Wealthy Prospects Are Checking You Out Online — There’s No Better Time To Make A Lasting Impression
By Robyn Conti
If you’re a financial advisor and you’re not using social media consistently to market and grow your practice, there’s no better time to take the plunge. Skeptical? Trust us, this is one bandwagon you’re going to want to jump on, pronto.
First off, you’ll be in good company. More financial advisors than ever — 85%, according to Putnam Investments’ 2016 Social Advisor Survey — are using social media for business. And their efforts are paying off: 80% of “social” advisors gained new clients, leading to a median boost in assets of $1.9 million. All by spending a little time each day on social media promoting their expertise and nurturing client and prospect relationships. It isn’t difficult, and it doesn’t take as much time as you may think. And you’re likely spending a lot of time on social media already in your personal life, so it’ll be easy to transition to using it to promote your business.
Why Be Social?
So why use social media to increase your book of business anyway? Old-fashioned referral and prospecting methods like quarterly hosted dinners and snail mail newsletters are working just fine for you, you say? As many financial advisors are coming to realize, the prospecting landscape is changing. It isn’t enough to meet for coffee and a handshake anymore. You’ve got to make an impression (repeatedly) and nurture client and prospect relationships. Many advisors are finding the best way to do that is online, through social media outlets like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Why? Simply put, that’s where your clients are.
Recent research from LinkedIn and Cogent Research found that 87% of mass affluent investors use social media. Forty-four percent use social media to engage with financial institutions, and 34% engage with financial institutions’ shared content.
Moreover, 36% of mass affluent financial investors said they use social media to research financial companies, products and services, and 63% said they act on what they’ve discovered. They also touted better customer service and timely, relevant updates and content among the most valuable attributes of interacting with a company via social media.
The takeaway? There’s a huge, wealthy audience out there who is hungry for quality financial advice, and they’re turning to social media to find it. That’s why it’s so important to be social — most of your prospects and clients are hanging out online, and the best way to make a connection is by being there, too.