investment services.

And I wouldn’t even say that Dragonfly Capital has done a great job. Because they don’t have to though currently when the content marketing competition is so poor.

A Short Introduction to Content Marketing for Investment Banks

You might be thinking: “How is content marketing relevant within the investment banking industry?”

Simply, content marketing is a way to obtain and receive a constant flow of clients and business for your firm. 

Even if you already have a constant flow of clients, you can always gain more. 

Content marketing is about standing out from your competitors. As well as giving clients assurance that you know what you are talking about. In addition to assurance to know that clients will always be there. 

When your investment firm is ranking for specific relevant keywords. Your firm can be exposed to and gain more traffic and leads from people who are looking for investment.

Ranking first in search engine results is like being the first door someone opens in a long corridor.

If you like what you find inside you won’t look any further. 

You will have found what you are looking for.

10 Examples of Content Marketing for Investment Banking Firms

"I looked at my competitors and I thought that, If they could do it, I could do it. And if they are popular and doing well, I could compete with them." - Tommy Hilfiger

London has over 650 senior investment bankers as of 2020. Each working in a large number of firms. Many of these are in boutique companies. But others work for huge multinational firms who set up their headquarters in London or New York.

With so many investment banks, how is your client meant to choose one? What makes your firm stand out from the next? 

You can find out the answer to this by conducting a website and competitor analysis. As this will help to evaluate your current position compared to other investment banks. 

After conducting a competitor analysis you’ll have valuable insight into what your competitors are currently doing. Both the good and the bad, allowing you to respond accordingly with your content marketing.

We have put together a list of 10 specific examples of content marketing within investment banking firms. 

All of these are effective and achieved positive results.

And they can be used as starting points or a reference of how to improve content for your own investment firm.

1. Creating Press Releases to Gain High-Quality Backlinks - Blackstone

Gone are the days when people found out news by listening to the radio or via print media. Now people get breaking news notifications on their smartphones. And can find out what is happening anywhere in the world from a device the size of their hand. 

Of course, news stories can come from anywhere – social media posts, story submissions, and press releases. 

In fact, 54% of journalists in the UK say that press releases are still their most trusted source of information. They trust the fact that press releases are written by professionals. As such, are considered a useful and valuable source of information. 

Surprisingly, 100% of journalists say their number one method for finding stories is through press releases. Which means journalists will look out for them or follow a website that creates regular press releases. They then use these as a source of information for their stories and articles. 

For investment banking firms, it’s worth creating press releases when there’s some new information. For instance, new large investments, mergers, acquisitions, or other newsworthy stories. 

Let’s take a look at the large firm Blackstone

Blackstone has been producing press releases and publishing them on its website since 2000. 

As a result, they have honed a hybrid content-PR strategy for gaining backlinks.

screenshot of blackstones press release page content marketing investment banking

And the press release page even has a direct link at the top for people to sign-up to. So that they can receive email notifications of new releases. 

Journalists or news publications, or even those just interested in following the company, will sign-up. As a result, they’ll be first to know about any new press releases published by Blackstone. 

And it’s clearly working. As these press releases have been picked up by a large number of news publications and other websites. 

The firm has created press releases around the following industry sectors:

  •  Acquisitions
  •  Company general reports
  •  Employee news
  •  Any news about the companies investments
  •  Business sales
  •  Any partnerships
  •  Other business news

When one of these is picked up, a publication will create their own article around Blackstone’s original press release. 

Then, they will hyperlink back to the firm’s website in their news article. Thus providing Blackstone with a valuable backlink showing Google that Blackstone’s website is trustworthy. As well as a good source of valuable information. 

As a result, this will then help indicate to search engines to rank them higher in search results. 

