3 Reasons Why Social Media is a Must for Financial Advisors

Social media is the catalyst for your digital marketing strategy! When it comes to building your online presence, leveraging your social networks is one of the best ways to build authority and drive traffic to your website.
Here are the top three reasons why social media is a must for financial advisors:

1. Building Brand Awareness
At least 50% of brand reputation is built online today₍₁₎. Which is why it's essential to keep your accounts up to date with content that is relevant to your audience's interests and needs.

To increase brand awareness, you'll need to understand your audience, what platforms they're using, and the best times to engage with them. Developing a strong social media strategy that targets the correct audience takes time. If you're just getting started, watch our Drip Marketing Course for tips on creating a social media strategy in the financial services industry. 

The time and resources put into your social media strategy are worth the investment. According to a recent Forbes survey, financial advisors have found that using their social media to educate prospects, helped drive business back to their websites and expedite the onboarding process for new customers. Additionally, 85% of advisors who use social media for prospecting found that it shortened their selling cycle, and 80% had an average asset gain of $5 Million attributed to new clients from social media. ₍₂₎

High Net Worth Investors ($25 Million +) using social media ₍₃₎

68% - Facebook 

47% - Twitter 

46% - LinkedIn 

The majority of people will research a business online before making their purchasing decision, and for this reason, your search engine ranking affects your business's ability to generate leads. 

Believe it or not, social media helps with your website's SEO (search engine optimization), and here's how: 

• Linking your social accounts directly to your website proves to Google that your site has a client following and provides credibility. 
  
  
• Social media accounts also rank independently on Google result pages. Each link that ranks on search engine result pages is another opportunity to convert prospects. 
  
  
• Your prospects can search for your business directly through each social media platform. This builds positive SEO backlinks to your website, which helps build authority with Google and has an influence on your search ranking.

3. Building Trust with Your Audience
The third reason that social media is a must for financial advisors is it's the ability to build trust with your audience. It provides the opportunity to share your knowledge and position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.

Many financial advisors rely heavily on referrals to grow their client base, and client referrals are one of the most effective ways to establish trust in your brand. You're able to use your social media platforms to speak about your business in a way that enables your followers to 'share' their thoughts on your business - a digital form of client referrals.

By posting your website content on social media, your clients and prospects are easily able to click 'share' to their own accounts. Every 'share' your posts receive extends your audience reach. 

How likely are prospects to read and share your social media content? 

• 73% of Ultra-High-Net-Worth Investors ($25 Million +) currently read financial industry blogs. The same number said they would read more blogs written by financial advisors they're acquainted with if they provide them.₍₃₎  

Conclusion

Whether you're building brand awareness, increasing your website SEO or building a relationship and trust with your audience online, social media's impact should not be underestimated and is an absolute must for advisors who are looking to increase lead opportunities. 

*To be sure you're within compliance guidelines, always check with your BD compliance team before posting. 

How we can help: 

Expand your reach with our platform's Automated Social Media Sharing feature. This tool 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. 

Chat with one of our Account Executives to learn more about this feature!

Footnotes:
(1) SHANDWICK, W. (n.d.). Socializing Your Brand: A Brand's Guide to Sociability . Retrieved from Forbes Insights : https://www.webershandwick.com/uploads/news/files/NA_SocialBrand_ExecSummary.pdf 

(2) 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/#116e95eb75d1 

(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