Gone are the days when networking meant exchanging business cards and following up with a phone call for a coffee. The new world of social media has taken networking to a different level altogether. One of the first questions asked during a meeting is “are you on Linkedin?” or “what’s your Twitter handle?”
With social media slowly penetrating the financial world, a large number of advisers are taking to various platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Google Plus, to gain clients and also to build a rapport with their customers. But the Association of Professional Advisers (Apfa) has estimated that half of advisers still do not use any social media at all.
Its survey of 225 financial advisers conducted earlier this year by NMG Consulting, found that of the 46 per cent of advisers who use social media professionally, 48 per cent use it as a tool for keeping up with general industry news, 40 per cent use it to communicate with existing clients and 36 per cent use it to target new clients.
“It has certainly been a big deal for me in terms of spreading my profile inside the industry, says Pete Matthew, a director for Penzance-based Jacksons Wealth Management. “You get to meet nice people and it certainly helps in growing the business because you know people through Twitter.”
Starting out
Advisers should understand what they intend to get out of their presence on social media. While for some it may be promotion of their work, others aim to raise awareness about various aspects of personal finance through one of these platforms.
Social media experts warn it is important to put a strategy in place before creating a profile. But putting together a strategy can be stressful initially, especially as you try to choose the right platform when starting out. With a wide range of choices available, choosing the right platform can be tough but experts suggest asking yourself – what do I want from this?
“My strategy is simply to be helpful. I think the best tweet you can ever put is ‘what can I do for you today?’” says Mr Matthew. “Socialising is entirely about helping, adding value, writing useful content and curating useful things for your audience. It also involves answering questions, listening to what the audience is saying and that is the strategy really. It is not about a certain number of tweets per day, ratios of five to one etc.”