The press release section of Blackstone’s website has earned 1,100 backlinks. From 389 referring domains, including a variety of high domain authority (DA) websites

list of referring domain backlinks for blackstones

These backlinks have been gained from:

  •  The Guardian – DA 87
  •  NY Times – DA 87
  •  Business Insider – DA 84
  •  Bloomberg – DA 84
  •  CNBC – DA 83
  •  EY – DA 76

Overall, press releases have helped Blackstone gain a total of 165,000 backlinks from 8,200 referring domains. 

And 47% of these backlinks have a DA of over 41. As such, they have helped Blackstone gain a DA of 59. 

domain rating by domain authority scores

They have also helped Blackstone gain high rankings in search engine results. 

Simply, the more backlinks your firm has from high domain authority sites, the higher your keywords and results will appear in search engines. 

And the results speak for themselves:

graph of blackstones traffic and keywords

This offers great credibility for the firm. Blackstone’s is winning the game with this method.

Look what this has also done for their growth:

graph showing blackstones traffic

This strategy has proven to be a perfect way for the firm to receive valuable backlinks. As well as providing them with the opportunity to become a source of knowledge. 

And it has worked, here are some of the keywords they rank for: 

  •  Real estate investment fund prospectus
  •  Hedge fund solutions group
  •  Private real estate investment firm 
  •  Hedge fund website
  •  Private equity firms
  •  Real estate investment companies
  •  Hedge fund investors
  •  Private equity fund
  •  What is a private equity firm

Overall, Blackstone is a great example of content marketing for investment banking firms.

2. Creating Detailed Reports as Downloadable Content - Houlihan Lokey

Downloadable content can be in the form of pdf downloads or in other downloadable formats. 

Many businesses create downloadable content in the form of ebooks, detailed reports, ultimate guides, or webinars. 

And many companies offer this content in return for email addresses. Where you have to input your email address and information into a form to be able to download the file. 

This is a great way to gain email addresses for mailing lists. In addition, it is another way of getting your information out there to the public. 

For example, say you publish an ebook. This ebook could have your logo, contact information, and branding on every single page. Ultimately, this helps with brand awareness. And, if someone uses or finds your downloadable file interesting they will be more likely to look for your company as a source of information in the future. Or share your content on social media.  

As such, this is a great way to use content marketing for investment banking to its full potential. 

One investment banking firm using detailed reports as downloadable content is Houlihan Lokey

This firm has downloadable content in the form of reports. These reports are on a variety of subjects including:

  •  Legal Technology Market
  •  Chemicals Industry
  •  European New Money Funding
  •  Power and Utilities Market
  •  Insurance Technology 
  •  Digital Media
  •  Monthly Market updates in different sectors
  •  Transition Insights
  •  Environmental Services Sector
  •  Industry Updates
  •  Quarterly Updates

Houlihan Lokey’s downloadable reports are available through their insights section of their website. If you spend time browsing this section you will find heaps of detailed reports and content. 

These reports contain a lot of useful content too. For which many news outlets or research papers will use as a source of information. 

screenshot of the insights section of the website

In fact, the insights section of their website has 842 backlinks and ranks for 361 keywords.

Houlihan Lokey's website traffic and keyword rankings

Many of these keywords are ranked on the first page of Google too. And they have SERP features such as videos, image packs, featured snippets, “people also ask”, and site links.

Houlihan Lokey keywords and serp features

Downloadable content also allowed the website to receive 44,300 monthly views and domain authority of 48.

And the results speak for themselves:

graph showing traffic Houlihan Lokey's

Houlihan Lokey has established themselves as a knowledgeable firm by offering valuable downloadable content. This content is covered on every page with their branding. 

It also allows them to gain valuable backlinks and gain exposure to potential leads.

3. Creating Rich Insightful Content to Drive Traffic - Goldman Sachs

“Content is the reason search began in the first place.” – Lee Odden

We are surrounded by content everywhere we look on the internet. In fact, content has allowed search engines to become what they are today. 

Ultimately search engines exist to organise this content in order of importance. And in accordance with whatever the user decides to type in the search box. 

Google ranks content using over 200 factors, these include things like backlinks, SEO, keywords, and more. 

