10 Critical Social Media Tips for Advisers
May 7, 2012 3:55 PM
10 Social Media Tips Advisors Must Consider<br><br>
Advisors want to use social media, but many remain overwhelmed about where to start and how to succeed. Matthew Halloran, one of the industry's top advisor coaches, offers some simple solutions. Join him as he uncover how producers can use social media and digital marketing to grow their businesses confidently, compliantly and conveniently.
1. Social Media is Not a Passing Fad<br><br>
I have been on social media for the past eight years. MySpace was started in 2003, Facebook 2004, and Twitter 2006. This is a dogs age in the world of technology. This is the way marketing is headed. I have never found an advisor who did not love a new marketing idea. This is not that new, but it is unchartered waters for most financial services professionals. Be one of the first ones with a compliance friendly presence. You will be glad you did.
2. You Are Already Losing Business<br><br>
I am sorry to say but, if you are not present in the social media world you are losing business. The largest growth demographic on Facebook is women over 65. Two hundred million people are using social media, and they are generally wealthy and educated young adults. This is a perfect pipeline for you to grow your business for years to come.
3. Get Comfortable with the Big Three<br><br>
You need to have a presence on LinkedIn (especially if you are a B to B advisor), Facebook and Twitter. You can get on Google+ and Pinterest later. For consumers, one out of every eight minutes online is spent on a social media site.
4. Google Yourself<br><br>
There are 1.123 million monthly searches for financial advisor(s) according to Google. But the bigger question is: Are you showing up on the first two pages? If you are not using fresh new content that is properly tagged you are not coming up. Google is very picky about who gets on that first page. You need to have all of the components that they are looking for so you are on that first two pages. If you do not show up there, you dont exist in a prospects mind.
5. Practice With Your Account First<br><br>
Begin by getting comfortable with the Big Three, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, with your own accounts. Do not try to connect with clients right away. Begin by connecting with old friends, mentors or role-models and see what they are doing with their social media accounts. The best way to learn social media is by watching others and then emulating their best practices.
6. Be Useful<br><br>
No one care if you are eating a sandwich! Post meaningful and useful information. Yes, your old high school friends and family might post more personal things, but you should not. Post about what is going on in your world, share articles or research you think is important and informative. You are a professional; always act like one on your social media sites.
7. Be Careful<br><br>
Since the advent of social media, things have gotten quite sticky when it comes to compliance. If you are old enough to remember how resistant compliance departments were to email, this is the same battle, but it is moving much faster. Advisors have told me that it took years before they were able to confidently use email. Social media is available to you now, just make sure you are running everything through your compliance department. Most BDs have pretty good guidelines for the use of social media.
8. Outsource<br><br>
Social media can be a black hole. You can get easily get lost replying to posts, following threads and watching one YouTube clip after another. Remember: You should never spend more than a half an hours each day marketing and messaging on social media. Outsourcing to a specialized company can make all the difference when it comes to time management. When selecting an outsourcer, keep the three Cs in mind. The company needs to give you confidence, be compliant and be convenient.
9. Expand Your Footprint<br><br>
It is very inexpensive to use pay-per-click services on social media sites to expand your audience. I spent $179 on a LinkedIn ad and it got my brand and message out to 200,000 producers, agents, and advisors. It also generated about $15,000 worth of business for my company. Your return on investment is phenomenal.
10. Marketing has Changed<br><br>
You need to put your message in front of your clients and prospective clients in the medium in which they like to interact with. You need to offer them a way for them to comment, like or share that message. Marketing in the past always was yelling a message at you, now your clients and prospects can yell back. This is a great thing that allows you to get real time feedback and questions from clients and prospects.
