How to Build a Powerful Social Media Presence
Designed for Financial Advisors with Busy Schedules, that are Not Tech Experts!
Being a Financial Advisor isn’t easy!
You must successfully navigate through volatile markets, tax law changes, Client service requests, managing your own Team members, all while further developing your business!
Technology is constantly changing which leads to you processes constantly changing. It can be inconvenient.
Not only that, but simple strategies like using Social Media have proven to assist Top Advisors in earning additional highly qualified Clients. Many Top Advisors even leverage Automated Social Media processes to help them build their brands.
92% of Financial Advisors that use Social Media, have gotten at least one Client from Social Media in 2020. This number is up from 63% in 2013. Now consider the average LinkedIn user’s income of $109,000 per year. Are you missing out on a massive opportunity?
How We Can Help:
At Broadridge Financial Solutions, we understand the important role that Marketing plays in the success of today’s top Financial Advisors. The competition for new Clients (and competition for your current Clients) is intensifying every single day.
Word of Mouth marketing and Word of Mouth referrals are simply not enough anymore. New Financial advice opportunities are opening up daily. Successful Investors are doing more research than ever prior to moving their money. We will show how you to bolster your digital web presence, so that you can gain and retain more Clients!
Building a Social Media presence can be broken up into three steps.
Awareness
Engagement
Acquisition.
This guide will break down these three steps (Awareness, Engagement, Acquisition), which are designed to help you achieve your business goals with Social Media:
Step 1: Awareness
Did you know that the fastest growing demographic on Social Media is the baby boomer generation?
Baby Boomers are a well-known group with many high net worth investors, and also happen to be active on Social Media. With the average LinkedIn user income over $109,000 a year, that is the type of Client many Financial Advisor’s are interested in. Without building awareness with them through Social Media, it will be tough to reach them.
At Broadridge, we understand the importance of staying top of mind to a Prospect. When a Life Event happens such as changing careers, or retiring, the Financial Advisor’s name needs to be the first person they think of.
What does awareness look like on social media? We recommend starting on LinkedIn and adding all your prospects to the LinkedIn network. Send them an invite with a personalized message that shows you care. There is a significant community of business professionals ranging from lawyers, teachers, CEO’s and every other profession.
The best way to get targeted exposure is to consistently post relevant content that resonates with your target audience. If you can answer your prospects’ financial questions with the right content; they’ll be more inclined to become future clients.
The key is that you aren’t looking to sell your services, but rather educating and providing value to your social network. The market might crash and the next day you post an article about why it crashed and what to expect in the coming weeks. This way you’ll be seen as a thought leader and an expert in the field.
The beauty of social media is all you can schedule one single high value post, and it could potentially reach thousands. Awareness doesn’t have to be all about articles as content could include videos, calculators or even audio recordings.
Please show your personality and demonstrate who you are as an individual. Suppose your office has a birthday for one of your employees. Go ahead and snap a pic and post it on LinkedIn! This will show your prospects you are human, instead of a constant flow of financial information (robot)
Consider creating awareness of yourself on multiple platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. There are many social media websites, but start by focusing on the 1 or 2 social media channels that your prospects actively follow. Doing this will focus your efforts and prevent yourself from being spread too thin.
To Begin: Add your Prospects to your LinkedIn network via connection requests. Focus on adding people within your specific Sphere of Influence. If you specialize in working with doctors, send connection requests to doctors on LinkedIn
The first step is to make an introduction and educate your Clients and Prospects. Selling will come later.
Share relevant content about financial topics and current events. Our content library with 3,000+ pieces of FINRA reviewed content including articles, calculators, and videos will help you build Rapport, Inspire / Instigate, and then Persuade people to act!
Share client memories on LinkedIn. Remember events like birthdays, which demonstrates that you care about the personal side of your Clients. While LinkedIn is our number 1 recommendation, other Social Media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook are quickly coming to the forefront of Financial information and education.
According to CNBC, the US can expect a wealth transfer of $68 trillion dollars in the next 25 years. The Baby Boomer generation is transitioning and they’re getting ready to pass their money on to the next generation, Millennials. Much has been said about the Millennial generation and younger generations like Gen Z ,but the biggest takeaway is that younger people want to be able to connect with you in multiple ways.
