Many advisors are hesitant to use social media. If not for compliance concerns, the lack of time to learn and maintain social accounts while running a practice deters them from using it. Some advisors opt to use automated tools that post canned content for them. This saves time, but the posts are typically bland and uninspiring.
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If you want to use social media in a more personalized way, but not waste valuable time, here are some basic tips on how to succeed.
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How to succeed at social media without wasting valuable time:
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- Set a Goal:
What do you want to accomplish by using social media? Clearly define your goals and how you plan to measure them. Are you looking to increase brand awareness, website traffic, grow your email list, etc? Clear goals will help you determine the type of content you should publish and on what platform.
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- Know Your Audience:
Who are you trying to reach and which social media platform is the best to reach them? This will help you determine where you should spend time (see the platform overview at the end of this article). Once you get started, check the analytics of your page to see if you are attracting the right audience. On Facebook, you can even look at when your users are online to best determine what times of the day you should post.
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- Keep it Short:
Lengthy content should be on you website, not in a social media post. Keep your posts short and to the point.
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- Make it Interesting:
An image or graphic will highlight your content better and increase the chance that your audience will read, like or share your post.
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- Mix it Up:
Try to balance educational finance topics with inspirational posts. Informational content brings value to your followers and will increase your credibility. But people love to share inspirational images and quotes, and these tend to get more likes and shares.
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- Trust the Source:
One of the easier ways to stay active on social media is to find and share content already published. Just make sure it is a known and trusted source, not just your neighbor Bob’s opinion blog.
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- Be Social:
Remember to interact with others, not just push your content to others. Share articles, follow people and companies, and then like their posts so you can participate in the social aspect. This is the online version of networking, so incorporate some give and take. I pick up new page views and followers each time I spend 5 minutes liking other people’s posts.
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- Make Compliance Your BFF:
You will save yourself a lot of time (and potential frustration) if you become familiar with any compliance restrictions your firm may have. Knowing the compliance policy up-front is the best way to assure success with social media. Even with restrictions, there are many creative ways to utilize social media and remain compliant.
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- Learn From It:
Monitor how your posts are doing so you can better serve your audience. Are certain topics or posts better liked and shared? Give them more of what they like!
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- Measure It:
What goals did you establish in the beginning? Make sure to measure how you are hitting your KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). You may need to adjust your approach if the results aren’t measuring up.
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Social media can be a great tool to reach a wider audience and to reinforce your value with clients. If this still sounds like too much, you can always choose a marketing partner to handle your social media presence for you.
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Happy tweeting and posting!
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OUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM OVERVIEW:
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Where should you spend your time online? Here is our brief overview on the three most popular sites for financial advisors.
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LinkedIn is known as the professional social media platform. According to LinkedIn, 20% of connections change jobs so this is a great way to be aware of your clients’ moving assets. This is a great place to access your target audience. You can sponsor your content and select industries, titles, cities, etc., that you want to target. Three out of five advisors using LinkedIn say they gain new clients from it. Many people will feel more comfortable connecting on LinkedIn rather than on Facebook.
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Facebook is a great place to market to the general consumer. You would be surprised by how many people are on Facebook and how often they check it. I’ve had advisors say Facebook is the best way to communicate with clients and inform them of events or announce when they will be visiting their workplace. Facebook is also a good site for your personal friends and contacts to get familiar with what you do. Remember to set up a business page and ask for likes there. Trying to ‘friend’ a prospect or client can been seen as invasive and too personal.
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Twitter is a great place to interact with other businesses and to find informative articles that may interest your audience. Connecting with prospects isn’t the primary goal on this platform. Many advisors share industry insights and initiate discussions with fellow advisors on Twitter. Utilizing a trending hashtag in your tweet allows you to gather a lot of views on this platform.
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Advisor Expressions is the marketing partner for successful financial professionals who need a dependable and consistent way to increase market share and enhance client experience. When you work with Advisor Expressions, you have a seasoned financial and marketing professional craft and maintain a marketing strategy to fit your practice’s needs. Contact us for a complimentary assessment of opportunities for client retention and growth in your business.
