A recent study called ‘Financial Professionals and the Future of Thought Leadership and Social Media’ conducted by Financial Planning Association (FPA) and LinkedIn reveals that successful advisors communicate in social gatherings, newsletters and IAPs to acquire new clients.
This online study was done in USA which surveyed 1,242 financial advisors of which 32% have witnessed speculator growth in their business. The survey provides insights into what has helped successful advisors grow their business. Though the research was carried out in USA, it provides relevant insights for Indian advisors.
The report shows that high growth advisors follow a certain communication strategy and are more likely to communicate frequently through both offline and online channels with prospective clients. These advisors use social gatherings, send newsletters and conduct educational events to acquire clients. Almost 57% of successful advisors prefer social events to acquire new clients while 49% and 41% send newsletters and conduct investor awareness programs respectively to grow their business.
Another interesting finding from this report is increasing use of professional networks like LinkedIn and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to communicate with prospective clients. The report says that professional network and social media are likely to surpass other mode of communication in the next three years and become a key to success.
Also, successful advisors focus on enhancing their competence through education/training and aspire to become thought leaders to differentiate themselves from other advisors.
The report stresses on the need for advisors to have an efficient communication strategy in place (through both offline and online channels) to achieve scale and sustain growth in business.