Every day, 27 million pieces of content are shared. With millions of pieces of content produced each day it’s no wonder, they had to create an algorithm to organise this content. 

Creating content is helping businesses thrive. With 86% of B2B marketers and 77% of B2C marketers acknowledging the importance of content marketing.

Not only do blog posts and content help businesses gain more traffic through keywords and search engine results. But they also help create brand awareness, loyalty, and trust. And 84% of marketers cite “brand awareness” as their most important content marketing goal

Blog posts and content can also lead to an increase in leads. B2B companies that have blogs generate 67% more leads per month than those that don’t. 

Of course, you will have no doubt heard of the investment banking firm Goldman Sachs

But did you know that they are creating ample amounts of content each and every day? You don’t have to be a detective to know that they are one of the biggest investment firms in the world. And a huge factor in this is content.

They have a section on their website called “insights”. If you take a look at this section you will find an abundance of content including:

Content marketing doesn’t get any better than this. And the variety of different types of content allow Goldman Sachs to gain a variety of backlinks. As well as lots of keywords ranking high in Google search results. 

screenshot of goldman sachs insights page content marketing investment banking

Of course, this is a lot of content for any firm. 

Goldman Sachs clearly has a dedicated marketing department which creates this content and publishes it daily. And it’s working!

The video content, webcasts, and webinars will help viewers to humanise the firm. Many top employees create and talk in these videos on a large variety of topics which include:

  •  Digitalisation
  •  COVID-19
  •  Carbonomics
  •  Racial Equality 
  •  Economic Outlook
  •  Regional Analysis
  •  China
  •  Women
  •  Markets
  •  Commodities
  •  Global Markets Institute
  •  Infographics
  •  Clean Tech & Renewables
  •  Europe
  •  Technology Driving Innovation
  •  Artificial Intelligence 
  •  Blockchain
  •  Cars
  •  Healthcare
  •  Sustainable Finance Innovation
  •  Science
  •  Builders and Innovators

These are some of the topics you can begin with or create content around. 

screenshot of the topics on goldman sachs website, example of content marketing for investment banking

All of this content is related to their business. But it also helps potential leads learn more about the global economy and investment banking.  

As such, this content helps to create brand awareness and trust. Also ensuring that the company establishes itself as a source of knowledge. 

The Goldman Sachs insights page has also been responsible for their website’s gain of extremely valuable backlinks. 

In fact, this one insights page has gained 112,900 backlinks from 31 referring domains. 

Google identifies these backlinks as valuable, adding credibility to the website. With every backlink aiding Goldman Sachs to gain higher search rankings. As well as increase its overall DA.  

goldman sachs referring domains from their insights page showing how content marketing for investment firms can boost DA

As a direct result, the website gains an average of 1,000 backlinks from referring domains every month.

As a direct result, the website gains an average of 1,000 backlinks from referring domains every month.

Overall, they have gained a total of 3.3 million backlinks from 33,700 referring domains. Naturally, this has given Goldman Sachs a domain authority of 70. This is the aim of every business!

As a result, this brings the firm millions in business and provides it with ample leads each month. 

Not only has it allowed their DA to increase. But these backlinks have also given the firm the ability to rank highly for specific keywords. 

With an average of 1.2million monthly website views. In addition to ranking for 230,500 keywords. Amazingly, 10,700 of these rank in the Top 3 Google search results.

goldman sachs traffic and keywords demonstrating the importance of content marketing for investment banking companies

This is a huge amount of potential leads for the firm, and great for all aspects of the business. 

Goldman Sachs has achieved what others only wish to with content marketing. This is the cream of the crop and something to strive for in your firm. Yet again, another perfect example of effective content marketing for investment banking firms. 

4. Using High Ranking Keywords to Drive Traffic - First Capital

Around 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Everything from searching for questions, brands, or small queries. Search results display products, videos, brand websites, blog posts, and more. 

