There’s no denying that social media is a cultural phenomenon being driven by the likes of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But despite the widespread adoption of social media, the financial services industry continues to be slow on the uptake, with many firms still not implementing any kind of formal social media strategy.
Says an advisor in British Columbia with Toronto-based ScotiaMcLeod Inc.: “The firm’s policy is: ‘We haven’t dealt with this yet, so you can’t, either’.”
Adds an advisor in B.C. with Mississauga, Ont.-based Edward Jones: “We are not allowed to use [social media], but it is something we need to focus on to help us grow our brand and business.”
Although the Toronto-based Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) had issued its final guidelines on using social media late last year, many of the firms surveyed for this year’s Report Card series still question the value of social media as a way for advisors to market their businesses. However, others have decided to embrace it fully.
“While other firms are shutting it down,” says an advisor with Toronto-based Richardson GMP Ltd. in Ontario, “we are pushing in that direction.”
Adds a colleague in the same province: “It’s an area [the firm] is constantly and actively improving in.”
Three firms in particular – TD Canada Trust, Macquarie Private Wealth Inc. (both based in Toronto) and Richardson GMP – stand out from the pack as having decided to embrace social media, recognizing it should not be seen or treated as a compliance burden but rather as an opportunity to broaden communication between advisors and their clients.
Even before IIROC set its guidelines, Macquarie was one step ahead, having created a social media committee and an advisor pilot project in early 2011. “We never wanted to block social media,” says Silu Modi, Macquarie’s vice president, digital marketing, banking and financial services group. “We always wanted to figure out how we can use it.”
From the start, Macquarie had set up a social media policy and put in place the technology required to keep the firm compliant. Over the past year and half, the firm has worked on its social media presence among its advisors through national road shows. In August, Macquarie was in the process of expanding its pilot project to include certain advisors in Calgary and Vancouver. (Previously, the project was exclusive to specific advisors in Toronto.)
Currently, all Macquarie advisors are allowed to blog – provided they are committed to maintaining their blog’s content on a monthly basis – as well as set up a LinkedIn profile. The advisors selected for the pilot project also were permitted to setup a Twitter account and subscribe to LinkedIn Pro, which allows subscribers to see who is accessing their profile, view more information about their contacts and post online content.
“The pilot project has been an incredible success,” says Modi. “We have actually been able to generate business from advisors’ social media contacts.”
Richardson GMP also has expanded its social media presence among its advisors this year with the launch of new, customizable websites for advisors that provide the opportunity to write personal blogs and add video content. Advisors can then upload their website links onto the LinkedIn and Twitter platforms.
For its part, TD had launched its new social media platform, dubbed Connections, in November 2011. This website permits all TD employees to set up a personal profile, which includes a photo, personal information, past and present work experience, a status update and the ability to post comments and articles. To date, more than 65,000 employees are actively using the site.
“The adoption of this website has been pretty strong,” says Wendy Arnott, TD’s vice president of social media and digital communications. “That’s mainly because our employees value the opportunity to connect and collaborate [using] these tools that are right at their fingertips.”
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