Social media is one of the most effective ways to drive prospective clients back to your website and boost your lead generation, yet many advisors neglect this tool. In this post we go into why utilizing social media is a must for growing your business online, plus 3 effective ways to boost your lead generation through your platforms!
What makes social media an effective tool for online business growth? Your social platforms are free and effective channels to connect with and provide ongoing education and value to your clients and prospects, helping you build stronger relationships and shortening the overall sales cycle!(1) Impressively, 80% of advisors who use social media for their business reported receiving an average asset gain of $5 Million from new clients received from social media activity. (2)
Here are 3 Tips to Generate More Leads Through Social Media:
#1 Utilize Videos!
Video marketing has been on the rise in the last few years and shows NO signs of slowing down. By leveraging video in your social media strategy, you’ll have a greater chance of capturing your prospect’s attention, creating higher engagement, and extending the reach of your posts. To be exact, your audience is 2X as likely to share video content with their friends than any other type of content(2). Video posts on Facebook have 135% greater organic reach than photo posts(5).
Another powerful benefit of vidoes beyond engagement; the ability to boost viewers’ retention. Not only are your followers more likely to engage with video posts, but they will remember more of the content than from a still image. On average, a viewer can retain 95% of a message when they watch it, versus a 10% retention rate when a message is read(6). According to Hubspot, 80% of people can recall a video they’ve viewed in the past 30 days! (7).
If you’d like to learn more about the impact videos can have on your marketing strategy, check out Video Statistics for Financial Advisors.
#2 Post a Variety of Content Formats
Apart from incorporating video into your social media strategy, another best practice is to provide your followers with a variety of content formats. What we mean by this is that it's important to post a balance of videos, images, copy, as well as your own content vs. shared (curated) content.
This balance of content formats is important for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s what your audience wants! They are overwhelmed with daily content on their social media feeds and you're fighting for their attention just as your competitors are. By posting repetitive content in the same format, you're more likely to lose their attention and cause them to unfollow your accounts.
Secondly, Facebook and other social networks have updated their algorithms to rank higher the accounts that frequently share content and in a variety of formats. In addition, the more engagement a particular post receives the higher it will be ranked by most social platforms. By continuously offering value to your audience in all format types, you will see your follower lists start to steadily grow over time!
Tip: Don’t Forget Your CTA!
Most social media platforms limit the number of characters you’re able to use in the caption. So keep your message to the point and remember that the most important piece is the CTA (Call to Action)!
Your CTA can direct your prospects to your website or ask them to engage. For example, "Let me know your thoughts below”, “Check out the latest blog”, or "Find out more here" to let them know clearly what action you’d like them to take. This is the first step in nurturing your followers into new customers. For more, check out this free ebook: The Complete Guide for Creating a Content Marketing Strategy.
#3 Share Your Own Content & Other Industry Resources
On that note, in conjunction with posting a variety of content formats, you’ll also want to share curated content from other credible sources in your industry along with your original content pieces (for example, your website’s blog).
Sharing your sources of information builds trust with your audience through transparency and shows that you keep up to date on the industry. Which in turn, provides credibility for your own work and helps drive followers back to your website.
Finally, posting curated content like news articles has the added bonus of helping fill your feed(s) with relevant and up-to-date industry specific content, helping your accounts rank higher within social media platforms AND on Google.
Remember: Social is for Sharing, Not Advising!
One thing to note as a financial advisor is that you’re not allowed to promote your services or share testimonials through your posts - as it in violation of FINRA guidelines. For more information, download the following eBook: How to Create a Secure and Compliant Online Presence.
How We Can Help
Automated Social Media Sharing
Expand your reach with our Automated Social Media Sharing feature (available on the Force Platform). This links your website’s blog page with your social media accounts and automatically posts your content at your preferred date and time. Each post allows you to reach thousands of potential clients with a click of a button. For a demo of this feature, click here.
For further reading on this topic, download: Social Media Strategies for Financial Advisors.
WHO ARE WE?
At Advisor Websites we help financial advisors grow their business and enhance their digital marketing strategies with their own personalized website. Our platform offers a selection of effective and proven frameworks that are personalized to reflect your business and brand.
To see our platform in action:
Footnotes:
1 Belbey, J. (2017, January 3). Financial Advisors: 15 Tips To Use Social Media (Compliantly). Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joannabelbey/2017/01/03/financial-advisors-15-tips-to-use-social-media-compliantly/#2bc17c3775d1
2 Wagner, A. (2017, May 15). Are You Maximizing The Use Of Video In Your Content Marketing Strategy? Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/05/15/are-you-maximizing-the-use-of-video-in-your-content-marketing-strategy/#70b72d135849
3 Spectrem Group. (2018, November 19). Reaching Wealthy Investors Through Social Media. Retrieved from Spectrem Group: https://spectrem.com/Content/reaching-wealthy-investors-social-media.aspx
4 Lenok, D. H. (2016, August 5). Ultra Rich Embrace Social Media for Information, Not Advisor Contact. Retrieved from Wealth Management.com: https://www.wealthmanagement.com/high-net-worth/ultra-rich-embrace-social-mediainformation-not-advisor-contact
5 Wyzowl. (2020, January). Video Marketing Statistics 2020. Retrieved from Wyzowl: https://www.wyzowl.com/video-marketing-statistics-2020/
6 Templeman, M. (2017, September 6). 17 Stats And Facts Every Marketer Should Know About Video Marketing. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/miketempleman/2017/09/06/17-stats-about-video-marketing/#2e0efafa567f
7 Sheffield Audio-Video Producers. (2019). Video Marketing. Retrieved from Sheffield Audio-Video Producers: https://www.sheffieldav.com/production/5-reasons-we-love-video-marketing-and-you-should-too
8 Templeman, M. (2017, September 6). 17 Stats And Facts Every Marketer Should Know About Video Marketing. Retrieved from Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/miketempleman/2017/09/06/17-stats-about-video-marketing/#2e0efafa567f
9 Hubspot. (2020, January). The Ultimate List of Marketing Statistics for 2020 (Source: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics). Retrieved from Hubspot: https://www.hubspot.com/marketing-statistics
