If you’re a financial advisor who is curious about the impact social media can have upon your marketing strategy, congratulations! You’re catching onto something big. But as you venture into this completely new territory, you may have some questions about how to start your social media campaign.
The following are some frequently asked questions from financial advisors, along with our answers.
How do I get started?
Start by observing other financial advisors on social media. Notice what they do that seems to be effective, as well as things that could potentially be mistakes. Become familiar with how social media works. Your strategy should be unique, but you will develop it by making choices in the following areas:
- Choose a social media platform that is appropriate for your needs (LinkedIn, Facebook, etc)
- Choose between using your firm’s name or your own name
- Decide upon a schedule for posting on social media
- Analyze the needs and interests of your audience
- Observe content that appears to be effective
- Develop blogs or videos that are relevant to your audience, and which competes with the effective content you have observed
Remember that all of the above decisions have a clear end goal: to create a public identity for you or your firm. So choose carefully!
Is it compliant?
Financial advisors do indeed need to make sure their social media presence is compliant. Luckily, it’s not that difficult to make sure your posts are compliant.
First, contact your current compliance provider and inquire whether they also have a social media program. There is a good chance they can step in and manage this for you.
The other thing you have to do is update your supervisory procedures. Develop clear protocol concerning:
- who is allowed access your social media profile
- who is allowed to post on your behalf (or on the firm’s behalf)
- review and approval process for all posts
- archival of all social media material
When will I see result?
Before trying to gauge your results, it’s important to keep your actual goal in mind. Yes, you may see a number of “likes” and “shares” from your posts, but likes and shares are not your actual goal.
Your goal is to grow a presence, make contacts, nourish relationships, and establish yourself as a trusted authority. Proof that you are meeting these goals is difficult to see in concrete, tangible results – at least at first. But over time you will notice an increase in the number of people who reach out to you with questions and concerns, more business coming your way, and a greater number of referrals who convert into clients.