Connnecting with Millennials is where Twitter, Facebook, and even platforms like Instagram and Snapchat come into play. If you are committed to producing unique, high quality, content, and are committed to keeping up with multiple social media channels, then you will have a higher chance of attracting the next generation of investors.
Step 2: Engagement
The process of building a social media presence does not stop with Awareness. The second step is Engagement, and it might be the most important. Many Advisors are scared to directly engage with others through social media. Broadridge provides FINRA reviewed content to spark engagement, but you must do more than simply posting to your social media accounts.
The awareness portion is surface level and places your brand on other people’s radar. After that happens, it’s critical to ENGAGE with connections and try to forge relationships on social media.
Commenting on an article that is shared by connections is a great way to start a respectful conversation with a prospect. Posting a vote about the latest hot topic in the finance world can get people talking. Another great example could be tweeting out questions and interacting with the people that answer.
Examples of Engagement:
Commenting on an article that connections share
Tweeting out questions and responding to the people that answer
Clients that have life events, like the birth of a child, and realize that they need some financial guidance. They might think back to the Financial Advisor that shared their article and wrote them a personalized note on LinkedIn.
The big picture is the same for all these ideas since it all revolves around compelling people to act. It doesn’t have to be about something financial. One simple idea could be posting a photo of your recent vacation and asking connections where they like to travel.
Also, LinkedIn has a higher organic reach than other platforms like Facebook. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn isn’t a “pay to play” marketplace. You can gain more traffic to your content without paying for ads or "boosting" posts.
Consider using relevant hashtags like #financialadvisor or #financialfreedom to reach more defined audiences.
Step 3: Acquisition
Once advisors have built Awareness and Engaged with their connections on Social Media; it’s time for the Acquisition step.
The most efficient method to take advantage of the Acquisition step, is to drive Social Media traffic to pages on your website with Callouts (i.e. Calls to Action or CTAs) . Common examples of calls to action include “Have a Question?”; “Click Here to Send a Message”; “Free eNewsletter Signup”; “Click here to Schedule an Appointment”; “Free Risk Assessment”; “Sign Up for a Complimentary Consultation”; Etc.
Be sure to Link your Social Media articles directly back to your website. Be sure to list your website URL on your LinkedIn profile. Your website is likely your most visible marketing tool. It’s important to leverage that visibility by turning your website into a hub of high quality trusted resources.
Link your Social Media articles back to your website. As people surf LinkedIn and click on your relevant content, they will be taken directly to your website. Once Prospects are on your website, they will be immersed in your brand’s advantages to them.
Remember that 83% of referrals will do anonymous research on your website, before communicating with you. 52% of this group will choose not to communicate with you, if they do not like what they see. if your website site is difficult to navigate… if it doesn't convey trust… if it looks like it was built decades ago… or if the messaging does not appear to be a fit for their needs...
LinkedIn has higher organic reach, higher quality filters and group choices, and you can drill down further in targeting your target niches. These 12 simple steps below will help you build a results-oriented LinkedIn profile, so that it can establish you as a thought leader and build your business.
These tips can help you grow your internet digital presence. We will all be left behind if we fail to adapt to the changing digital world. As the saying goes, “if you’re not e-visible, you may be invisible to others.”
Contact us today to learn how we work with Top Advisors and use digital marketing to reach and exceed their goals
BUILDING A SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILE -TOOL KIT
92% of Financial Advisors that use Social Media, have gotten at least one Client from Social Media in 2020. This number is up from 63% in 2013. Now consider the average LinkedIn user’s income of $109,000 per year. Are you missing out on a massive opportunity?
How to build a LinkedIn profile: Start with the basics
Add a photo
Have a well written summary
Describe your experiences
Add relevant skills
Education
Start building a network
Post content
Start with the basics
This list will provide you with a foundation to start successfully engaging with people over LinkedIn. Enter your phone number, location, and email to give people a general understanding of what you do. First impressions matter.
Add a photo
You are the face of your own brand on LinkedIn. We recommend selecting a profile picture that will help set strong brand expectations. Wear a respectable outfit, be well groomed, and smile! Dress as though you are about to meet your most important client for a business meeting. Leverage your family and your pets in pictures. This is professional to us, but is very personal to your Clients.
A Hearsay Advisor Cloud study showed: “These posts had an average engagement rate of 48 percent, versus 42 percent for corporate posts”. By sharing insights into your personal life, you will start to build genuine trust between you and your prospects. They are likely to feel more comfortable to move forward with you as their Advisor.