Google ranks its results in order of what best matches your search query. And there are an estimated 3.5 billion searches conducted on Google every day. 

It’s no different for investment banking firms. As any queries, or questions people might have around the industry are typical Google searches. They could also be searching for your brand name or for more information about it.

You can use this to your advantage. By creating articles which answer peoples queries or questions. It presents an opportunity to rank highly for keywords associated with the industry too. 

For instance, you could create an article about the European economy or economic outlooks. And if you can create a piece of high-quality content, with high DA backlinks, and good SEO. Then, your articles and keywords will rank highly in search results. 

As a result, people will be able to find you on the first page of Google instead of the fifth or fiftieth. 

Search results are great referrals of traffic with over 53.3% of all website traffic coming from organic search. 

An example of an investment banking firm that uses high ranking keywords to drive traffic to their site is First Capital

First Capital has a section of their website called ‘Smarter Thinking’, where they showcase news articles, press releases, and other articles. 

One article entitled ‘Demystifying M&A: Cash Free, Debt Free’, currently ranks above and beyond in keyword searches. 

screenshot of first capital insights page

This one article receives more views than the firm’s homepage. In fact, the article receives 66.4% of the websites total monthly traffic. 

Whereas only 7.6% of the traffic goes to the homepage. Ultimately, this is an incredible result for a single blog post!

screenshot of traffic of first capital's website

This is partly due to the fact that it ranks for 114 keywords. And, of these, 14 are ranked in the Top 3 Google search results. 

In addition to this, they also have SERP features. For example, featured snippets, “people also ask”, reviews, and video carousels. 

first capital's ranking keywords

As such, this helps to drive traffic to the firm’s website. Which in turn, aids their SEO and enables them to rank higher in Google. 

Look at what this single article has done for First Capital’s website.

graph of traffic and keywords for first capital which shows how important content marketing for investment banking firms is

This is a fantastic example of the power of blog articles. And it highlights what good blog content can do for your investment banking firm. 

It only takes a few posts or in this case, one blog post to perform highly or rank high for keywords. And this will increase your traffic and boost your leads. 

Imagine what First Capital could achieve if they created more and more articles the same as this one. Undoubtedly, they would grow more than they could ever imagine, the potential for growth is endless. Because that’s what great content marketing can do.

5. Using Guest Blogging to Create High DA Backlinks - RFC Ambrian

An excellent way to gain credible and valuable backlinks is by guest blogging. 

Guest blogging is when one website hyperlinks to another. For example, you could create an article full of high-quality content. Another website finds this content you’ve created so useful that they write their own article based on yours. Then they include a link (hyperlink) back to your article as their reference point.

This is a great way to gain exposure from another website’s traffic and audience. 

You can even reach out or contact the third-party website and ask them if you can write a guest blog for them. Guest blogs can be gained from different blogs, journals, websites (which allow submissions), or even news publications. 

An investment banking firm that is utilising guest blogging to create backlinks and increase their rankings is RFC Ambrian

On their website, RFC Ambrian has a news section full of news articles, webcasts, and publications. 

RFC Ambrian has been using guest blogs to create credibility for their firm. As a result, they have gained 512 backlinks from 89 referring domains. 

An example of one of these guests blogs is a backlink from Proactive Investors.

screenshot of an article written by RFC Ambrian for content marketing investment banking list

This guest blog has gained RFC Ambrian a backlink from Proactive Investors which has a DA of 61.

screenshot of backlinks from referring domains RFC Ambrian

In addition, RFC Ambrian has also gained another guest blog from Proactive Investors. But this time from their UK site (DA 62) which has given them another backlink.

screenshot of backlinks from referring domains RFC Ambrian

In fact, they have been gaining backlinks at a rate of three new backlinks a month.

screenshot of a graph of referring domains from RFC Ambrian demonstrating effectiveness of great content marketing for investment banking firms

And the results speak for themselves:

RFC Ambrian graph of traffic and keywords showing effect of content marketing for investment banking firms

Overall, these backlinks have resulted in RFC Ambrian achieving a DA of 25 and to rank for 123 keywords. 

