Zanran Searches Can Reveal The Data Buried On Your Site

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For as much as we’re all focusing on social media and the potential for it, Search is still the most powerful way for mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) companies to meet new people and for them to discover what you have to say.

And yet, as I’ve lamented on many occasions, most asset manager content is far down in the search engine rankings. At this point, your chances for overtaking keyword-aware search engine-optimized Websites on page 1 of Google’s results are slim (unless, of course, you start being social but don’t get me started, not in this post).

Asset managers’ poor showing for non-branded keyword searches in search engine rankings is tragic to me because I know the depth and quality of the content that you publish on your sites.
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A Look At PIMCO's Content-Dense Mobile App

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PIMCO’s release this week of an iPhone/iPad mobile app is among the first (if not the first) non-transactional mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) apps.

Most of the few investment company apps are product and data-based and, as such, may have limited value to non-account-holders. Given the firm’s status as a bona fide investment thought leader, it makes sense that PIMCO would take the lead in developing a content app available to all comers—extending its reach and ostensibly using it as a customer acquisition as well as customer retention tool.
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When Data Tells The Story Better

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As can be seen in preschools around the country, there are degrees of sharing. The typical child is happy to “share” a toy that he has no interest in. Not a problem—enjoy! But what about the toy he’s playing with at that very moment? Ah, now that’s going to require some negotiation.

We see many forms of sharing online today, including up to and including the line where the sharing ends. For example, there’s the publisher that tweets a headline…with a link to its subscription page demanding payment in order to read more. On the other end of the spectrum are the companies that offer the use of their business data via an API.
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10 Examples Of Mutual Fund, ETF Content In The Wild

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Across the industry, there are plenty of signs that mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) marketers are increasingly packing up their content to go.

Social media represents all kinds of threats to the status quo of investment management marketing, but content syndication as a concept is not one of them. For years, money managers have made their strategists available for media appearances, bylined articles for others, and sponsored and distributed research findings. I throw my gentle jabs at those of you whose sites are largely archives of Adobe Acrobat files but even content distribution via .pdf is a form of syndication.
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Mutual Fund, ETF Communicators Spring Into Action After S&P Warns

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Standard & Poor’s Monday announcement of a negative credit outlook for the United States based on the budget deficit produced another drill for those responsible for timely and relevant investment thought leadership at mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) firms.

Investment strategists' appearances on financial television shows notwithstanding, rapid public response and interpretation has not been part of asset managers' culture. And, it doesn't come naturally to the way that many of you like to work—few of you have training or experience in or the disposition for breaking news. So, bravo to you for reshuffling priorities to hustle from the investment strategists or economists to Compliance to layout to the Web team to...
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