A social media strategy is the foundation for your digital marketing activities, because it aligns your day-to-day social media networking tasks with objectives that support your overall business goals, says a whitepaper released by Smarsh, a compliance support provider. It says that engaging with people on social media will help advisors understand their existing clients and prospective better.
Why do you want to use social media?
The first things advisors must ask themselves is what they want to achieve by using social media. Depending on the size and type of their business, advisors might want to use social media for client service, brand awareness, thought leadership, media relations and lead generation. The whitepaper says, “Social media is an expansive arena, so start with one or two achievable objectives and expand as you gain confidence.”
Who is your audience?
Once advisors know why they want to use social media, they must decide who their target audience is. Having clarity on the type of target audience such as HNI or retail helps frame social media messages. “If possible, narrow your audience to clarify by gender, generation, socio-economic group, or by business type, size or location. These details will guide you as you create content to share, reach out to influencers, identify relevant social networks and increase your followers and connections,” says the whitepaper.
What are the right channels for your business?
Your objectives and target audience will help you determine which social media platforms are best suited to your business goals. The whitepaper points out that while some networks are great for broadcasting your message to millions, they might not be the best for your objectives.
It is important to align your social network with your business goals to deliver the desired results.
Some of the popular networks to consider while planning your social media strategy are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
LinkedIn can be used by advisors who want to expand their professional network. Through LinkedIn, an advisor can connect with existing clients, increase referrals and approach potential clients. This medium is ideal for those looking to form new business relations.
Facebook, on the other hand is more suited for building brand identity, says the whitepaper. It is ideal for advisors to cultivate relationships with prospective clients and enhance client relationships.
The whitepaper further says that, Twitter can help advisors get the word out when they are hosting a webinar, speaking at an event or attending an industry conference. Twitter lets them share those moments immediately with the world. “Advisors often share commentary on current news or encourage their audiences to engage in an event. Twitter is one of the fastest-growing networks for business, and is often used as a prospecting tool,” it says.
YouTube is ideal for those advisors who want to create and share informative videos with their clients. They can either make finance tutorials or awareness videos. “YouTube is a highly effective medium for financial advisors that can help you easily publish video content to reach a large audience,” says the whitepaper.
According to Smarsh, Instagram can help advisors build their brand. “It is great to use if you are hosting an event or attending one. Advisors often take photos of themselves with colleagues or peers at an event and include the event hashtag associated with it to gain additional visibility and credibility as a thought leader,” it says.
“You’ll also want to review your social media strategy frequently to make adjustments and chart progress toward achieving your related business goals,” says Smarsh.
