RIAs: Do You Have a Social Media Strategy for Asset and Client Growth?

Registered Investment Advisors and financial planners without a social media strategy may need to think again in planning for asset and client growth in 2016.

While individual resluts will vary, according the 2015 annual Putnam Investments Survey of Financial Advisors’ Use of Social Media, conducted in partnership with Brightwork Partners LLC, for advisors who used Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube, and/or LinkedIn:

The average asset gain was $4.6 million

The median asset gain was $1.9 million

53% gained more than $1 million in assets

71% who gained assets were active each day on social media

The top three sites for gaining new business:

88% came from LinkedIn

68% came from Facebook

64% came from Twitter

Why Advisors Are Using Social Media:

Improving referral network

Enhancing current client relationships

Building brand identity

Connecting with colleagues

Expanding professional knowledge

Becoming a thought leader

Social media has increased despite the perceived barrier to entry known generally as the compliance department.

“We know that use and reliance on social media has been increasing among advisors for years, but it was surprising even to us to learn that today there are over 228,000 advisors actively using social media for professional reasons,” says John Meunier, managing director at Cogent Reports. “Even more surprising is how representative social media users are of the total advisor population. This is not just about younger, tech-savvy advisors.”