As a result, the firm gains traffic and exposure to Proactive Investors USA’s 52,000 monthly viewers. In addition to the other backlinks, they have gained. 

This will help to ensure that RFC Ambrian will gain high ranking keywords. And in time will increase their monthly traffic resulting in new leads. Why not use the power of guest blogging to grow your own firm’s natural backlink profile?

6. Creating a Network and Driving Traffic Through Social Media - J.P Morgan

Social media is ideal for communicating with friends or family, catching up on news, and discovering new brands. 

Or just simply being inspired to visit a cafe that you saw on social media. After all, over 75% of people visit at least once social media channel a day. 

Not only is social media a good social tool it is also highly beneficial for businesses too. 

But why would your investment banking business need to bother with social media?

Well, the long and short of it is distribution. As many as 94% of marketers use social media for content distribution. And well 94% is the majority of marketers!

Those marketers understand that over 32% of consumers check out a brand’s social media presence before checking out their website

And this has become the social norm. Social media apps on people’s phones mean that they don’t even have to open an internet browser. 

Still, you might be thinking “that might be true but what has it got to do with investment banking?”. 

Well, for one, have you heard of an investment banking firm called J.P Morgan, of course, you have. 

Of course, they are a huge company and benefit from being widely known. 

However, they have gone over and beyond with social media. On their combined social media channels (YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn) they have well over 3.2 million followers. 

In addition, they understand the nuances between the channels. As a result, they are utilising each platform in different ways. They tweak and slightly alter content to appeal to that specific channel’s audience. 

For example, their YouTube channel has 56,800 subscribers. As such, they use it to showcase videos from 1 minute 25 seconds long to 30 or 40 minutes. 

screenshot of youtube page jp morgan example of content marketing for investment banking firms

But where their social media really shines is on LinkedIn. In fact, this channel is a great way to showcase videos and B2B marketing with hyperlinks back to websites. 

Let’s take this video below, for example, it has been viewed 3,813 times and received numerous likes and reactions. This provides social proof for the firm and the video is exposed to the 2.4 million LinkedIn followers they have.

screenshot of JP Morgan's linkedin page highlighting importance of content marketing for investment banking firms

J.P Morgan has been using its variety of social media channels to showcase videos, link to articles, publish infographics, share other companies’ articles, post images, and even conduct polls for research. 

Just look at how many votes this poll has received:

a poll on JP Morgan's linkedin page content marketing investment banking

And, a poll is a great way to mine for content ideas. For example, poll results can be used for another piece of content, to create a report or infographic. 

Social media has given J.P Morgan an average of 45,500 monthly views. Put simply, their website was clicked on 45,500 times from social media channels alone. 

a graph showing the traffic from JP morgan's social media pages to website

Therefore proving that social media is a great driver of traffic. One which can create social proof and improve brand awareness. 

Although that being said, social media is dependent on your target audience. So this is where you should focus your attention. For example, Instagram is less beneficial for an investment banking firm than LinkedIn is. 

LinkedIn is the ideal starting point to build a social media strategy for an investment banking firm. Social media provides ample opportunities and is an easy first step in terms of content marketing for investment banking firms.

7. Video Content to Create a Human Brand - Growth Point

When was the last time you watched a video online?

Chances are high that you have watched some sort of video today. Whether it was an Instagram story or video, YouTube video, or any other video on social media. 

In fact, videos are taking the internet by storm. With views increasing exponentially each month.

Even businesses are getting on the video bandwagon. And 80% of video marketers claim that video has directly increased sales, it’s worth investing in. 

But it’s not only marketers who are noticing the success of videos. Because 84% of people say that they’ve been convinced by a video to buy a product or service.

Videos are a great form of marketing and can be made by reusing or utilising other forms of content. And 92% of marketers make videos with existing assets they already have. 

