Thanks to the internet, the way people trade and conduct market research has drastically changed over the last 30 years. In the past, steep brokerage fees and a lack of real-time market insight made it difficult for novice traders to break into financial trading. Today, the ubiquity of online trading resources and the sophistication of digital trading and payment networks have made it possible for individuals of all backgrounds and means to participate in the global marketplace and access information previously limited to large brokers and financial institutions.

The Role of Content in the Modern Buyer’s Journey

Across almost every industry, the internet has fundamentally transformed the way people make purchasing decisions. A whopping 81 percent of today’s consumers conduct online research before they purchase a new product. In an age where consumers are inundated with buying options and flush with information, creating helpful and engaging online content is the cheapest, quickest, and most effective way to gain influence with your target audience.

This is especially true with regard to more niche or complex industries like financial trading. Today, individual traders have a variety of online brokerages to choose from and an abundance of digital trading resources to use to inform their strategy. Because Forex trading is a technical and vast subject, creating useful and instructive content in the form of blog articles, pictures, and videos is vital to attract new traders, nurture trust, encourage engagement, and expand your Forex affiliate network. But what type of content should you leverage and what media should you use?

Using Content to Grow Your Affiliate Network

When you’re brainstorming what content to use to attract potential traders, it may help to recall your own buyer’s journey and the thought process that guided you to your current brokerage. If you became a trader in the last couple decades, chances are you began your buyer’s journey the same way that countless modern traders begin theirs—by typing specific keywords and questions into Google and navigating through relevant search results. Before you gained the insight, experience, and information you have now, what were your motivations and goals? What types of questions did you seek answers to? What factors informed your decision to trade Forex and what led you to choose the online brokerage you did? What advice or insight do you wish you learned earlier on in the process? By creating and sharing content that answers some of these fundamental “top of the funnel” questions, you’ll attract more organic leads and ensure that your content resonates with their needs and their position in the buyer’s journey.

As you decide on topics and content strategies, resist the temptation to focus too acutely on your brokerage or be long-winded in your delivery. Instead, offer potential traders useful and relevant information in a digestible format to aid comprehension and help guide their decision-making process. Doing so will enable you to reach a wider and more qualified audience and help you build strong relationships without overtly pushing a product or agenda. If a potential trader finds your content helpful, they’ll be more likely to continue to seek out your advice and ultimately become an affiliate of your chosen brokerage.

Along with novice traders, consider what other audiences you might want to target in your content strategy. If you’re incentivized to both grow your affiliate network and boost affiliate engagement, consider creating or sharing content that will help traders hone their strategies and get more out of their trading platforms after they’ve opened an account. Content that explains how to use different analytical indicators to inform a Forex trading strategy will empower affiliates to engage with the platform and get more out of their account, thus improving tech adoption, satisfaction, and trading consistency.

Why the Content Medium, Structure, and Sharing Platform Matter

As you create or leverage existing content to grow your affiliate network, don’t forget to consider the content medium you’ll use and the way you’ll share it. Social platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter offer free and easy ways to build connections and share links, thereby extending your reach and establishing your authority as a thought leader.

Keep in mind that different social platforms demand different posting formats in order to be effective. For example, Twitter posts are more likely to drive engagement if they’re concise, clever, and leverage hashtags. When it comes to Facebook, videos drive 135 percent greater organic traffic than photos. By tailoring your post and the content format to the platform in question, you’ll maximize your potential return.

Often, the quickest and clearest way to explain a complex topic is by using screenshots and videos. If you’re describing how to read or compare specific analytical trends, consider using free tools such as YouTube and Awesome Screenshot to take videos and pictures of your analytical dashboard to better illustrate your points and facilitate understanding. Not every Forex affiliate will have the time to consistently produce their own content. If you don’t have the time to commit to content creation, take advantage of your brokerage’s content repository and share relevant blog posts, e-books, videos, and other content that you find useful or interesting via your established social channels.

{{cta(‘f0448624-f655-453b-8ef7-e6d96877e7b5′,’justifycenter’)}}