Also, LinkedIn has a higher organic reach than other platforms like Facebook. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn isn’t a “pay to play” marketplace. You can gain more traffic to your content without paying for ads or "boosting" posts.
Consider using relevant hashtags like #financialadvisor or #financialfreedom to reach more defined audiences.
Have a well written summary
Summaries are listed below your headshot and headline on LinkedIn, and can be a powerful way to demonstrate your value through LinkedIn. You have 2,000 characters available in this space to explain Who you Are, What you Do, Who you Help, How you Help. This is your opportunity to provide reasons for potential viewers to continue, and also include a call to action (CTA).
Also you can add relevant keywords like “financial marketing” or “retirement specialist” in this section. Many potential clients use LinkedIn as a search engine.
Describe your experiences
This is where you will post your company name and job title. Provide a description of what you specialize in, and any other relevant skills that differentiate your skillset. Include relevant past work experiences. Demonstrate your qualifications, successes, skillset, and diverse background that make you a powerhouse in the financial services industry.
Instead of just including "financial advisor at xyz firm" TELL people EXACTLY how you can help them. If you target doctors, your headline could be "Helping medical professionals pay off debt and achieve their financial goals." This tells people who you are, the niches you serve, and how you can help!
Add relevant skills
LinkedIn has a great feature where you can add skills that are specific to you. Give your clients and prospects an understanding of your skills, that will specifically solve their needs, through your Financial Planning process.
Letters of Recommendations:
IMPORTANT: Your Prospects are considering trusting you with their life savings, their future, and the future of their family’s well-being. Make sure you ask for Clients and community member to write these testimonials. Provide them with templates / topics that reinforce your story. Make it easy for them.
You can also exchange writing recommendations with colleagues or other people in your network. These build social proof and trust among your audience.
Education
Add where you went to school. This could help form a connection with a fellow alumnus! Besides education, always include relevant certifications, industry licenses and continuing education. People want confirmation that their Advisor is knowledgeable, and is dedicated to honing his or her craft!
Start building a network
First step is always to add all your current Clients. They will be thrilled to have more another connection with you. Next add your Prospects that you are nurturing into becoming Clients. After that, whenever you meet someone that might make a correct fit as a Client, invite them to join your LinkedIn network with a personalized message.
Groups and Hobbies
Being a member of LinkedIn groups provides an impression that you are connected, networked, and active in your areas of interest. It also telegraphs what your interests and personality traits are - people buy from people. Do you participate in non-profit groups? rotary club? coach your daughter’s baseball team? church group? Etc.? This humanizes you.
Post Relevant Content
This is arguably the second most important step. Once you have connected your profile to your sphere of influence, these people need to receive updates from you! Write your own content, or leverage a company like Broadridge that offers services to provide updated FINRA reviewed content for you to post. Some services offer “Set and Forget” functionality, to automatically post relevant content.
Keep it Concise and Direct:
Subconsciously, your brain will draw a parallel to your personality. If you are verbose and have a lot of clutter and information on your LinkedIn page, our brain patterns might associate you as being disorganized, difficult to deal with, complicated, etc.
Tell YOUR Story - this is a difficult part:
If you remove your name; readers should still be able to know this LinkedIn profile is about you! You should not be able to substitute another Financial Advisors name, and have a similar profile.
BE UNIQUE. Remember to always use WIIFM! Let your viewers know “What’s In It For Me?”
Why did you become a FA? What make you different? Who are YOU (People buy from people)- be personal.; write your descriptive in the first person; Images and posts tell a story. (E.g. Tell a story about how you were a chubby kid, to lose weight you wrestled; after school you become an EMT and now you focus on Health Care professionals”). Or the experience your parent and family had and them struggling in retirement and trouble paying for LTC”
Always start with the WHY: https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action/transcript?language=en
Avoid cliché words and industry jargon:
Driven, Track Record, Experienced, Result Oriented, Highly, Leadership. Skilled. Passionate. Expert. Deep, Motivated. Creative. strategic, successful, Focused, specialized, extensive, Relationship (Use engage, advocate).
“my clients trust me” “I am people person”; “I am motivated” “Tailored approach” “My goal” “ “I develop deep relationships:… don’t start with “As a Financial Advisor, I help individuals, couples and families grow their assets for the long term.“- Who doesn’t do all this as an FA… or claim too?