By Sarah Williams
You should use social media because your clients and prospects are on social media. When social media burst on the scene in the early 2000s, only 5% of the population used at least one platform. Today, that number is up to 72%.1
Also consider:
- 54% of social media users use these platforms to research products and services.2
- 71% are more likely to purchase products or services based on social media referrals.2
- 78% of baby boomers and seniors use Facebook, the most popular social media network for that age demographic.3
- 89% of financial advisors reported gaining new clients from social media.4
Social media can be a powerful promotion and brand-building tool because it gives you the ability to establish authority and knowledge within your field, build awareness of your brand, and connect directly with clients and prospects.
How do you get started?
Perhaps you’ve made the decision to be more active on social media. What’s next? Should you just start posting? And if so, which platforms should you use?
Before you dive right in, it’s helpful to take a step back and think about what you’re trying to achieve.
- Do you want to generate leads?
- Do you want to communicate more frequently with your clients and their contacts?
- Do you want to build brand awareness within your community?
What is your primary objective? Once you’ve established that, you can create actionable goals, like reaching a specific number of followers within a certain period of time.
Another important consideration is how much time you have to put into social media. Can you post every day? Can you create graphics or long-form content? Or do you need to keep it to shorter posts that better fit into your schedule?
1 https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/
2 https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2020/11/20/how-social-media-influence-71-consumer-buying-decisions/
3 https://www.statista.com/statistics/309166/boomer-senior-social-networks/
4 https://www.putnam.com/advisor/business-building/social-media/
Facebook is one of the original social media platforms and it is the largest. The platform has more than 2.8 billion users, and nearly 70% of American adults say they regularly use Facebook. Among regular Facebook users, 70% use the platform each day and 49% say they use it multiple times a day.
Setting Up a Business Page
You may have a personal profile on Facebook. While that may be a great way to keep in touch with family and friends, we strongly suggest using a business page specifically for your professional life. With a business page, anyone can follow you. You don’t have to accept a friend request. That means you can reach a much larger audience and get greater engagement.
A business page also simplifies the compliance process. If you post information related to securities on your personal profile, that profile could become subject to compliance review. You likely don’t want that. By using a business page, you keep your work life (and compliance) separate from your personal profile.
It’s also important to have a Facebook business page with accurate information from a search engine optimization standpoint.
You can use your business page to promote your practice with paid ads or boosted posts, which is something you can’t do with a personal profile. Advertising on Facebook can be one of the most cost-efficient and effective ways to generate new leads by targeting baby boomers.
Tips to optimize your Facebook strategy:
- Fully complete your page setup with a professional profile picture, cover image, and a complete biography and about section. Use keywords about the services you provide to help show up in searches.
- Balance automated posts and unique posts. There are plenty of services that will automate your Facebook posts, and those services can be helpful to maintain consistency. However, your audience also wants to get to know you and your staff. Make sure you’re also posting unique posts that you’re creating yourself, including pictures of your team and your office, client appreciation or educational events and charitable activities to show you give back to your community. Also consider sharing timely updates in the news that affect finances with your take on them.
- Try to post multiple times per week. Daily is great, but if that’s not possible shoot for at least 2-3 times a week.
- Use images as much as possible. Tools such as Canva and Adobe Spark are great for creating quick images to get more attention to your posts. Be sure to use captivating copy to draw your audience in. Consider the use of emojis to help draw attention as well.
- Create short and sweet video content. Videos are even more effective than images when marketing on Facebook. Video posts on Facebook have 135% greater reach than photo posts.
- Post a variety of content. Blog posts, photos, press releases and videos.
https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/06/01/facts-about-americans-and-facebook/
https://99firms.com/blog/facebook-video-statistics/#gref
LinkedIn was founded in 2003 and has quickly become the largest professional social media platform, largely due to its ability to connect professionals with potential employers, customers and colleagues.
LinkedIn has 722 million members, short of Facebook’s 2.8 billion and Instagram’s 1 billion. However, LinkedIn is the most trusted social media platform. Nearly 75% of users trust LinkedIn to protect their data, compared to only 53% for Facebook.
LinkedIn can be a strong platform for networking and building relationships with people you would like to do business with. You can send connection requests to people who are most like your best clients and send them a note about why you want to connect. Your connections will see the content you post on your feed over time, helping build up your credibility and awareness about the services you provide.
Tips for optimizing your strategy:
- If you’re a solo practitioner, your LinkedIn profile may be sufficient to connect with clients and prospects on LinkedIn. However, you may also want to create a business page for your firm to create brand awareness. Just understand that multiple pages means multiple sets of posts.
- Use keywords and tags in your profile to make it clear what you do and who you help. Keywords will improve your chances of ending up in searches.
- Don’t be afraid to directly message people who you think could be good connections. Private messaging is much more accepted on LinkedIn than it is on Facebook.
- LinkedIn is a great place to share “thought leader” type content. Show off your knowledge and expertise.
- You’ll get more reach on LinkedIn than you will on other platforms, so you don’t have to post as often. One to three times per week is often good.
- Aim for some posts that encourage feedback. Ask a question or ask for direct input.
- Experiment with the search function before signing up for the premium option. You can search for individuals or jobs. You can also use the filters to narrow your search.
- Give engagement to people in your network. Like any social network, you have to give in order to receive. So, give other people engagement, give them your attention, and comment on their posts. It will come back to you.
- Incorporate hashtags, but no more than 3 per post.
- Tagging relevant people on LinkedIn makes sense to increase engagement, but avoid tag stuffing.
https://blog.hootsuite.com/linkedin-statistics-business/
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is Vice President Marketing Communications at CreativeOne and WIFS National Education Director.