Growth Point is a Technology Investment Banking firm that has videos displayed front and centre on its website. 

On the Growth Point homepage, at the top of the page before any other information is a video. This video contains employees talking about the history of the firm.

growth point's homepage with a video in the header, this is a great way to use content marketing for investment banking firms

Naturally, this video can be seen by everyone who lands on their homepage. Which instantly gives viewers a sense of humanisation behind the brand. By showcasing the people behind the brand Growth Point are creating an immediate connection with their audience. 

They also have a rolling section on their homepage. Each section contains a different video of someone who has worked with the firm. And these act as video reviews, highlighting positive experiences of employees. As a result, site visitors will trust what they are saying because they are being told by actual people. 

Naturally, people are more likely to work with a brand after hearing or seeing a positive in-person review. 

And these videos on the firm’s homepage do just that. 

screenshot of video review for growth point example of content marketing investment banking

Growth Point’s homepage receives 99.8% of the website’s traffic. Basically, this means everyone who clicks on the firm’s homepage has the ability to watch the introductory video. And for those who explore the page further, the option to watch more reviews.

screenshot of traffic to growth points website

Instead of just long text, they have used the video content to engage visitors. Therefore, instantly connecting to the viewer and bringing it to life. 

These homepage videos have helped Growth Point grow and gain traction, increasing keyword growth. In turn, this has aided their search engine rankings.

graphs showing growth points keywords and traffic

Not bad for a website which has only been around for half a year!

Video content has helped Growth Point rank for 142 keywords, 5 of which ranking in the Top 3 on Google. 

Growth Point utilises videos to make the brand come alive. Video content allows your firm and brand to become human. And after all, humans like interacting with other humans. 

Not to mention, video content also allows for an easy explanation of complex issues. In addition, leading to an increase in consumer trust and gaining credibility.

8. Using Podcasts to Communicate and Gain Backlinks - Morgan Stanley

Podcasts have become one of the more popular forms of content over recent years. With 32% of Americans listening to podcasts at least once a month. However, its popularity has also surged worldwide. 

Podcasts come in a variety of forms too. From celebrities or industry experts explaining or informing the listeners on a topic to talk shows and radio style plays. 

And the way people listen is varied. Some will listen to podcasts every day in their work commute, in their car, or while working. People will subscribe to podcasts they enjoy, to follow and wait for the next episode. 

Overall, podcast listeners listen to around seven podcasts on average each week. With the most popular type being entertainment podcasts, closely followed by comedy and then talk shows. 

Many marketers and businesses have utilised podcasts to talk about topics in their industry. Or even as a form of advertising. 

And they’re a great way to establish trust and build brand loyalty and community. If you have a podcast which contains useful information listeners will gain trust in your expertise. 

Morgan Stanley is one of the few investment banking firms using podcasts in its content marketing strategy. 

They have a podcast called “Thoughts on the Market”.

screenshot of the thought market podcast on morgan stanley's website example of content marketing investment banking

It offers short, thoughtful podcasts (up to 15-minutes in length) on recent events within the market. And features Morgan Stanley employees who are experts in the industry. These short-form podcasts let users listen to and take in the information in bite-sized chunks. 

Plus, they’re widely available to download on big podcast platforms including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Thus, giving them millions of potential worldwide listeners. 

Morgan Stanley’s podcasts have received mainly positive reviews with a rating of 4.9 stars on Apple Podcasts. 

As such, this will improve the firm’s brand awareness even more. But even more desirable are the valuable backlinks the brand is receiving as a result of these podcasts. 

Morgan Stanley has received 133 backlinks from 12 referring domains on their “Thoughts on the Market” insights page.

referring domains morgan stanley has gain from its podcast

These backlinks have DAs as high as 91! With half of the referring domains having a DA of 40 or above. This is great for improving the firm’s own DA.  Allowing their keywords to rank higher in Google. 

