Ignoring social media as a communication tool with clients and prospects of any age means missing out on opportunities to grow your business, according to experts speaking on Monday at the Retirement Coaching Conference in Toronto.

“Social media has an impact on all communications,” says Tom Reimer, managing partner, Accretive Advisor Inc. in Toronto. “Social media will also have an impact on all the referrals you get — and that you don’t get — and it will also have an impact on growing your business.”

Even if you work with an older demographic, it’s a good idea to develop your digital skills. According to Reimer, two-thirds of the baby boomer population is on the Internet and nearly half of those aged 66 and older are online. Boomers and people aged 66 and older make up the fastest growing group of people using social media, says Reimer. “Those people are getting on the Internet and taking advantage of it,” he says.

Advisors who want to make sure clients and prospects find them online need to create a strategy using three components — an advisor or company website, social media and blogging — says Adrian Griggs, director, global strategy, Infinite Media in Toronto.

To get the most from an online strategy you need to be committed and know which online platforms to use. For example, while a growing number of seniors are joining Facebook, says Griggs, they use it to connect with friends and family, not for business purposes. As well, while blogs can generate a lot of buzz for an advisor’s business, an advisor without something to say shouldn’t start a blog. “If you don’t update a blog for two years,” he says, “you don’t exist [online].”

For an advisor to make the most of social media, Griggs offered these two tips:

> Know your clients and how they use Internet
Ask clients about their use of technology and how they prefer to be contacted. This will help you to decide what online platforms to use such as LinkedIn, Twitter or email.

> Become a source of information
According to Griggs, while people age 25 to 44 will spend a lot of time looking for information online, those aged 45 to 65 spend less time exploring the Internet for answers. As such, you can build relationships and raise your online profile by sending relevant articles, via email or a social media update, to a select group of clients on a regular basis.