Is investing time and resources into your social media platforms the right move for you?

There are many advisors that assume social media marketing isn’t capable of generating new business for their firm or isn’t worth the time, learning curve, or effort.

There are others who believe they wouldn't be able to keep up with the trends and constantly changing algorithms, to begin with.

While others believe that they've missed the ship altogether and it's too late for them to start. 

The truth is, your social media presence can be one of the most powerful lead generation channels within your digital marketing strategy!

With proper knowledge and application, a strong social media presence can provide you with opportunities for increased brand visibility and drive new customers to your business - who otherwise may have overlooked you. 

We've compiled the most powerful social media tips and tools for financial advisors that will help you drive engagement, website traffic, and convert more leads into customers.

Social Media Marketing Strategies For Financial Advisors

1. The Top 3 Social Media Platforms For Financial Advisors

While having a website is a necessary first step to getting your name in front of potential clients in today's digital world, you still need to have strategies in place to drive traffic to your website.

This is where social media comes into play.

By leveraging the power of social media and personalization, financial advisors can differentiate themselves from their competitors and target their ideal clients in ways that they never could before.

With so many different social media platforms, it can be daunting to figure out which ones are best suited for your business, your personality, and where your target audience is active.

Here are 3 social media platforms we recommend Financial Advisors consider:

1. Facebook

There are a staggering 2.93 billion monthly active users on Facebook, roughly 36.8% of all the people on Earth!

Because Facebook is so well established with such a large user base, it offers some of the richest marketing data and the ability to execute highly targeted advertisements.

Advisors have been utilizing Facebook to grow their presence and nurture prospects for years, and its credibility as a platform has remained strong, with around 62% of advisors leveraging the platform for their business today. 

However, just because Facebook boasts a large user network, don't let that be the defining factor on whether you use it or not for your business. 

Take a look at your relationship with Facebook right now.

If you do have an account, do you enjoy using it and being active on that channel?

If you don't enjoy using Facebook, or you know that your target audience isn't spending their free time there, then you may want to consider one of the channels we discuss next.

If you don't have an account with Facebook, or never have, it may be a good idea to set one up and test the environment before you commit to promoting your business on it.

2. LinkedIn

LinkedIn is considered to be one of the world's largest professional networks with 849.6 million users worldwide.  

Like Facebook, LinkedIn has quickly grown into one of the leading platforms for financial advisors in promoting their businesses.

While it may not have as many users as Facebook, it has proven to be a successful channel for advisors. 

According to data from the report, The Changing Role of Media Advisors, LinkedIn is the most popular social media channel for financial advisors, with 84% of advisors they interviewed confirming that they use it for professional means.

What makes LinkedIn so great is that you can use it to share industry knowledge and position yourself as a thought leader, as with other channels, but you can take it one step further by networking with like-minded players in the industry.

It provides you with an opportunity to create new connections, build partnerships, and deepen relationships. 

However, always keep in mind how much you enjoy being active on any platform.

If you have to force yourself to be on LinkedIn, it will likely be more difficult to be consistent with your social media marketing strategy. 

3. Twitter

Coming in third in terms of global active users, Twitter has 396.5 million members.

It also has a slightly lower percentage of advisors who use the platform for business purposes at 47%, when compared with Facebook and LinkedIn.

However, for many advisors, Twitter is the perfect platform to establish yourself as a thought leader because it's quick and easy to add your comment or perspective on industry news that is happening right now.

Thanks to its character limit, you won't have to spend too much time writing expressive captions.

If you prefer to keep it short and punchy while still getting the point across, this could be the channel for you, as long as your target audience is spending their time there as well.

If you don't want to spend too much time planning your posts and prefer to comment on trends and news as they happen, Twitter may be right up your alley.

2. 3 Social Media Content Ideas You Can Use Over & Over

Many advisors have had a hard time getting started and don't know what type of content to create for their social media accounts. To make it easier for those struggling, we've compiled three different ways to keep your ideas flowing!

1. Timely Market Updates

When it comes to posting on social media, staying current with the world around you is a good place to start.

