Your IndustryOct 10 2013

Finding your voice on social media

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Sharing company news and industry articles is relevant to all social media platforms, according to Helen Turner, distribution and development director of Tenet. She says advisers should therefore think about when and why your followers will view your posts.

“Use Twitter to directly connect with your clients. “...great meeting with @joebloggs today” [is a good way to] reinforce relationships.

“Send connection requests via LinkedIn following a meeting with a message to thank them for their time and share company news and events on your Facebook page.

“If in doubt, look at what others are posting and remember you do not have to make all your social media messages very formal, adding personality and comment is all part of what will make a successful strategy.”

Many businesses use different forms of social media for different purposes, rather than simply duplicating content across multiple platforms.

For instance, Nina Stenning, head of marketing communications at Openwork, describes Facebook as a visual medium and thus she argues many businesses use it to promote their ‘human’ side, for instance any charitable work they might be involved in, or events they are running for staff.

Ms Stenning continues that the Linkedin company pages function allows you to publish more formal information about your business, links to other online content and share updates, while Twitter is a great vehicle to use if you want to promote yourself as an ‘expert’.

Like any online medium, Ms Stenning says the success of your approach will depend on the quality of the content you create and/or share with your audience.

Karen Barrett, chief executive of Unbiased, says: “My advice on how to use social media is to think of your activity as an onion with many layers.

“Start by setting up a profile and watching what your peers are doing and note any activity you think would work well for your firm.

“Then look at what interesting information you have to offer and how you can incorporate this into your social profile. It is always a good to have an idea of the areas you want to talk about, so that you can demonstrate your expertise and insight.

“Finally retweet, like and share what others are saying, and ask questions of those who are active on particular topics of interest. Get involved in the conversation.”

Derek Bradley, chief executive of Panacea Adviser, says advisers should even employ the services of experts to formulate content if they need help to make it punchy, relevant, informative and not offensive.

“Respond to those messages you see coming in to your ‘radar’ if you see an opportunity. Remember the saying, ‘what goes on in Vegas stays in Vegas, what goes on Twitter stays on Google forever’.”