Financial writing can be tricky to get to grips with. It can be technical, and is held to high regulatory standards. Under these sorts of circumstances, it can be difficult for businesses to communicate effectively – whether it be to share information or demonstrate value. As experts in financial writing, we know just how delicate a balancing act writing for the financial services sector can be. But what exactly does good financial writing look like?
Why is financial copywriting so complicated?
Financial writing can fall victim to experts speaking in their own complex language.
The world of financial content writing can often seem deliberately confusing and complex, with even relatively simple messages overloaded with stats and jargon.
Part of the challenge is down to the purpose of financial writing. Often, content will be shared to convey numbers, figures and trends to investors and regulators, as well as employees, consumers and NGOs. Ensuring all the data is covered can end up steering financial copywriting more towards the nuts-and-bolts presentation of metrics, rather than crafting a compelling narrative.
Equally, financial writing can fall victim to experts speaking in their own complex language. Finance is inherently complicated, occupied by specialists who have an in-depth knowledge of their service area. So while the content they write demonstrates their own expertise, it doesn’t make it any easier for the rest of us to understand.
What does good look like?
At Stratton Craig, we work with financial businesses the world over. And from annual reports to thought leadership, we know just how to balance the science and the art of financial communications – even as stakeholder expectations continue to shift. But don’t just take our word for it. Here are four pieces of our financial copywriting that show the power of effectively written financial content.
1. Swiss Life
Often the missing piece in financial content writing is an overarching message – something that ties a business to the lives and ambitions of real people. For Swiss Life the glue that holds their global footprint together is their concept of the Self-Determined Life. Swiss Life provides the tools and strategies that its clients – and the generations that follow them – need to live with financial confidence and security. It’s a simple, powerful idea, and one that runs throughout Swiss Life’s thought leadership content and blogs.
- Financial self-determination is a fundamental need
- Money and mindset: how we can manage our money better
- Financial knowledge affords you more self-determination
2. B by Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank
B is an app-based digital banking service offered by CYBG, which has a distinct brand personality from its sister brands Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank. To demonstrate its distinct identity as a practical money management business, its blog focuses on handy money tips and tricks that appeal to its audience’s needs, like how to plan hen and stag-dos without bankrupting yourself, or how to avoid letting DIY costs spiral out of control. All of which has helped it mark itself as a unique prospect in a crowded space.
3. Castik sustainability report
Corporate reports often take the crown as being the most important – and challenging – forms of communications that financial businesses need to produce. From annual reports to sustainability reports and everything in between, these large, cyclical projects can be particularly tricky for businesses that are new to reporting, or those with complex operations spanning multiple markets.
Castik, a private equity firm with investments across Europe and the US, is a great example. Embarking on its first ESG report, it needed an experienced sustainability report writing partner with the know-how to guide it through the complexities of sustainability reporting for its entire investment portfolio. The result? After successfully writing and launching its inaugural report, we’re now Castik’s dedicated sustainability writing partner and continue to work with the firm to tell its evolving sustainability story.
4. CBRE Investment Management
Demonstrating leadership in any given space isn’t just about having a strong proposition. Businesses need to show, not tell, their knowledge and deep understanding of the sub-sector they occupy. With over £10 billion in assets under management, CBRE Investment Management is one of the leading real asset investors in the world. To better showcase its rigorous understanding of its market, it needed help producing an array of thought leadership white papers on topics from the future of the office to investment overviews of US real estate. With multiple investment writing specialists in the team, Stratton Craig was on hand to help and has successfully written a range of thought leadership whitepapers that spotlight CBRE as an investor of choice.
The final word
Want to cut through the noise with comms rooted in clarity? Get in touch with our financial writing experts, and find out how we can help.
