Few people would be surprised that 70-80 percent of people research a company online before engaging or making a purchase and, as a result, most financial advisors know that their website is a crucial marketing tool because it is one of the first places prospects might go to begin their due diligence.
According to a 2020 Social Media Survey by Putnam, over 80 percent of advisors are now also using social media for business–and not just LinkedIn. 65 percent are using Facebook, 57 percent report using Twitter and over 50 percent reported using YouTube.
There is a good reason why. Statista reports that the average time Americans spend with digital media each day is now 482 minutes (over 8 hours per day!), which is an increase of over 200% since 2011. And A recent Harris Poll, on behalf of Sprout Social, reports that no generation is immune, with high levels of adoption and usage across ALL age groups.
While the statistics seem to support finding a way to capitalize on the continued growth of social media to reach clients and prospects, even teams with a social media manager can be overwhelmed by the time and effort required to navigate new channels and create compelling content. Here are a few tips, regardless of the size and stage of your practice:
Make your presence deliberate: once you clearly define your target market, you can assess where they spend the most time and start there. If retirees are on social media, for example, they are most likely to use Facebook, while Generation Z, which is now entering the workforce, is more likely to use other platforms like Tiktok and Instagram.
Make your presence consistent: a surefire way to turn off prospective clients is to confuse them. A modern, professional and highly personalized social feed, backed up by an arcane, clunky and generic website leaves a client wondering how reliable they can expect the client experience to be. Likewise, social posts that suggest deep work with medical professionals, but a website that only talks about corporate retirees has the potential to alienate both groups. Consistency in style, brand, tone and target audience displays consistency and thus builds both client confidence and advisor credibility.
Quality over quantity: both in terms of channels and content, many gurus suggest that frequency and consistency are required and that the same content should be posted across channels to create a broader presence. When it comes to content, the reality is that nothing is almost always better than canned or irrelevant content, even a small amount of tailored, custom content is better than nothing, and a single message that lands will be far more effective than five pieces of generic content that get lost amongst the noise.
Personal over generic: the amount of content available to consumers today is staggering. One surefire way to ensure time spent on social media is largely wasted is to create generic content that lacks a personal voice. Effective marketing, social media included, requires what financial advisors (and every reputable dating app) have known all along: real connection only happens on a personal level–when communication enables more than a surface-level view and instead allows a client or prospect to get to know your unique personality and value proposition. If they can see that their values align with yours, they will be more willing to engage and test the potential for trust.
Christy Charise, Founder & CEO of Strategic Advisor www.strategicadvisor.co
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