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You may think that social media is all fun and games, but in reality, it’s a gamechanger when it comes to gaining new clients for your advisory firm. And why do we go on social media? Most of the time, it’s to pass the time and be entertained as most people do not turn to social to have difficult questions answered. So, when putting your content out there, make sure you are catering to your niche while doing this in a way that is humorous, personal and entertaining. The video above offers tips for growing your firm using social media.
Determining Your Social Media ROI
Let’s kick things off by providing a real-life example of an advisor who grew astronomically in terms of gaining more followers. Anthony R. Ruffalo, CFP® shared real results showing how much social media has changed the way he connects with clients. He works and operates with LPL and started on LinkedIn in 2019. His first post was in February of that year, and he only had three views but he wanted to see how posting on that platform could make a difference. It’s important to note that when Anthony creates his posts, he speaks in a “real” way and uses emojis while remaining straightforward and candid, which many people respond to very well. This is something to remember when writing your posts, as more people want to connect with someone to who they can relate rather than someone who is strictly business.
So, he wrote 307 posts in 2019. He went from 300 to 1,958 followers and his average views went from July of 2019 went from 554 views to 2,226 views in December. During this time, he produced the largest growth in net new assets in ten years and added eight new households. As you can see below, that has increased even more as he has continued on with his posting, writing 348 in 2020, with over 1 million views, over 15,300 likes with an AUM increase of 78%. The numbers speak for themselves, as you can see just how productive Anthony’s strategy has been.
8 Ways to Increase Engagement on Social
As mentioned above, you want to post your content in a way that is different from a blog or your website, as people are coming to social media platforms in order to be entertained, so make sure you are providing them with useful information that they can take with them at their own firm or answer their pain points, but do so in a way where they feel as though they can relate to the post or find some humor. So, when trying to increase your own engagement and drive more traffic to your social pages and ultimately your website, it’s important to implement the following 8 tactics.
1. Grab Your Readers’ Attention
People scroll through so many posts a day, so it’s important that you are grabbing their attention right off the bat. You can do this by using a strong image or using emojis in your post, anything that makes it stand out and then gets others reading. Using a video or a GIF is another great way to grab the attention and make them stop scrolling and find out more about what you have to say.
Twenty Over Ten client and Lead Pilot user, Meyer Wealth Advisors users emojis in their commentary with an image for the blog entitled “Top 5 Reasons to Outsource a Bookkeeper for Your Small Business.” It’s eye-catching and the text makes the reader think, enticing them to find out more.
2. Share a Personal Story
Storytelling is an incredibly effective way to connect with and entertain your audience. When people are trying to find a financial advisor, they want to work with someone that they can trust, as they are going to be handling their finances and helping them prepare for the road ahead. By sharing something personal, it makes you seem more relatable and can change the perspective of your prospects.
When making this type of post, however, make sure you are trying the story back to the main subject of the post. Readers can then learn from your information while understanding how it affects their day-to-day. It’s even better if you include a video or an image to make it even more personal, showing the “real” side of you and not just the business side.
Justin Castelli, CFP® shares a lot of personal stories on his Twitter page, and it really boosts his engagement. In the above tweet, he pulls in a story about his child’s fourth-grade basketball team and how certain moments can be teaching moments for your children in the future. One of the posts in the thread garnered 51 likes and 11 comments, making for very high engagement as many other people could relate to this.
3. Create a Short Video
Video is a popular format, and two-minute videos are perfect for social media. When they are shorter, this reduces video bounce rates. Additionally, when you are creating these quick videos, you need to be more precise and get your point across quickly and clearly so that you can provide all the necessary information while also doing it succinctly so that the viewer doesn’t leave before it’s over. One more thing is to make sure you are uploading the link natively, as the specific social media platforms will reward users who upload videos this way because it keeps users on their platform.
Twenty Over Ten client, Kelly Financial Planning has included a video under three minutes featuring Mike Kelly, CFP®, CPC where he briefly discusses how to change your money mindset, which is a useful tip that most of us could use.
4. Comment on Current Events
In the WealthKeel Weekly put out by Twenty Over Ten client, WealthKeel, LLC keeps up with current events that are happening in the news at the moment, such as the stimulus checks to help with COVID-19 relief and other topics that are hot at the moment and will draw people in to read more.
5. Include an Infographic
Infographics are a great way to include a lot of data with vibrant colors that make the posts really stand out. They allow your readers to visualize data, which helps people to remember information much easier than those without images. In fact, according to HubSpot, infographics are the fourth most-used type of content marketing and people that are following directions with text and illustrations will do 323% better than people following directions without illustrations.
What’s even better is that Lead Pilot offers users a library of pre-made infographics and other interactive content that you can easily deploy on your social media channels, making it that much easier to create captivating posts.
6. Encourage Comments With Thought-Provoking Situations
If your post can teach something or form a new way of thinking from your readers, then this is a great way to entice them to read more. One way to do this is to ask a question and then provide statistical evidence that backs up the answer in the form of an infographic or some type of graph.
Educating your audience will get the conversation started, encouraging more people to provide input.
If you create a longer message, then there will often be a “show more” button, which, when clicked, will signal to the social platform that users found a post interesting enough to read further. This, in turn, will further promote your post, allowing for more people to see it.
7. Share About Local Events
If you are trying to boost your local SEO, then share events that are going on in the area. If you cater to clients in a certain area, and there are some local events going on, such as a Charity 5K or a Food Drive, anything that people might want to know about, then share this information across your social media platforms. If people start to see the events that you are sharing, they will After people see you in their feed enough, then you will be bringing awareness to your firm, as people will start to look for you to share the events. Even if these events don’t have anything to do with finances (which they probably won’t!) it’s still a great way to get more eyes on your social accounts, therefore boosting traffic and engagement.
8. Tag People in Your Niche
When you tag people in your network where your niche would be following, it’s like networking but across social media platforms. Are you trying to attract medical professionals? Tag a group or a hospital where they might be associated when you are creating a post or communicating with others on the platform. How can you get their attention? What type of information can you provide them with that will get them thinking and make them want to find out more. By doing this, you are showing that you are a thought-leader in the industry and that they could benefit by working with you and finding out more.
Is Your Social Media Strategy Up to Speed?
Ready to boost engagement and grow your clients? If you aren’t utilizing a social media strategy yet or you want to make some changes to yours then now is the time. It really does make a big difference and advisors who post regularly and in a way that connects with their audience will see an ROI that is well worth the effort.
Related: 5 Basic Website Metrics Every Financial Advisor Should Track