Social media coming to more large firms

“Everybody wants the ability to communicate to their community and to their clients as effectively and as efficiently as possible,” says Monique Gravel, managing director and head of Wood Gundy. “[The access] provides a real opportunity for our advisors to showcase some of the initiatives they are putting together and to reach a broader audience.”

Being one of the first out of the gate doesn’t rattle Gravel. Wood Gundy spent more than a year monitoring an in-house pilot project that provided online access to 30 of its investment advisors. The firm now is in the midst of rolling out access to its entire advisory base in several phases. The first phase was rolled out last autumn, allowing 170 advisors to set up social media accounts. The firm hopes to have all advisors who are interested in accessing social media plugged in by the end of the spring this year.

“We know that not every advisor is going to want to access these platforms,” Gravel says. “But we also know that there are certain age groups that are more comfortable in the social media environment. And we want to make sure that our message gets out to all age groups.”

Toronto-based ScotiaMcLeod Inc. also is jumping into the game. Late last month, the firm provided its advisors with a variety of support to give them full access to LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Like all brokerage firms exploring this option, ScotiaMcLeod has addressed the regulatory obligations that go along with using social media, especially information retention and monitoring of client/advisor communications.

In December 2011, the Toronto-based Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC)released its social media guidelines. Those state that client communication via social media should follow the existing rules for advertising, sales literature and correspondence. Firms must be prepared to monitor an advisor’s social media activity fully, as well as archive and store all communications that are conducted on social-networking sites.

At the same time the guidelines were released, Wood Gundy partnered with Belmont, Calif-based Actiance Inc. to monitor all Wood Gundy’s social media activity for its pilot. The service offered by Actiance allows a firm to monitor how its employees use the leading social media sites, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ and Skype.

The Actiance platform, Socialite, allows Wood Gundy advisors to share pre-approved content, interact with clients and prospects, and analyze the impact of their content published on social media sites.

“While there are a number of Canadian financial services organizations that are moving forward in various phases, CIBC is really doing some groundbreaking stuff here in Canada,” says Sarah Carter, general manager of social business at Actiance. “[People at] Wood Gundy have really become leaders with their social initiatives. Once they got started with the process, they discovered that they wanted to go beyond just meeting the compliance requirements. They want to be able to analyze the metrics to see what works best for their advisors, as well as for the firm overall.”

Socialite can provide a firm with several types of analysis. These include: what content is being shared; who is reading the content; what content is popular; and what mix of personal vs business content should be shared among contacts.

With many third-party providers offering similar services, the Canadian financial services industry is starting to see more firms embracing social media as both a marketing tool and a client-contact platform. Toronto-based BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., for example, also has adopted Actiance’s Socialite platform, both to broaden and monitor its advisors’ social media activities. Nesbitt currently is in the midst of conducting its own pilot project within a group of advisors selected from across the country.

Toronto-Dominion Bank launched its social media pilot project more than a year ago, which includes a number of advisors from both the parent bank and its brokerage division, TD Waterhouse Private Investment Advice. The pilot gives participating advisors access to LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube.

TD also has launched its own social media forum – www.tdhelps.com – through which clients are able to post public questions relating to investments, retirement and banking. The responses then are provided by TD advisors and experts.

“We definitely see value,” says Wendy Arnott, vice president of social media and digital communication for TD, “in customers connecting with experts through social media. And plans are already in place for us to expand further in this space.”

Other brokerages, such as RBC Dominion Securities Inc. and National Bank Financial Ltd. (NBF), display more caution. Although their advisors are allowed to open LinkedIn accounts, they still are not permitted to post content or send messages through the private-messaging function.

While Facebook and Twitter are not permitted at NBF, its advisors are permitted to use YouTube to post videos, create a channel and link videos to their advisor website.

If companies haven’t yet started to exploit social media, Carter says, it’s time they started laying the groundwork. Otherwise, the risk of getting overtaken is high.

“I have had to work with some large national companies just to get their identity back because someone else was ‘camping’ on it,” adds Carter. “Whether you are going to get into social [media] today, tomorrow or the next decade, you need to get hold of your brand and have it ready for when you want to go onto social.”

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