One of the primary reasons why a financial advisor would join social-media platforms is to connect with the next generation of clients, says Kirtarath Dhillon, social-media and public relations coordinator with Advisor Websites in Vancouver.
Like most advisors, you know that increasing your online presence is important, but you probably lack the time and the expertise to manage a social-media marketing program yourself. Delegating these responsibilities to a social-media consultant or an in-house social-media assistant is one way to build your brand without sacrificing the time you could spend on other priorities.
Who should you hire and what skills should you look for? Here are four tips for hiring social-media support:
1. Define your goals
Social media is affecting practically every area of life right now – from business and news to personal communication. But the argument that “everyone else is doing it” is not enough to justify hiring a new employee, says Maria de los Reyes, branch manager of the Creative Group, a unit of Menlo Park, Calif.-based Robert Half International Inc., in Toronto.
If you’re going to hire someone to manage social media, you will need to determine what you hope to accomplish through this strategy. Your goals may include earning more followers, connecting with prospects, promoting events or establishing yourself as an expert, de los Reyes says.
2. Seek candidates with experience
Don’t make the assumption that all millennials are well-versed in social media simply because they spend a lot of time online. You always should hire based on professional experience, de los Reyes says.
For this position, two to five years of social-media management experience is ideal, especially considering that social media as a career is relatively new.
3. Look for writing skills
One of the key skills to look for when hiring for any position, de los Reyes says, is the ability to convey an idea well. Your ideal candidate for social-media assistant will have some writing experience in marketing, public relations or advertising. These fields typically require writers to communicate clearly and concisely.
A skilled social-media writer should also know how to identify a target audience and develop a voice that appeals to that particular readership, de los Reyes says. For example, the tone of your content on Twitter might differ from that of your LinkedIn posts.
4. Hire someone who can join the conversation
Look for a candidate who has some basic knowledge or personal interest in the financial services sector, Dhillon says.
“On social media, you can piggy-back onto a current topic by adding an opinion to generate some buzz among your own followers,” Dhillon says. “If [your social media hire] doesn’t have an interest in the financial services industry or the financial technology industry, he or she is going to be missing out on a whole bunch of conversations that could engage an audience.”
Finding a candidate with both social-media skills and financial knowledge may make your search tougher, but the right person for that job can make a big difference for your business.