As a financial advisor, you have many roles to fill and being a ‘financial advisor social media specialist’ may be a role that is difficult for you. You know that social media plays a big role in how others view you as a credible source of financial advice. Because social media is important to people of many ages it is important to post to social media. Aside from what you think you should be doing regarding social media, here are a few misconceptions:
Misconception #1: The longer the post, the more credible I will appear. Social Media is about short, relevant information on a specific topic. If posts are longer, readers may not finish it. Do not post articles or white papers more than one page long. The reason social media is so powerful is because information is passed in short form, quickly giving the reader an understanding of the topic.
Misconception #2: Technical Information is what my clients want. The reality is that investors rely on YOU to know the technical stuff. They don’t want spread sheets, market commentary, or information regarding what FINRA or the SEC are doing. They trust that if it is relevant to their personal situation you will let them know, or they will ask you technical information they want to know.
Misconception #3: Posting something is better than posting nothing. Beware of posting political or biased information, cartoons, or daily quotes just to be posting. It is ok to not have a post each day. Remember that posting your social media is about financial information related to your industry and your clients.
Misconception #4: I can only post information for my client age groups. Stick to posts about financial information in any age group. You can be posting for readers 18-78! Financial advisors tend to ‘isolate’ information to only one age group (forgetting that their 78 year old client has a grandchild who is 28). You want to attract and retain clients of all ages. Posting information that is related to many age groups shows you’re a financial expert on many topics across the ages!
Misconception #5: I need to create my own financial advisor social media posts. There are great resources for financial advisor social media posts that you can subscribe to. Additionally, you can choose to follow resources or people who post, and simply repost good content that is relevant to your clients.
