Social studies

“Advisors shouldn’t assume that social media is a technology problem,” says Chad Bockius, CEO of Austin, Tex.-based Socialware Inc. “It should be a part of an advisor’s overall business. And, like any other part of your business, you have to have a plan. You have to implement that plan and measure your achievement against that plan.”

Social media sites are gaining in popularity every day. The number of social media accounts has more than doubled over the past two years. Facebook now boasts more than one billion active users, while and Twitter and LinkedIn have 500 million and 175 million users, respectively. As social media becomes more widely accepted among the general population and business users, newer players, such as Pinterest and Google-plus, have become popular among business users as well.

So, with all the various platforms out there, where should you begin?

Your social media business plan, Bockius says, should map out exactly where you want social media to take your business.

“Its important,” Bockius says, “that advisors develop a social media strategy that will help define what they are trying to achieve, what their objectives are and how they are going to measure success against those objectives.”

Here are some key elements you should consider when setting up your social media business plan:

– know the rules

Since the social media era began, many advisors have avoided these platforms out of fear of running afoul of financial services industry regulators or the compliance department. In December 2011, the Toronto-based Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada released its guidelines, which state that client communication via social media should follow the existing rules for advertising, sales literature and correspondence.

Now, many financial services firms are starting to embrace social media as both a marketing tool and a client-contact platform.

But before you decide to tweet, blog or post anything online, you should consult your compliance department to find out your firm’s policy on social media.

– set an objective

In order to determine which social media site you are going to use, you must identify your objective, says Sarah Carter, general manager of social business with Belmont, Calif.-based Actiance Inc.

Ask yourself what you are trying to achieve by using social media. Are you looking for new business? Are you trying to gain deeper relationships with your current clients? Or are you looking to build brand awareness? Every message you post on social media should be connected to one of your objectives.

“You need to identify who you are trying to reach,” Bockius says, “and the message you want to convey to that crowd. If you are able to build your profile based on those objectives, then you will be starting with a solid foundation.”

– pick your platform

Just because you have decided to dip your toes into social media doesn’t mean you have to open an online profile on every social media website out there.

“Advisors need to realize,” says Blane Warrene, senior vice president, customer communications, with North Carolina-based RegEd Inc., “that they need to see where their clients and prospects are in order to help decide which platform to approach.”

Don’t spread yourself too thin over several platforms if you are new to social media. You may not know how much time you’ll need to devote to managing your social media presence.

Get familiar with one platform, then research others to build your online identity gradually.

If you are not familiar with the various social media sites and how they are used, Bockius suggests, start by looking at LinkedIn, a social networking website that is oriented toward business users.

– get some training

There are a number of social media training programs, but only a few are specific to the financial services industry. Third-party providers, such as Actiance and Socialware, offer classroom training and video webinars to advisors through the advisors’ dealer firms.

If you want to do your training on your own, London, Ont.-based Social Media Coach (www.socialmediaforadvisors.ca) offers social media training for individual financial advisors through an online platform.

Social Media Coach offers training videos on the major social medial platforms. The site also has a social media training assessment tool, which identifies your target demographic group and recommends appropriate training modules.

– select your target audience

It is important that you identify the people or groups you want to be networking with. Will you be targeting current clients, prospects or industry contacts? Which social networks do you want to set up for each audience segment?

After you have begun to build a network that is consistent with your objectives, you can start to look for relationship-building opportunities.

“This part of social media doesn’t happen overnight, ” says Bockius. “You don’t go from zero to 500 contacts in one day. These things do take time to grow.”

Listen to what your audience is tweeting or posting to pick up clues regarding where your next sales opportunities lie. These opportunities may present themselves when a member of your audience posts news about a life event, such as a new job, wedding plans, the birth of a baby or plans to purchase a home.

“The great thing about social media is people share so much about what is going on in their lives,” Bockius says. “These events are all critical triggers to making a financial purchase, relative to life insurance or new investment strategies. And all you have to do is listen.”

– create an editorial calendar

Keeping your contacts engaged is going to be key to your social media success. Set up an editorial calendar to ensure that you are posting timely and consistent content. Topics can be broken down into: seasonal business, such as tax issues and RRSP deadlines; summer vacations; holidays and gift buying; and education saving.