This doesn't have to be difficult.

Social media is a living, breathing community.

Many users are always ready to hop on the latest and greatest content that pertains to their topics of interest, share it with their networks, and start conversations.

For you to participate, it can be as simple as doing a social media sweep in the morning, checking out LinkedIn and Twitter especially, to discover if there are any significant changes in your industry that you feel your clients may want to hear your opinion on or need your reassurance for.

This is also beneficial for prospects who may be following your channels. 

If they see that you are on top of current industry trends, and if they like the unique opinions and perspectives that you share, you will begin to gain their trust.

2. Interesting Statistics and Infographics

Infographics are PowerPoint presentations of the social media realm.

They combine text and images to present a message in an interactive way that is easy for viewers to understand.

Presenting data visually can also be more engaging than just listing numbers on paper or screen, so try creating one of your own!

Here's an example of one of ours:

3. Videos

If you haven't started posting videos to social media yet, now is the time.

A whopping 93% of brands have confirmed that they have received at least one new customer thanks to a video posted on their social media account.

If that surprises you, get ready for this next stat.

An average person is predicted to spend 100 minutes per day watching online videos! 

That's right, a little over an hour and a half, every single day, spent watching videos.

Video is a phenomenal marketing tool.

It doesn't have to be hard to create, especially since almost all of us have access to a high-quality camera right on our phone or computer!

Some of the best types of videos to share on your accounts are natural, short, and sweet.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Meet the Team / About Us - A video that introduces your firm, team members, area of expertise, and specialization can help build credibility with the visitor quickly.
  
  
• Explainer / How-To - An explainer or a how-to video can provide an explanation or a demonstration of a typical question you receive.
  
  
• Company Update - A short video to share a company update or announcement such as a new team member joining, an expansion, a move, or new services being added. 

Click here to learn more about video marketing for financial advisors. 

3. Turn Clicks Into Customers

Okay, so you have a clear understanding of the importance of being present on social media plus some new content strategies for posting, but you still may not be seeing the results you want.

That's likely due to not setting up your accounts to turn clicks into customers! 

What do we mean by this?

While prospects may reach out through a direct message or post, all your social media accounts must lead back to your website, where they're much more likely to convert into a customer. 

A personalized website paired with targeted marketing strategies will help convert traffic from those sources into paying clients.

In addition, driving social media followers back to your website allows prospective clients to find additional information on the services you provide and get to know you a little bit better via the About Me page.

It also allows you to address their needs further with personalized content so that they can know, like, and build trust in you, eventually converting into new clients.

Your website, paired with the right tools and automation, is what pulls your entire strategy together.

Here are the most powerful tools for Financial Advisors to get the most out of their social media presence: 

1. Scheduling Tool

Ultimately one of the main goals for driving social media leads back to your website is to convert them into clients.

One of the most direct ways to do this is to make it easy for prospects to contact you directly.

This is where you can leverage automation to help you organize and optimize your time.

For example, calendar scheduling tools to pre-set your availability and avoid the back and forth in scheduling meetings.

Once you have a scheduling tool set up in your calendar, make it visible to prospects landing on your website, either on your home page or by adding a CTA (call to action) button at the bottom of all your landing pages.

2. Social Media Automation

It can be difficult and time-consuming to post consistently on social media.

You likely don't have time to spend every day on it, thinking about what you should post, creating the caption and graphic, photo, or video asset, deciding which channels to share it on... the list goes on and on.

In that case, a social media automation tool is the solution to your problems.

Find an automation tool that can help you stay on top of your social media accounts, schedule your content ahead of time, and provides basic reporting functions so you know how well your posts are performing.

This way, you'll be able to batch out content ahead of time all in one sitting, and not have to worry about it until the next time it's time to create more content.

Key Takeaways

Social media marketing is an incredible method to drive brand awareness, generate new leads, and drive traffic back to your website.

Applying these tips and tools will optimize your presence online, ensuring you are spending your time on the right channels, sharing content that your target audience would find valuable, setting your accounts up for clicks, and setting your business up for growth.