Trending
Are you a wallflower when it comes to referrals? Join the ranks. A survey from Absolute Engagement and the Investments and Wealth Institute found that while 90% of clients are committed to their financial advisor, only 35% have made a referral. Talk about getting sidelined! There are a lot of strategies that wealth management firms can employ to boost those referral numbers (like email and long-form [How to Blog and Vlog Your Way to More Referrals - Kalli Collective] content), but this time around, we’re focusing on the realm of likes, follows, and hashtags: social media. If you want to use Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, or Instagram to get yourself an invite to the referral party, you need to make sure your virtual audience knows you exist, you need to be worth inviting, and you have to move in the right circles. So how do you do that? We’re glad you asked!
Step 1: Be the Talk of the Town
If you want to get more referrals via social media, the first thing you need to do is boost your visibility. If your social media presence is lackluster and/or visually confusing, your clients aren’t likely to share anything you post with their friends and family. Get them talking with professional, clearly branded content that is regularly posted.
Take a look at your existing social media feeds. Does it look visually appealing and cohesive? We eat with our eyes, and getting clients to bite when it comes time to make a referral is no different. Are your brand’s colors, logo, style, and values easily apparent? If not, it might be time to focus on some brand basics (hey, we have a course for that!) and start filtering your content through your brand identity.
Once you have the visuals down, it’s time to make a plan and stick to it. The goal is to create and share such fantastic content that your existing clients are never short on savvy posts to share with their circles– but they can’t do that if you don’t post regularly! If the creative juices just aren’t flowing, start with our free downloadable and video to walk you through content planning for the month.
Step 2: Become the Go-To
If you want to be referable, you’ve got to be more than just a pretty face. By filling their social media feeds with content that’s eye-catching AND useful, financial advisors can go from eye-candy to being the content source their audience just can’t get enough of.
In a survey conducted by Advisor Impact, only 38% of clients said that helping their advisor was enough motivation to make a referral. Compare that to 58% who said they would refer to help a friend, and the message is clear: you’ll get more referrals by providing easy-to-share, valuable resources. Another common hangup for your referral process is that your clients may not know anyone openly looking for a financial advisor. But how many of your clients have friends who want to help their kids go to college, are high-level executives with company stock options, or are starting to think about legacy planning? Create informational content that addresses common questions or trouble points for your ideal clients. The more helpful and easy-to-understand the information is, the more likely your clients are to share your resources, opening the door to a referral down the road.
Step 3: Show Up Where the Action Is
Pop quiz: if you’re looking for a date, should you show up at a convent or a singles convention? Okay, that one’s easy to ace, but what about when it comes to your social media content? Getting more referrals depends on posting on the right platforms and making sure your content doesn’t get buried in your clients’ feeds.
The first step is to determine which platforms your existing clients and their friends are using. What’s the age demographic? How much are they using social media? If they’re mostly professionals, LinkedIn is likely where they spend their time. If they skew younger, they probably spend more time on Instagram. Focus your social media efforts there, and then advertise, advertise, advertise. Don’t just throw ad dollars at your content, though. Learn how to get strategic so your budget can make the most impact with our resources for a savvy ad strategy. The goal is to stand out and stay top of mind so that when clients think of a friend or neighbor who might be interested in financial services, your firm is the first one they see.
Post Boldly
Look at you and your savvy social accounts! All it takes to win more referrals through social media is hitting a few right notes, and your bench-warming days are over. We know content creation isn’t for everyone, which is why we host industry experts every week on A.U.M. - Ask Us Marketing™ live, sponsored by the FPA. Check out our library of resources to help you master everything from Google ads to Podcasting. And, of course, if DIY just isn’t in the books, you know where to find us!