In fact, Morgan Stanley has been gaining backlinks at an alarming rate. With over 100,000 new backlinks a month from at least 800 referring domains. 

These results are incredible!

graph of the amount of backlinks morgn stanley has gained each month

They have a total of 2.9 million backlinks from 28,800 referring domains. This has allowed them to gain a DA of 71. 

Look at what these backlinks have done for their keyword rankings:

graph of morgan stanley's traffic and keywords showing the effectiveness of content marketing for investment banking

As a result, their traffic has increased to 1.2 million monthly views.

graph showing moragn stanley traffic growth demonstrating what content marketing for investment banking firms can do

Clearly, podcasts have been working for Morgan Stanley. As they have created two additional podcasts called – Morgan Stanley Ideas Podcast and Access & Opportunity with Carla Harris (Vice-Chairman). 

As a result, podcasting raises Morgan Stanley up as a valuable source of knowledge in the investment banking world.

This example demonstrates why content marketing for investment banking firms can be much more than just written content.

9. Creating Infographics to Showcase Information and Gain Backlinks - Barclays

Infographics are a great way of creating content through images, graphics, graphs, and text. 

And, they can be created from new content or repurposed from other text-based content. 

In addition, people are 30x more likely to read and take in an infographic than a full article. So this type of content marketing is a great way to visually display your information. 

They are highly shareable and attract a large number of backlinks. In fact, articles containing infographics receive 178% more links than a standard article. 

Infographics can also help boost traffic to your site by up to 12% thanks to being highly shareable on social media channels and in Google images. 

Although this is all true, infographics take time to produce. And many companies outsource them to graphic designers or other freelancers. 

Despite this, over 65% of brands use infographics in their content marketing efforts, especially within B2B marketing. Because they can be shared easily on LinkedIn or other social media channels. 

Barclays has identified the importance of infographics. As such, it uses them to showcase research reports and information in a creative, visual way. 

They have an abundance of infographics on the insights area of their website too. 

So, let’s examine one of their infographics entitled: “Water and Oil and Gas – Finding the Right Mix”.

If you take time to look through the infographic you will find an abundance of information including:

  •  Text
  •  Maps
  •  Flow Charts
  •  Images
  •  Diagrams
  •  Easy to Read Statistics 

screenshot of an infographic by barclays example content marketing investment banking

This single infographic from Barclays has given them 18 backlinks from 13 referring domains. 

Many of these backlinks are from high DA websites too. Thus, allowing Barclays to achieve higher rankings in search engine results.

referring domains barclays infographic has gained

And this infographic page also ranks for 12 keywords and is gaining its own traffic.

a graph showing the traffic to barclays infographic page demonstrating great results of content marketing for investment banking firms

A great result from just one of their infographics!

Their infographics are located on Barclay’s subdomain for the investment banking area of the company. 

Overall, this subdomain has its own DA of 64. This is due to its 58,000 backlinks from 1,900 referring domains. 

In addition, it also ranks for 12,300 keywords. Of which, over 900 of them appear in the Top 3 Google search results.

a graph showing the traffic and keyword rankings for barclays website demonstrating effective content marketing for investment banking firms

Take a look at what this has done for their subdomains traffic and growth:

a graph showing barclays traffic and growth

Barclays are using infographics to gain high ranking keywords in addition to gaining highly valuable backlinks. 

If you need some inspiration for content, look to an existing blog post on your website and think about how you could transform it. Because infographics are excellent and are alternate ways to create content. 

Infographics easily summarise detailed report results or complicated research in an easy to read visual way. So, why not take a leaf out of Barclays’ book? Used well, an infographic can provide effective content marketing for investment banking firms.

10. Using Email Marketing to Create a Mailing List and Drive Traffic - GP Bullhound

Email sign-ups and mailing lists are incredibly common, but there’s no denying their effectiveness.

