If you’ve been waiting for TikTok’s 15 minutes in the social media spotlight to be over, think again. While the trendy streaming video platform took a while to be taken seriously as a marketing tool, it’s now a marketing channel that financial advisors can’t afford to ignore.
It’s no secret that financial advisors need to appeal to up and coming investors in younger demographics in order to grow their business, and these younger generations such as Millennials and Gen Zers live their lives online. From shopping to working and yes, even financial advice, these younger consumers are turning to their social networks for important life decisions.
Social media for financial advisors should include TikTok
If your compliance department will allow it, this trendy platform should be added to your financial advisor marketing strategy and quarterly plan. These “trends” can be anything from a choreographed dance that you’ll see over and over from different users, a challenge of some kind, or even the same song being featured in tens of thousands of user videos.
To capitalize on these trends as a way to connect with users, financial advisors need to stay on top of these trends as they’re happening. Because they can come and go rapidly, and there’s no better way to seem out of touch than to jump on yesterday’s trend. For this reason, a best practice for financial advisors who want to use TikTok to attract prospects is to use it on a personal level first.
By becoming familiar with the platform from a user/consumer perspective, you can gain insight on trends, and also the kinds of videos you’d like to produce.
Learn the lingo
TikTok users have created their own language of sorts, with new slang words being added every day. While it’s impossible to learn them all, there are some words unique to the financial space that financial advisors need to know such as FinTok, StockTok, and Finfluencers. These words for financial advice and people who give it are used as hashtags in content across TikTok and also represent the financial niche that has been carved out in the platform.
However, it’s not always financial experts giving out the advice. Like most things on the internet at large, TikTok is open to anyone. And not all of the content in the FinTok or StockTok space is accurate.
As a financial advisor, you have the opportunity to establish yourself as an actual financial expert. You can do this by creating quality financial content that is both entertaining and educational, and most importantly, accurate. Remember, these younger generations trust social media platforms over banks and even family members.
But they’re not averse to financial advisors overall. That’s why financial advisors using TikTok have a higher chance of gaining the trust (and business) of this demographic if it is their target market. Are young people potential clients for you?
How to become a “Finfluencer”
For investment-specific content, StockTok is a space for investment-specific advice content. This is important for financial advisors to note because investing is a topic that can be intimidating to younger generations and novice investors alike. This creates an opportunity for financial advisors to create content that demystifies the investing process and answers questions that your audience may be embarrassed to ask in person.
In fact, some financial experts (aka “Finfluencers”) will ask their followers what questions they have and then create videos that answer those questions. Additionally, some Finfluencers are utilizing TikTok’s live capabilities to answer follower questions while streaming live. This level of interaction and connecting with an audience is a great way to grow followers and establish yourself as a source of financial expertise.
How to create quality TikTok content
TikTok is known for making it easy for users to create videos with nothing more than a smartphone. But more important than how the video is produced is the content itself. TikTok users have a short attention span, so videos need to be engaging from the start.
While the content on TikTok ranges from educational to absurd, financial advisors can strike the right balance to provide quality content in a fun and even entertaining way! This is where some reconnaissance work comes in.
As already mentioned, it’s worth noting again how important it is for financial advisors to use TikTok themselves with a personal account before starting to create and share financial advisor TikTok content. It’s also a good idea to see what others in the financial space are creating to find where there is a gap you can fill with your financial advisor TikTok content. And in some cases, you may find content that shows you exactly how you don’t want to use TikTok, and that can be just as valuable.
Other ways to engage on TikTok
Paid advertising
Like other social platforms, TikTok offers businesses the ability to reach specific audiences through paid promotion. TikTok’s Lead Generation Ads are a great fit for financial advisors looking to grow their prospect list. When used as part of a comprehensive paid social media campaign, TikTok can be a valuable source of quality prospects for your financial advisor firm.
Messaging
For some financial advisors, creating and promoting content isn’t primarily how they choose to use TikTok. Instead, they choose to use TikTok as a messaging platform to reach out to prospects and clients. Just be sure, as with all communication, you have the support of your compliance team before engaging prospects.
Need help?
For some financial advisors, creating TikTok may be out of your comfort zone — and that’s ok! Not everyone is at home in front of the camera. However, that doesn’t mean your financial advisor firm has to miss out on the exposure that TikTok has to offer.
While you may not be comfortable being the star of your TikTok content, that doesn’t mean you can’t have an influential presence on the platform. By reaching out to digital marketing professionals, financial advisors can make the most of TikTok without having to go beyond their comfort level.
Comprehensive digital marketing firms have entire teams dedicated to social media marketing and can strike the right balance between a solid TikTok marketing strategy and what is realistic for your financial advisor firm’s marketing budget and your comfort level.
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