“Writing material on a daily basis can be overwhelming, especially during busy peaks,” Warrene says. “But there are so many seasons and themes that advisors can focus on when using an editorial calendar that it really takes the fear out of creating so much content.”

In addition, be sure to post on a consistent basis. Warrene suggests one or two posts a week for an individual blog or website, and three to five posts for social networks. Once you have set up your editorial calendar and have your topics outlined, postings can be done in as little as 30 minutes a day.

“If you are going to start posting content,” Warrene says, “you have to develop an underlying rhythm on a weekly basis with your platforms.”

– maintain a central site

In addition to your social media presence, you should have a central platform to which you can drive traffic. It could be your web page on your dealer firm’s corporate website or an individual blog.

Include a link to your site on your posts and tweets, so clients in your network can go to your main site with one click.

– choose compelling content

When deciding on the type of content to post, Carter suggests, use a combination of self-published articles, news-related items, business links and personal material. Content should also be driven by what you are hearing from your clients and what piques their interest, both financially and personally.

“As a financial advisor, if you come across as a stilted corporate entity, then you might as well just be [posting] from that corporate entity,” Carter says. “You want to be able to maximize that personal relationship.”

One way to add a personal touch is to get creative when it comes to the delivery of your message. Instead of posting only articles, upload a video to YouTube and post the link on your social media platform. Or you might create and post a podcast or a slide show.

“It doesn’t always have to be about business when it comes to material,” Carter says. “If a client is interested in golf and you share that interest, then it’s not a bad idea to include some of your personality in those topics. I’m a firm believer that you have to give something to get something in social media.”

If you are using more than one platform, consider posting your content across several sites, especially if you have a different set of contacts on each social media platform.

– handling feedback

Unlike a newsletter or email, social media gives your audience the ability to provide feedback to you in a public forum. But with that openness comes the risk of negative feedback. If you are prepared for negative or malicious commentary with a plan of action, Warrene says, you can prevent such a situation from becoming a crisis.

“Negative feedback on social media makes many people nervous,” Warrene says. “But if they don’t plan for it, then it may feel like a fire alarm just went off and you are left scrambling.”

Warrene suggests setting up a feedback plan to ensure that when a negative response does appear, you react accordingly.

First, don’t let the complaint linger. Respond immediately by posting a comment on your site that says you will be contacting the individual who posted the complaint to resolve the situation.

This tells other contacts that you are taking the complaint seriously and not ignoring it. If the negative comment is from an existing client, you may be able to contact him or her via phone or email and do as much followup as is necessary.

If you do not know the person posting the negative comment, provide your contact information so he or she can contact you directly. Upon resolving the situation, ask the individual if he or she would be willing to post on your profile that their problem was solved.

– measure activities

Track the results of your social media activities, Carter says, as you would other parts of your business.

If you normally run an analysis of your overall business activities against your targets on a weekly or a monthly basis, then you can include your social media activities in those measurements.

“If you leave it to every three to six months,” Carter says, “the world moves too quickly, and it will be hard to remember what went into your social media initiatives. By then, you might have missed a window of opportunity.”

Social media dos and dont’s

As the operator of a professional business, you must consider a number of issues when using social media, says Blane Warrene, senior vice president, customer communications, with North Carolina-based RegEd Inc.

A misstep can undermine the success of your social media efforts. Or, worse, it can land you in hot water with your compliance department.

Warrene offers the following dos and don’ts to help you get the most from your social media strategy:

– Do ensure your bio, profile picture and website are consistent across all social-media platforms.

– Do focus on being a good listener.

– Do credit all sources when sharing content online.

– Do measure and monitor your social media accounts, and read the analytics on your content.

– Do share news and information about your business, team members and goals with your followers and connections.

– Don’t be a mere “commercial” for your business.

– Don’t think of social media as a one-way street; stay engaged with your followers and share quality content.

– Don’t lose sight of your professionalism when you are representing yourself online.

– Don’t forget to plan, in order to create consistent content.

– Don’t forget to include audio, video and images when you are sharing content.

© 2013 Investment Executive. All rights reserved.