Every time you make a purchase or create an account with a company. Or simply enter a competition or opt to voluntarily sign-up. By doing one or all of these things, you are providing a company with your email address. 

Sometimes, they may then send you weekly email newsletters. Or perhaps even daily information, industry news, insights, discounts, or notices of events. 

Over the past few years, email marketing has become more valuable with companies understanding the value of having mailing lists. With an excess of 74 trillion emails being sent per year. 

Every mailing list subscriber will receive your email and will either:

  •   Read its contents
  •   Click on a link to the company’s website to find out more 
  •   Delete the email – sometimes without even reading it

That said, email is a customer’s preferred way of being contacted. 

And roughly 80% of marketers have reported an increase in email engagement over the past 12 months. With more and business recognising its importance and value in gaining potential clients and keeping existing clients. 

The investment banking firm GP Bullhound has recognised the importance of email marketing. 

They have added a section on their homepage where visitors are able to input their email address. In return, they receive insights on global research, reports, or other industry news.

image of a email subscription on GP Bullhound website example of content marketing investment banking

Everyone who visits their homepage has this opportunity to sign-up and join the mailing list. Which is great if they are interested in finding out more at a later date. These people are now potential clients. Thus, create leads for the firm. 

If you don’t have a place to sign-up to your mailing list on your homepage then you are missing out on all these potential clients. As a result, it could cost you large amounts of money. 

GP Bullhound’s homepage receives 61.7% of their total traffic. And all these visitors can opt to sign-up if they wish.

screenshot of the amount of traffic gp bullhound

Email sign-ups throughout the website encourages visitors to join. However, sometimes you can offer more. For instance, your firm could also offer a piece of downloadable content in the form of a report. Or possibly offer a research piece in return for subscribing to your mailing list. 

In addition to email sign-up, GP Bullhound also has a pop-up sign-up box which appears on specific pages of their website too. For instance, on the insights page. This means that even those who don’t sign-up on the homepage have the ability to do so throughout the website.

Mailing lists are also great ways to get content out there to your followers, with the ability to link to your website or a specific article. This will in turn help increase traffic to your site.

graph showing GP Bullhound's growth over time example of how content marketing for investment banking can get results

Email marketing can also help to build relationships with your clients. 

So when they want to use an investment banking firm in future, they will think of your firm first. They’ll think of your firm over competitors because they have built a trusting relationship with you. 

Email marketing has helped GP Bullhound achieve a DA of 47 in addition to 5,700 monthly average views. As such, it’s a content marketing strategy that gets results. And is an exmaple of great content marketing for investment banking firms in particular. 

Summary

There are ample ways you can approach content marketing for investment banking firms. In this article, we have showcased just 10 of those ways. But there are plenty more examples out there and this article scratches the surface. 

Even with just these 10 examples, you can see how beneficial content marketing is. And for these investment banking firms all using different content marketing strategies. As illustrated, content marketing can help you to gain traffic and rank highly in search engine results. As well as gaining clients trust, all the while being a great source of knowledge. 

In fact, they are gaining more traffic and more leads than other investment. But it’s not too late to start, you can start thinking about introducing content into your firm’s marketing strategy. 

And considering 70% of the investment firms we looked out had little to no content marketing in place, there is a huge opportunity. Especially for a smaller boutique firm to breakthrough and make a dent in the industry.

You Can Work With a Marketing Consultancy to Help you Create a Content Marketing Strategy

Content marketing can look like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. With the help of a marketing consultancy, you can start seeing the results quickly. 

We run website analysis reports to identify where companies currently are and to find out exactly what it takes for brands to have impactful growth online. 

We also conduct competitor analysis, to advise you on the best strategy needed to help you achieve your goals online. 

So why not contact us today for an obligation-free chat. And discover exactly what we can do to take your investment firm to the next level.

About Murray Dare

Murray Dare is a Marketing Consultant, Strategist and Director at Dare Media. Murray helps UK businesses find better ways to connect with their audiences through targeted content marketing strategies.